Customer Reviews

Body Heat (The Simply Series, Book 4)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you cannot conjure up an image of a Harlequin romance being sexy and hot, perhaps BODY HEAT by Carly Phillips may change your impression. With a mere 250 page story, Ms. Philips weaves a tale of novelty revolving Brianne Nelson as a physical therapist hired to assuage the injuries of a recuperating cop, Jake Lowell. It is actually more of a matchmaking act by his sister Rina who sees the attraction between the two of them when Brianne is holding part-time as a waitress in The Sideline Cafe.

The therapy soons becomes a fulfilment of fantasies. Even more for gratification of their vulnerable hearts. Jake wants a brief affair but their communication promises more as his heart speaks otherwise. He is scarred by his past marriage. His money-grubbing wife and the danger of his job makes him retreat from love. Brianne respects his job but she knows she would fear for him when he is at risk. A nervous breakdown is impending given her past experience.

However when Jake's arch-nemesis Ramirez swears to take his life and close in onto Brianne, both of them realize that their love may be to the extent 'till death do us part'. There is no frills in this simple tale but a gloss of temptation and reckless fantasy. Ms. Philips shows her competency in her tight narration. Smoldering with desire and dazzling passion, she proves that a Harlequin romance can raise your body heat and leave a blazing trail too.

The days might be hot and humid, but New York City nights sizzle as Jack Lowell returns again and again to THE SIDEWALK CAFE to watch the sexy waitress. Just the sight of her rouses Jack's curiosity and encourages his imagination. Her blazing smile inspires a plethora of fantasies, feeding the raging inferno within. Indeed, few things have piqued his imagination since a shooting sidelined him and took out his partner. Yet even the shoulder injury and the determination to seek retribution for the loss of his fellow officer isn't enough to curb the desire that blazes with such a force that it causes him to return day after day just to watch her.

As the sizzling awareness rages into an inferno, Brianne Nelson's fantasies center around the sexy stranger who returns night after night to the cafe. Working two jobs and carrying immense responsibility has robbed her life of fun, and just the kick she gains from seeing her fantasy man is enough to add new vitality to Brianne nights. Her day job, however, soon leads to an incredible opportunity to make enough money for a life of her own. Rina, the woman who frequently accompanies the sexy stranger, hires Brianne to be her brother's physical therapist. While Rina is out of town over the summer, Brianne to moves into Rina's luxurious Manhattan apartment to work with her brother.

Jack doesn't need a live in therapist, nor does he want his sister's matchmaking. And now the woman he's desired for months is becoming his roommate. Once Brianne arrives, it's impossible to cover his previous shoulder recovery. Jack was using his injury as a cover to find the perpetrator of his partner's killer, and Brianne can't be fooled. Worse, as a cop with a bad marriage and divorce behind him, Jack doesn't need a new relationship. And his interest in Brianne is too much to contain in a no strings, unemotional affair. Something sizzles between them more than just lust. Further, her presence puts her in danger as the drug-dealing murderer realizes she can be used to get to Jack.

It promises to be a long, hotly seductive summer in BODY HEAT as author Carly Phillips playfully uses the skill of physical therapy to create a heated romance. Indeed, Phillips works massage therapy, water therapy and glass lined workout rooms into erotic encounters that fuel the heat to become a blazing inferno. In addition, the sympathetic characters and fast paced plot keep the reader thoroughly absorbed. Provocative, seductive, and hot, BODY HEAT is a keeper that comes very highly recommended.

After a drug bust goes awry and his partner is killed, Jake is nursing a bullet wound to his shoulder and he refuses to get physical therapy to return to duty. The highlight of his week is the visits with his sister to a cafe where he trades longing glances with a sexy waitress. When his sister decides to take a trip to Europe to nurse her own broken heart, she asks Jake to dog sit for her at her penthouse, not telling him that he has made arrangements for the sexy waitress, Brianne (who just so happens to be a physical therapist by day...) to move in and help get him back to health.

