Ever wonder what happened to your first love? Obviously things didn’t go as well as you planned or the two of you would be together now, wouldn’t you? Maybe you fantasize about meeting him again at a high school reunion or on a business trip. Perhaps you’ve been tempted to look him up online on one of those high school reunion sites, but you don’t. Maybe you’re afraid that he’s changed, you’ve changed or the chemistry isn’t there. All the same, what if you didn’t have a choice and you’re on the way to meet the man who was your first—then you would be in the same situation as Jill Danvers, the heroine of Desiree Holt’s newest novel, Night Heat.

Jill Danvers is a woman who gets the job done. Unfortunately, that puts her on the road back to her hometown of Bluebonnet Fall plus meeting with the man who stomped on her heart. It’s been ten years since Jill gave her heart and virginity to Gabriel Carter. First loves aren’t supposed to last forever, but Gabe must have broken a speed record leaving her to marry another. The only thing to do at the time was to leave town and pray to forget the jerk. It should have worked, but every now and then Jill thinks about Gabe. She remembers how hot Gabe made her and she wants to be that wild again, but--oh wait…Gabe is someone else’s husband. That’s the really sucky thing about the whole assignment.

Gabe Carter’s bad luck started before he met Jill Danvers the first time. Ten years later, he can still remember the brief months he shared with Jill before it all went to hell. It is hard to get the love of your life to understand why you need to marry your former girlfriend who just happens to be pregnant with your child. He definitely didn’t get her to understand. When Jill needed support, he failed her. Not surprising, Jill cut off all contact with him. Whenever he manages to track Jill down to a new town or job, she isn’t accepting his calls. The news that she is coming back to town to do a special on the town’s bicentennial is a gift, an unexpected chance to win Jill back.

Gabe is just as delicious as Jill remembers. The attraction is still there, but he’s the same man who stomped all over her heart. Since she hasn’t fully recovered from the first heart stomping it would be just stupid to come back for more. Ten years makes her a little smarter, less impulsive and a lot more cautious. Her body is still stuck in stupid mode—it’s a battle between her heart and her mind. Gabe is determined to be the winner of both. Then there is Robin, the whole reason there never was a happily ever after for Gabe and Jill, and she’s decided she wants her ex-husband, Gabe, back. A nasty little scandal is ready to set the entire town on its collective ear.

Night Heat moves fast from the first sentence. The chemistry between Gabe and Jill is hot. The reader needs to buckle up and read close. Not a word is wasted or a sex toy for that matter. Holt avoids padding out her novel with filler. All the characters serve a function and get the plot moving. The dialogue is sharp and realistic. The unresolved conflict between the two protagonists works well, ratcheting up the tension and heat. The town gossip only fans the fire. Then there’s Robin.

Night Heat is a very enjoyable novel because it is well written and tight and uses very human characters. It also addresses the idea of meeting up with your first love, a guilty fantasy that almost every woman harbors. Way to go, Desiree Holt, another great novel.

Reviewed by Morgan Wyatt
© October 2007