Customer Reviews

Hot Property

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

When Susan jumped into writing contemporary romance, I decided to read Hot Property, which is about a former CIA agent who happens to be a tortured soul, and the woman he longs to protect. I am a sucker for these types of stories. Unfortunately Hot Property was such a disappointment, especially when the jackass hero does something so horrible in my eyes; he tries to kill the heroine during sex. Can we say major trust issue and perhaps the need for some form of therapy? And I couldn't stand how the TSTL heroine basically forgives him because she wants to get off by his intense and forceful sex that gives her the "Big O". Some may find enjoyment in reading this book, but as for myself I am placing Hot Property as one my worst reads of 2008.

The heroine Zoe Chandler has rented a cabin by the lake where she is busy at work writing a tell all book where she has exposed some shady dealings with some high-class art collectors. The Willerbys', the subject of her book, would like nothing better to make this problem go away. Zoe is playing hard to get, so after trying to pay her off countless times, which she says "no dice" to, Papa Willerby will send some of his men to talk some sense into her.

The jackass hero, Nick Mirovic used to work for the CIA as an interpreter, but ever since one of the CIA agents he worked with found enjoyment in killing the men he interrogated, Nick decided to get out. And now since evil CIA baddie is up for CIA director, he is pulling out all the stops so nothing gets in his way of gaining the position, even if that means taking Nick out for good. Nick is on edge and always looking over his shoulder, because he thinks someone is going to come out of the woods and kill him. The poor guy needs a Zanex or some form of medication. He doesn't trust anyone and that includes his new next-door neighbor, Zoe. Zoe decides Nick would be the best bodyguard even though he told he to get lost and is a bit broody. But that doesn't stop her from asking for his protection against the two goons Willerby sent. Nick of course thinks this may be a set up by evil CIA baddie because Zoe's story seems too convenient. He tricks himself in believe that Zoe is a mole even though he would like nothing more than having her horizontal on his bed. Zoe welcomes Nick's touch because, well, she is alone in the woods with no other man around and I don't think Grizzly Adams will cut it. So, what if Nick wants to handcuff her to his bed because of his trust issues. Suddenly these two are all over each other, having sex every which way, even as they go on the run because the evil CIA baddie has found them.

Hot Property should have been a hot and heavy thriller because of the amount of lust and sex both Nick and Zoe have for each other. It falls flat mainly because of my dislike for Nick who doesn't trust Zoe has far as he can throw her. But he still doesn't mind getting down her pants every chance he can get. When the so-called hero is in the middle of having sex with the heroine and begins to strangle her because he thinks she is about to kill him, well that makes me wonder if these two have any chance of a future with one another. I also have an issue with the way Zoe acted after being strangled and almost passed out from lack of air. I would have ran for the nearest exit or gave Nick a good kick in the balls, but no, Zoe forgives and forgets and let's Nick finish what he had started. I simple couldn't find any valid reason why Nick and Zoe were so attracted to each other because there was no trust between them. Because Nick constantly thought Zoe was a mole from his enemy who is out to kill him, any possible love that could grow between them was not believable in the least. Perhaps I am an old-fashioned type of girl, but I find myself wanting a more compassionate hero and one that will not try and kill his own true love while they are in the middle of making love because he is afraid she may stab him in the back.

Katiebabs

There were a lot of long sex scenes which tend to liven up most anything, but it needed a different kind of spark. I wasn't emotionally pulled in. Nothing surprised or delighted me. It was a typical good guys vs bad guys with CIA types and a greedy corporate billionaire. There were a couple of interesting and good solutions at the end. I didn't want to rush the reading, so it was enjoyable.

Story Brief:
Zoe is investigating and writing a book about looted artifacts from Italy. The book will scandalize Willerby, a greedy corporate billionaire, so he hires people to threaten her. Zoe's neighbor Nick is a former CIA agent who knows too much. Harry is going to be promoted to head of the CIA and sends agents to kill Nick. Nick has been living hermit-like due to post traumatic stress from his military work. Zoe asks him for help against the Willerby threat. Nick goes back and forth concerning Zoe, because he suspects she may be an agent of Harry's. He gets involved to help her, but continues to be suspicious.

