Customer Reviews

Hot Rain (Zebra Romantic Suspense)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Allie is convinced that her friend was murdered not a victim of a bad accident. Set with her determination she starts out to investigate. She ends up on another boat of the man that she feels is responsible for her friends death. What she did not expect or plan on is the boat leaving the dock while she is still on it. Not realizing that the boat has a stow-away it leaves for Mexico with a very dangerous cargo.

Jake Dawson in an undercover agent for the ATF so he is stunned when Allie is found on the boat. Now he has to bring in the bad guy and protect the blonde. Not an easy mission but he has no other choice. Did I mention Jake as an unwanted attraction to blondes and not a great track record with them? No? Well he does and that is is half the fun of the story.

Allie and Jake find themselves in all kinds dangerous situations but it only draws them closer together. But the hardest situation that Allie will have to deal with is the fact that Jake won't marry again and she is the marrying kind.

This is a fast paced book that held be glued to the pages. Lots of action, adventure, and romance to be had in this book. Great secondary characters and a fun plot. Kat Martin is a very talented author and one that you should not miss.

In San Diego, Mary Alice Parker drops her friend Christine Chambers off by the yacht, but before Mary Alice can reach her car and leave the bay area, Christine and boyfriend Donnie Markham die in an explosion on the Dynasty Corporation owned craft Dynasty I. Mary Alice ponders several recent conversations in which Christine worried about the unknown activities, perhaps illegal that Donnie performs for Dynasty Corporation. Soon Mary Alice begins to wonder if a double homicide occurred to eliminate Donnie from the company rather than the official opinion that an accident happened.

She investigates leading to her sneaking on board the Dynasty II just before the vessel sets sail for Belize. On board along with the female stowaway are Agent Jake Dawson and two thugs. When one of the goons finds Mary Alice, Jake claims her as his and makes it clear that if she wants to survive this trip without rape and death she must pretend to be his beautiful bimbo bunkmate. However, feigned sex begins to turn into love complicating the complex even further.

HOT RAIN is an action-packed romantic suspense that contains quite a wallop of a story line. Though why Mary Alice insists on making inquiries including trespassing when no evidence existed seems out of character is a mystery in and of itself. Still, fans will relish her feisty behavior, as she appears like a modern day Rosie (Hepburn) to Jake's Alnut (Bogart) in the African Queen. Kat Martin has written a strong tale that sub-genre fans will enjoy the ride.

Harriet Klausner

It's a great title, but I'm having a hard time getting through the book. The "heroine" is a let down - saying that she's not too bright, is not fair to not-too-bright people. What woman in her right mind would say to a guy holding her captive, "Why don't you want to rape me?" There's really little plot and action, and almost no characterization. But lots of sex. But not great sex.

If you are one of those who like exotic, steamy jungles that are alive with the sounds of heavy breathing, you will enjoy `Hot Rain'.

Kat Martin has deftly spliced together her two lead characters: a spunky, lithe, tenacious female, and a too good to be true, "hard muscle with curly black chest hair" undercover ATF agent on an adventure that tramps through Central America.

The hero, agent Jake Dawnson, is a man with moral values that will dwarf any normal, red blooded male . The only mystery in the book is what took Jake so long to get his libido focused. Allie Parker; is the willing to take risks, ultramodern, young beautiful heroine, who struggles against Jake until their lips meet.

Of course there is an ultimate objective, but it is interrupted by frequent episodes of passionate sex. Allie's character keeps the adventure (and Jake) moving forward at a hot pace. To say, as Kat Martin did, that "Allie shoved the bacon around the skillet" is an understatement.

Though `Hot Rain' offers no new twists, and has few surprises, and though it uses the happy sunset ending, the story is none-the-less an enjoyable and engaging read. You will find this romance/suspense novel a great `escape' read.

Job-hopping heroine witnessed the boat her roommate sailed on blow up & decides to investigate further reasons for the boat's explosion by herself. Upon investigating one of the boats owned by the powerful businessman who owned the boat her roommate was killed, she finds herself trapped in it & on the way to South America with an ex-Special Force hero & 2 other men. Hero, who's covertly working for the US govt, pretends to be her lover in order to protect her from sexual intentions of the other 2 men & planned to fly her back to US when they get to their destination. But their plan goes awry as 1 of the men hear of their plan & takes them hostage. But they were able to escape as the plane they're on crashes into the jungle which conveniently leads them to the weapons' buyer who hero is setting up for a fall.

