Romance Readers Retreat: Review: Heat Wave by Karina Halle

*****5 Stars*****

I knew from the Prologue that this book was going to be a good one. It grabbed my attention immediately and whilst I initially found the hero, Logan Shepherd, to be a bit shallow and in all honesty a bit of a d¡€k, I could sense which way the story was heading so I knew my first impressions weren't going to last for long.

The story is mainly set on the stunning Hawaiian Island of Kauai (Yes I may have Googled some of the places mentioned in the book). You really get a sense of the sunshine and surf and the fact that I was able to clearly envisage so many details helped me to be completely absorbed in this book.

Despite my initial doubts about Logan, he did become a truly likeable, sexy leading man. Veronica, his love interest, had just the right amount of vulnerability and sass that allowed her character to develop throughout and she was definitely someone I could get into the mind set of.

The sex scenes weren't half bad either. There wasn't loads and a lot of the book was built on sexual tension between Logan and Veronica, but for me that made the sex scenes even better.

I have to confess. I didn't actually think I would enjoy this book as much as I did and for me that made it all the better and such a great read. My one wish though is that despite this being a stand alone, we will one day get to encounter these truly brilliant characters in Karina's future books.

Reviewed by Louise Dale

They say when life closes one door, another one opens.

This door happens to lead to paradise.

And a man I can never, ever have.

~~~

Still grieving the loss of her sister who died two years ago, the last thing Veronica "Ronnie" Locke needed was to lose her job at one of Chicago’s finest restaurants and have to move back in with her parents. So when a window of opportunity opens for her – running a kitchen at a small Hawaiian hotel – she’d be crazy not to take it.

The only problem is, the man running the hotel drives her crazy:

Logan Shephard.

It doesn’t matter that he’s got dark brown eyes, a tall, muscular build that’s sculpted from daily surfing sessions, and a deep Australian accent that makes your toes curl.

What does matter is that he’s a grump.

Kind of an asshole, too.

And gets under Ronnie’s skin like no one else.

But the more time Ronnie spends on the island of Kauai, falling in love with the lush land and its carefree lifestyle, the closer she gets to Logan. And the closer she gets to Logan, the more she realizes she may have pegged him all wrong. Maybe it’s the hot, steamy jungles or the invigorating ocean air, but soon their relationship becomes utterly intoxicating.

There’s just one major catch.

The two of them together would incite a scandal neither Ronnie, nor her family, would ever recover from.

Forbidden, Illicit, off-limits – sometimes the heat is worth surrendering to, even if you get burned.

Note: this is a standalone novel, unrelated to any previous books. It does NOT contain cheating of any kind.