Story length: 312 pages. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 9. Length of sex scenes: 1 short scene (0.5 page), 4 medium scenes (1.6 to 3.2 pages) and 4 long scenes (8.5 to 18.8 pages). Setting: current day Ely, Minn (small town on a lake), the Hamptons, Virginia, Canada and Chicago. Copyright: 2008. Genre: romantic suspense.

To date, I've read the following Susan Johnson books.
4 stars. Wedding Surprise (in anthology Twin Peaks). Copyrt 2005. Review Date 5/01/07.
4 stars. School for Scandal (in anthology Perfect Kisses). Copyrt 2007. Review Date 5/17/08.
3 stars. Hot Property. Copyrt 2008. Review Date 9/30/08.
2 stars. Blaze. Copyrt 1986. Review Date 9/29/08.

Zoe Chandler is renting a place in Ely for seclusion and finishing up her first draft of an expose manuscript on art collectors. It may be completed as early as next month. Joe, the man who does her leg work, has found a whole lot of evidence about the Willerbys' collection and Zoe intends to tell all in her book. Roberto Fiorilli is her contact in the Tutela Patrimonio Culturale (TPC). The Italian TPC is charged with protecting Italy's cultural heritage and pursues any case of found artifacts to get them back from private collectors. The Willerby couple has the largest collection of ancient artifacts in the world. Knowing Zoe is digging for information on them, and finding it, they are determined to get Zoe to cease the project. Buying Zoe off is useless. So they will have to send people to shut Zoe up permanently. Needing a bodyguard, Zoe decides to hire the guy next door for the job. She can tell simply by looking at him that the guy could easily do the job.

Nick Mirovic still has nightmares since the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. He walked out afterward, refusing to do anything more with Harry Miller, who is now on the short list for C.I.A. director. Nick knows that the odds are extremely good that Harry will attempt to kill him. It is not as though Harry did not try once before, and almost succeeded. Nick knows too much about all the accidental deaths in Kosovo, and Harry does not like loose ends. But Nick learned a lot while dealing with the C.I.A. He is now very skilled in booby-traps for one thing.

When Zoe approaches him for the position as her bodyguard his first thought is that she is a plant by Harry. Her story about the Willerbys' "diplomatic ambassadors" sounds plausible and Zoe never once showed any tell-tale signs of lying. Nick knows he should flat out say no. He even tries to scare her off by letting her know that some bad men may be after him too. In the end, Nick's libido has him agreeing to protect her, but she would need to travel with him to an outpost he has in Ontario. The two strike a deal and dice are rolled.

***** Novels by Susan Johnson are more addictive than chocolate! This one is no exception. The story opens up with a scene that grabbed me immediately and held on tighter than Super Glue until the very end. Even the scenes where the characters are meeting and telling about themselves are written in such a way that the element of danger constantly vibrates underneath. Unlike many Suspense and Thriller novels, this one does not slow down toward the middle. This is non-stop and fast paced. Brilliant! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

If you are a big Susan Johnson fan, then Hot Property is right up your alley. I tend to like her early century story lines more so than the contemporary, but all are great for a bit of frisky frolic!

The characters have just enough dephth to make it interesting...

Zoe Chandler believes she has enough to write an exposé on art collectors. To complete the task, she secludes herself at an isolated lake house.

After watching the abuse by our CIA agents in the Balkans especially in Kosovo, former field civilian interpreter Nick Mirovic knows that even after all these years he still suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, albeit the nightmares are less frequent. He avoids the pharmaceutical solution as he felt that messed up his head. Instead he has isolated himself near a remote lake. However, though the hermit tries to distance himself from his beautiful new neighbor, he fails as he wants her. When danger comes stalking their lake as Zoe's art collector portrayal has placed her in peril, Nick's protective juices flow as much as one particular male bodily fluid since he met his new neighbor.

This fast-paced exciting romantic suspense is filled with sex, sex, and the lead couple on the lam; with more sex while running for their lives. Nick is the more fascinating character as his experience in the Balkans still eats at his soul in many ways such as trust issues with other people including the woman he is falling in love with and an obsession to help the underdog. The heat is on figuratively and literally as Susan Johnson provides her fans with a HOT PROPERTY.