When the two discover the deception, both are convinced they won't succumb to temptation. That lasts about a half day, and they agree to a summer fling, as she plans to move to California where her brother will attend college in the fall. Jake knows that Brianne will discover he's back in near perfect health - something he's kept secret since he has his own plans to get even with Luis Ramirez, the drug dealer who killed his partner and eluded capture on a technicality. Luis has plans to get even with Jake by going through Brianne. As a precaution, Jake has a PI watch over Brianne when she is not with him. Soon she notices that she is being followed, and Jake is convinced it's Luis. Will he be able to protect the woman he loves from the man that killed his partner without losing his heart in the process?

Note that this is a re-issue that pre-dates Phillips' "Simply" series (Jakes sister Rina appears in "Simply Sexy" and the epilogue in this one is yet another shameless promotion to entice the reader to check out Rina's story). The writing is a bit pedestrian, the mystery and suspense kept at a minimum, but the steam that Phillips is known for is in abundance.

While Jake sits at a table in the The Sidewalk Café waiting for his sister Rina, he is watching for the waitress that has captivated him and brought him back to the restaurant time and again. Jake is a detective on leave because of an injury caused by a drug dealer he was investigating, named Louis Ramirez. Jake isn't letting anyone know that he is recuperating, instead he is keeping his recovery to himself so he can decide if he wants to get back on the force. Ramirez had been caught, but got off on a technicality. Now Jake intends to get Ramirez on his own.

Brianne goes to work every night hoping to see the gorgeous man who has been appearing lately at the café she works in. Although he is always there with another woman, she can't help how attracted she is to him. Brianne is a physical therapist who works two jobs trying to pay for her brother's schooling.

One night Brianne is stopped by her mystery man's date. Rina asks Brianne to become Jake's physical therapist. She has an ulterior motive, though; Rina thinks that Brianne and Jake belong together. Rina sets them up in the hopes they will hit it off. Neither Jake nor Brianne are looking for a relationship, but their attraction to each other is deep and fighting it is futile. Together they decide to share a summer of passion together.

Brianne tells Jake that she notices a man following her and her description resembles Ramirez. Jake then uses their affair as an excuse to protect her. Finding Ramirez, and putting him behind bars is even more crucial now. As there relationship progresses, Jake is willing to put his career and his life on the line to protect her. Then Brianne shows Jake she is willing to do the same for him.

Body Heat is terrific! The sexual anticipation between Brianne and Jake is heady. The chemistry between them is delicious. Jake is commanding and protective. Brianne is both sweet and tough. She fits Jake like a glove. With a little nudge from Rina, Jake and Brianne's attraction grows into a lifetime love. The threat Ramirez poses and Jake's ability to protect Brianne add a thrilling element to the story. Body Heat is romantic, passionate and exciting; it thoroughly captivated me.


Nannette
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I have always been completely entertained by Carly Phillips' romance novels, yet this one leaves something to be desired. It moves slow throughout the beginning, and speeds through the ending. I found that there was too much repetition in the first several chapters, but it improved toward the end. All-in-all, this was a good book if you can get through the first few chapters.

Take one message therapist (who works a 2nd job to put her brother through college) and one injured detective (who's a bit less injured than he lets on), add the detective's good-intentioned, matchmaking sister and you've got the recipe for a summer of steamy loving.

Jake Lowell had been seriously injured in a drug deal gone bad that also took the life of his partner and friend. The department says he doesn't return until he's fully rehabilitated, but unbeknownst to his sister, Jake's been working hard getting back into shape. He just doesn't want the higher-ups to know yet. He has a plan and he can't execute it if he's back on the job.

Brianne Nelson is working two jobs for money to help her brother through school. By day, she's a physical therapist. By night, a waitress at a sidewalk café. The very same café Jake and sister, Rina, frequent regularly. The looks Jake gives Brianne don't go unnoticed by Rina and when she learns what the pretty young woman does during the day, Rina hatches a scheme that gets the two of them together.

Brianne's intent on getting Jake back into shape, but all Jake can think about is getting Brianne into the whirlpool and all the fun they could have. To Brianne, Jake is all that's erotic and arousing, but with it comes the insecurity and uncertainty of a man dedicated to the law. Brianne evoked in Jake a warm feeling he hadn't felt in a long time, but he knew she, like his ex-wife before, didn't want to give her heart to a man who might not come back for supper. But for the summer, they'd revel in each other, take each other to new heights of ecstasy.

