Customer Reviews

Hot Flash

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A single mom deals with all the challenges of being a single mom trying to pay for her son's college. This isn't all that happens to her, she's living a real life, including a fickle betrayal by a former love interest. Single moms and women over 40, struggling to build a worthy life, will see tons of merit in Jill's journey. The good, the not so good, and the totally awful are faced with wry humor and wit. I totally enjoyed this romantic comedy, and when going through those moments, I pick up this book and read the opening line. I smile and nod every time. My favorite part: the skillet. It symbolizes so much that fits our own lives.

STORY BRIEF:
The entire story is told in first person from Jill's point of view. It's about her frustrations in her job and searching for a husband. Her son Stephen is a senior in high school. Jill has no money to pay Stephen's college expenses, and she doesn't want to saddle him with student loans. She wants to marry a traveling salesman who will be gone a lot and provide money for college. Jill meets and goes on some first dates which are bad fits. At the same time, one of Stephen's teachers is interested in Jill, but she pushes him away. Jill is divorced, forty and experiencing her first hot flashes.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
This feels more like chick lit than romance, but there is the looking for and finding of romance. Since my preferred genre is romance, my rating may be a little low for chick lit lovers. Most of the humor is in the mix of strange characters in her life, for example: her boss is frequently drunk and gropes her, her ex-husband has a sex change, and her dad is in jail for an Enron-type crime. Also, her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend steals Jill's favorite skillet, causing much distress for Jill. It is an interesting story with some excellent surprises at the end. But it's the kind of story that I would read only if it makes me laugh, and it didn't. I felt like I was listening to my girlfriend's description of her life. It's not the kind of story to pull me in emotionally. But that's not what it was meant for. It's Jill's point of view, and we see Jill's feelings but no one else's. Humor is in the eye of the beholder, and this one wasn't a fit for me.

The main value to me was seeing how frustrating it can be looking for a husband. Jill meets new men, goes out with them and finds they are not good fits for her. They have their own quirks and problems. The best match for her was someone who was there all along, but she refused to consider him for a couple of reasons. We also see one of Jill's girlfriends with a mooching boyfriend problem.

DATA:
Story length: 371 pages. Swearing language: moderate to strong. Sexual language: none to mild. Number of sex scenes: 1, two pages long. Setting: current day Las Vegas, Nevada. Copyright: 2009. Genre: chick lit.

Every woman can relate to Jill Morgan Storm in the book Hot Flash by Kathy Carmichael. A working mom. Financial challenges. In search of the perfect man (who'll only be around part of the time!). Throw in a Mr. Wrong who makes her tingle to her toes, and you've got one fun story with a savvy, witty heroine. If you like to chuckle while going on a fun romp with an adventuresome female chef, then this book is for you. Kudos to the author! -E. P.

Pick up a copy of Hot Flash if you want a book that is fun, witty and charming. Jill is a 40 year old single Mom facing paying for her son's college education. She goes on many enjoyable dating escapades. It is an entertaining romantic comedy with a great ending.

Whenever I need a quick pick-me-up, I know I can always count on any of Kathy Carmichael's books. Most women over 30 can relate to most of what Jill Morgan has gone through as she tries to find Mr. Right. What I most love about Hot Flash is how Jill always bounces back.

Hot Flash by Kathy Carmichael

Jill Morgen Storm is on the hunt for a man. Specifically a salesman so she can live by the adage that "absence makes the heart grow fonder" or some such folderol (think three weeks of travel and one week of Mind Blowing Sex, or MBS as Jill calls it)! True to the romance genre and its formula, Jill is down on men due to past relationships, is perky, cute, and funny and has lovely breasts and a teen-age son with issues but is brilliant in the arts. She has an interesting job and guys just seem to love her and she meets the salesmen that she is hankering for. But of course this will not be the type of man she eventually ends up with...oh no not at all.

Jill for the first third of the book is constantly exclaiming about being "forty flipping years old" and if she had said it one more time, I would have most likely thrown my Kindle out of the window. The character of Jill is extremely shallow and self-centered, immature for the age she is, and seems annoyingly entitled. The secondary characters are fairly well written but not very interesting.

One major issue I had is that the author would throw something at us (like the problem that Stephen's father is a cross dresser or has had a sex change?) and not bring us up to speed on it. The problem was hinted at and sort of discussed among the characters, but never to the point of explaining what happened. In addition, the author does this several times with plot [points that could have used further explanation.

I find this to be annoying since I find that I think I must have missed something important and then need to re-read. This is NOT the only time this author does this in this book. This is a well seasoned author and doing things like this surprised me and makes me a little shy about buying any of Ms Carmichael's other books.

Be ready to laugh and enjoy this book! Yes I am over 40 and yes I could relate to most of the issues in the book and therefore had a great time laughing along with the book about the silly things (and not so silly things) that happen as we age. The story was fun, the plot was good and the characters enjoyable. Definitely a testament to great girlfriends and not so great dates! Overall it's an easy read and fairly upbeat with a happy ending!

Enjoy!

Jill is a sous chef at a large hotel. She turns forty and feels overwhelmed in her life. Her ex-husband is now a woman, her job is in jeopardy, her son is artistic and a senior looking at expensive colleges, her mom is forever trying to set her up with a blind date and her dad is in jail because of an Enron-type offense. She tries to find the 'right husband' who is defined as a traveling salesman, so he won't be home often, thereby making a good marriage. Her interactions with her girlfreinds, mother, son and his former 3rd grade teacher is just delightful(who is interested in dating her).

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, laughing out loud until tears rolled down my face. Yes, I am over 40 so it makes it even funnier.

This is a funny book with a tiny bit of seriousness thrown in. Jill is desperate to find a way to pay for her son's college education, so she decides the best way to do that is to marry someone who can afford the tuition. But he has to be someone who is rarely home, or the marriage will never survive. In the meantime, her son's former teacher keeps showing up, and she's determined NOT to fall for him, because he most definitely can not afford college tuition. It's funny reading about her dealings with her crazy boss, her skillet-stealing ex, and her dating misadventures, but there is also some self-discovery going on in this book when Jill has to decide what's really important in life.

Just finished this book. It was free and had a catchy title. Now those are what brought me to read this book and I found out that it was a thoroughly enjoyable book. I could not wait to get back to it when I had to put it down and see to other things I was involved in. Yes, as one reviewer put, it is chick lit. What's wrong with Chick lit? It was an easy and a quick summer read. Something to enjoy. That is what I look for in books. The characters were well defined and believable. The story was plausible. I will definitely look for other books by this author in the future to read and to enjoy.