Harriet Klausner

Not the best book from Susan Johnson, but very good!
It does not play in the past, that is wonderful.

I have read more than my share of spy stories, romance, and erotica. And this was probably the worst book I have ever read in each of these categories.

As spy stories go (if one could call it that), plot holes abound. Nick is so distrustful and paranoid that he has to handcuff Zoe to the bed to have sex with her, but before that, he lets her have the run of his house while he's working outside? She has dozens of opportunities to kill him, but the only time he seems to worry about it is when it might add some sizzle to the sex scenes (if you're into that kind of thing). And why does a Slavic language professor have all these Rambo-like skills? Just because you're recruited by the CIA to work with their interrogators, doesn't mean you get prepped with years of commando training.

There is NO romance in this story, just sex. If you took all the dialog, removed the sex and the parts relating to handling the "bad guys", there would be about two pages of other dialog left, most of it the kind of small talk you might make with the person sitting next to you on an airplane. Even during the scenes where they are apart and missing each other, it focuses on the great sex they had had. Ms. Johnson would have us believe that lust-at-first-sight has blossomed into love, but there was no blossoming at all. There was a lot of sex, and then out of the blue, "let's get married and have kids" and they live happily ever after.

So how about the erotica? Not very erotic, unless (as a previous reviewer has pointed out very ably) your idea of erotica is continuing a sexual escapade after the "hero" has just finished trying to strangle the "heroine". God forbid that attempted murder should get in the way of a good orgasm. Ms. Johnson seems to deride Harry and Lucy for their fondness for snuff films and S&M (respectively), while including a fair amount of "incidental" violence and bondage in Nick & Zoe's sex. For a female "romance writer", Ms. Johnson is remarkably crude and focused on "getting their rocks off". Most of the scenes are "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" sex scenes, after which the characters talk about how it was the best sex they'd ever had. We'll have to take their word for it, because I've certainly *read* better sex. In a couple scenes, Zoe gets off very loudly, while Nick is primarily there to supply the male anatomy.

The last thing you're probably looking for in a book like this is good writing, and you won't be surprised here. It's just so much more obvious that the writing is poor when the action, romance, and sex are not holding your attention adequately. You can almost hear Ms. Johnson thinking "if I'm about to write about [X], I'll throw in a short paragraph that explains why Nick knows [X]." This happens over and over. Plus, the book is awash in misused or mangled phrases, such as saying "one in the same" instead of "one and the same".

This reads like a rough draft someone threw together and pitched to a publisher, only it never got finished and someone published the draft. Take any spy novel, some letters to Penthouse, and a Harlequin romance, mix the pages together, and you'll have a better read. This book is going straight to the thrift store.

My goodness. I'm familiar with Susan Johnson from her historical romances, all of which I LOVED. I'm an avid and quick reader of romance novels - I could finish two or three a day if left to my own devices... That being said, this book was awful. The plot was thin. The character development was nonexistent. I fought my way through five days of reading because I just knew it would get better - and it didn't. I have the receipt to Border's and I'm taking it back as soon as humanly possible.

The characters, had they been more fully developed, could have been spectacular. A woman who tracks down purveyors of stolen art in Italy? A man recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder left over from the war in Kosovo? But no - none of that was explored at all. It was as if Susan Johnson threw together a bunch of random sex scenes loosely connected by dialogue and action. It was pointless. I'm thoroughly disappointed and disgusted.

Dear Ms Johnson
I adore your books! They are such great rereads. By far this is the best one yet. Nobody else does this theme the way you do ~ nothing like people who are really hot for each other becoming fond of each other too.
Why did i love this one the best so far? Talk about satisfaction on all levels - ya i can be just as paranoid as the hero with some folks (who i end up finding out were never to be trusted anyway), so glad the bad guys get it (how many times i wish i could do that in real life - nothing like getting satisfaction through your books!), great sex, great cooking, great places. Sure puts a smile on my face! Works for me.. thanks again :)