Their plans, however, take a dark detour when the drug dealer who injured Jake and killed his partner starts stalking Brianne. Will Jake be able to intervene in time to save the woman he's come to love? BODY HEAT lives up to the Blaze name with blazing hot love scenes between two impassioned characters. A masterful blend of emotion, good plotting and a good supporting cast, including a Sharpei named Norton, make for a standout story.

Body Heat is a quick summer romance novel with splash of danger and mystery. Jake is on leave from the Police Department after being shot. Brianna is a Physical therapist/Waitress who is overwhelmed with life. Jake's sister Rina finds the need to do a little matchmaking.... If you enjoy this genre, I would also suggest Body Check by Deirdre Martin , Wedding Survivor by Julia London, Glory Days by Irene Peterson and Squeeze Play by Kate Angell.

This book was fun to read and everytime I had a free moment I wanted to read more. Breaks at work, before bed and wheneer I got to work a little early I would sit and read before I had to punch in. It kept me entertained however it was somewhat redundant. The thoughts of the main characters wer repeated over and over again. It felt like the whole novel was what they thought about their relationship and what the ultimate outcome was going to be. It was very romantic and somewhat unrealistic. The characters are loveable but I found them both to be somewhat annoying at times. The story focused more on the sex and emotions than the actual plot. For example, their relationship started as a patient/therapist relationship but everytime they start a session, things get steamy. Not that I really want to be reading details about physical therapy, but it just seemed redundant. Don't get me wrong, when the story acutally got into the plot, it was very enjoyable. I guess I just found the characters to be a little bit needy and maybe a little bit whiney.
-indifferent

This book was a big disappointment. I picked up a Carly Phillips novel last year at the airport and was pleasantly entertained. I've read and enjoyed a couple of others since. This book, however, isn't one of them. This is a rerelease of a book Ms.Phillips wrote for Harlequin Romance years ago, and is now trying to use her recent popularity to sell once again. Let me say, she's improved in her writing immensely since she wrote this one. The book drags on and on as we wait for the inevitable coupling between the main characters. The internal dialogue is repetitive and the formulaic "romantic barrier" preventing the two characters from immediately committing is flimsy at best. The language is often stilted and the plot contrived. Thankfully, Ms. Phillips has learned to write a better book than this. Unfortunately, she's decided to foist her less-than-stellar early efforts off on her unsuspecting public, leaving at least this reader with a bad sense of having wasted my time on a crappy book and disappointment in the author.

Body Heat by Carly Phillips
Harlequin Blaze # 8 - September 2001
re-issue HQN - January 2006
Sexy City Nights #2

4 1/2 Stars! ~ Jake's a New York City narcotics detective, secretly hunting down his partner's killer while on medical leave. His only pleasure lately is his evening stops at a local café and the fantasies he weaves about the sexy waitress. Brianne's never had time for a personal life, she's content with her sultry daydreams about the mystery man who frequents the café where she works. By day Brianne is a physical therapist, that and her waitressing night job cover the tuition fees for her younger brother. Brianne's thrilled when she's hired for the summer to help a client's brother through his rehab, meaning she can give up the night job. Surprise, surprise when the brother turns out to be Jake. Their attraction is too strong to ignore, so Jake proposes a summer fling, and using the inspiration of photos from a magazine, Jake gives Brianne the date of her dreams, and then some!

Body Heat indeed! This is one of those hot reads you want to put on that keeper pile. Jake and Brianne's love story is not only hot and sexy, but there is enough emotional depth to them to make this a well rounded read. The suspense surrounding the hunt for the killer of Jake's partner, adds for some tense moments. I think this was a very good read, and I'll be seeking out Jake's sisters story; her's is one of the Simply series.

Sexy City Nights - Multi-Author series
Exposed by Julie Elizabeth Leto - HBZ-12 - August 2001
Body Heat by Carly Phillips - HBZ-8 - September 2001
Heat Waves by Janelle Denison - HBZ-12 - October 2001
L.A. Confidential by Julie Kenner - HBZ-16 - November 2001