This Martin book irritated me for the most part. This romance-suspense was predictable & outlandish at times. There were many moments during the action-suspense part that were too contrived to be believable or realistic (e.g., civilian heroine had the right apparatus in her purse & the know-how to plug the bullet hole in the airplane to keep the oxygen level balanced). There were constant repetitions (every 10 pages until they had sex) of hero thinking he hated blondes & followed by a dumb-blonde joke. The dialogue was inconsistent also, where hero would talk out of character & sound like an encyclopedia or travelogue (e.g. when hero informs heroine about the poisonous snake they encountered). Although heroine was portrayed as smart & practical, she made some really stupid moves & decisions (e.g., going above deck alone despite repeated warning from hero not to & repeated threats/attempts of rape from the 2 other men, seducing hero in the same spot & right after he killed a poisonous snake that was aiming for her). It didn't help that this book was emotionally-distancing to read. The emotions were said & acted by the characters but it didn't draw me in as a reader. The sex scenes were passionate but didn't make the romance more endearing due to the overall lack of emotional draw of this book.

Can't recommend much except maybe the sex scenes.

I am a huge fan of action-packed romances, especially ones with rainforests and badguys, etc, and I thought I was getting another winner here, but nah...
Boring and so typical at times that I wondered if I was becoming a mindreader and could foresee the plot. The heroine was definately not worthy of the hero and I even felt sorry for him. He on the other hand 'in real life' could not have been a real agent with the way he gave himself away so many times and did things so 'not in the rules of conduct'. In other words, I WOULD NOT want these two romping through the jungle in an effort to thwart the badguys for the good of this great country. I would rather I go instead. They were far from capable of doing the job or anything romotely dangerous or risky IMO.

The heroine Allie goes on a quest(she's kinds ditzy and the blonde jokes the author tells inbetween ironically fit her to a T, go figure...) to find her best friend's killer. She ends up an unwilling passenger on a boat carrying deadly cargo and deadlier men on their way to God only knows where. Her only hope? A mysteriously great looking guy who tries to keep her safe named Jake Dawson.
Jake isn't what he seems immediately in the fact that he protects her and tells her the only way for her to survive is to become his bedmate. In theory that is. When in fact its a facade.
Before she knows it, Allie is becoming way too attracted and dependent on Jake. Running for there very lives in the steamy Mexican jungle and dodging bullets and revolutionaries, these two must trust the other to make it out alive.

Allie does some really dumb things at times and you start to pray that Jake throws her overboard in an attempt to save himself. What made the story so irritating was the fact that the heroine was so unbelievably weak and needy. Not to mention ditzy and just downright stupid(sorry to be so blunt).
And he end doesn't get any better. She just causes more trouble and does more ridiculous stuff and then she actually tries to get us the reader to believe that she is so bright and belongs in this line of work? God I hope not. I would hope the government and the powers that be keep people like her out of this line of work for our safety, if not just hers, lol.
In short, this is an 'okay' read and probably better picking it up used and not new.
If you're looking for action-packed jungle romps try out Linda Howard's 'Heart of Fire', now that is definately worth the $ and time and by far a shelf-keeper.

Tracy Talley~@

I got this novel in a shipment of books in September I have never read a novel by Kat Martin before and when I saw this one in my shipment I was drawen to it so I began to read it I was very intrigued I read it while I was under my hair dryer and I could not put it down I loved the romace between Jake and Allie she was so convinced that he was going to hurt to her but she was pleasantly surprised that he did not the old saying applies here don't judge a book by it's cover.

I also loved the storyline with Miguel and Allie it made me smile alot. This is a great read for the beach or when you getting your hair done and are under the dryer lol. I look forward to more titles from Kat Martin in the future

This book was so drowsy, I had to stop reading it half way through; it was a cliche romance novel with absolutely no suspense. (Well, it may have had a bit, but I couldn't stay awake to experience it.) All in all...this book should be rated "Z" for zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I really loved this book, in fact, I read it in one day! The book had all the requisite romantic suspense elements, but what I really loved was the heroine - Allie. Allie was awesome! Here was a woman who had no clue what she wanted to do with her life, yet was written in such a way that she did not come off like some helpless ditz. This was a woman with brains and courage and the daring to try new things. I just thought she was excellently written and developed. Allie is a woman who knows how to rescue herself. I highly recommend this book.

I loved this book. It captured my attention from the very beginning and held it. It is full of adventure and more importantly, misadventure. Ms. Martin writes some very enthralling love scenes amidst all the action, and the suspense and mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat. I was amazed at the way Ms. Martin could weave a tale across continents, cultures, and numerous unsettling events without lossing the depth of every character in the book. She is a very powerful writer. The ending proves this fact to the fullest as it isn't what one would expect. I was very surprised, but pleasantly. I can't wait to get my hands on some of her other novels.