Customer Reviews

Hot Water

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

(FYI, I am female, just using my husband's account to post this review.)
'Julia', a woman of a certain age trapped in an unhappy marriage, rents a Lamborghini Murcielago and escapes for a weekend to a luxury spa. There she meets 'William', a male escort she's hired for the occasion, and they embark on what turns out to be a romance. First time novelist Kathryn Jordan skillfully weaves a tale of love, philosophy and sexual healing under the California desert sun.
Fans of erotic romance will enjoy this book; the sex scenes are explicit and realistic without being crass. I am a big fan of beach reads in general, and I must admit I was attracted to this book by the steamy cover and wish-fulfillment premise. But I'm also a writer and a lover of substantial literature, and I was pleasantly surprised by the complexity and depth of this book. Julia and William discuss Hannah Arendt and the Gaia theory between adventures, and the flights of fancy and tone of magical realism evoked such writers as Hunter Thompson and Laura Esquivel. The premise of sensual pleasure as a path to spiritual healing was really interesting, and I found myself thinking about the characters' conversations days later.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a quality read with a bit of spice. Very enjoyable...I polished it off in one sitting!

I enjoyed reading Hot Water by Kathryn Jordan tremendously. I thought it was the most perfect combination of sensuality and intelligence. The erotica is wonderful; it is refined and sophisticated as are the characters. The ending is a wonderful surprise, and the author takes us on a whirlwind of emotional challenges, with a true understanding of the female psyche and the complications that brings in terms of finding freedom.

Freedom for both characters is ultimately what this book meant to me. It is a fascinating, delicious, intelligent read, and the author is definitely one of the best in sharing her characters' sensuality without becoming salacious in any way. Quite a feat!

Johanna Angelos
La Quinta, California

When she finds a deed to a `hunting' cabin in her husband's name only, she knows that it's time she take some time for herself and rediscover who she really is. Calling herself `Julia' she leases a Lamborghini, hires a man of the evening, and checks into the ultra swanky resort, The Hidden Springs. While there she reevaluates her marriage where she has become a non-entity and strives for a reawakening that will let her live again. `William', the man she hired, is a strange juxtaposition of experienced lover and philosophical man trying to find himself as well.

When I first read the blurb for this book I was nervous about its topic. Being a rather traditional woman when it comes to marriage and the sanctity of that vow, I was curious to see how Ms. Jordan would romanticize a woman intent on an affair. While there were times that the story went a little too far esoterically, I was surprised by how successful she was. With an eloquent pen Ms. Jordan took us along on the journey to rediscovery with both William and Julia. She painted a picture that made me feel for both of them and their situations. All said, this was a very well written book.

I haven't read such a fun, sexy and totally entertaining book in a long time. No wonder Hot Water is catching on with women across the country and has become a popular choice among book discussion groups.

Romantic but not a romance novel and as steamy as erotic fiction but with plenty of philosophy in the mix, Hot Water is about a woman's escape from her humdrum life, uniquely told from both the woman's and man's point of view.

The story takes place over a single weekend when Julia, an attractive Minnesota housewife in her mid-forties, secretly flies to California, rents a red Lamborghini and checks in at a luxurious desert spa. Her expectations don't begin to measure up to what actually transpires during her rendezvous with William - also rented for the weekend - a darkly handsome graduate student in philosophy who is more than ten years her junior. As this page-turner progresses, the title becomes the perfect metaphor for lust, love and life.

A Minnesota housewife, unhappy in her marriage, seizes the opportunity to live out her fantasies. With the help of her sister, she reserves a weekend at a spa, hires a man to at least pretend to care about her, rents a hot little Lamborghini, and indulges in sexy lingerie. The kids are grown and gone, it's time that this woman calling herself Julia Reeves, rediscovers the joys of life and the pleasures of being a woman.

Julia requested her consort for the weekend to be called William. While William enjoys women and sex, he's become disillusioned by all the rich, uppity, bored women whom he normally services. He fully expected Julia to be like all the others. Surprisingly, he enjoys the time he spends with her. While the sex is great, it's the time they spend getting to know each other that draws him to her.

Julia has planned and saved for this venture for years. She covered her tracks, credit card receipts, everything. Julia's husband's neglect of her has taken its toll. Where once there might have been affection, now there's only tolerance and loneliness. Julia longs to feel like a woman again, and not have to compete with the television or her husband's business. Julia is going to live out her ultimate fantasy in an exclusive spa in California. There'll be lots of HOT WATER, warm weather, a hunk she's paid to indulge in her needs. Julia's been married to the same man for more than twenty-five years, will she be able to rediscover her sensual side after all this time? More importantly, when her time at the spa with William is over will she really be able to return home and pretend it never happened?

Kathryn Jordan takes us on an adventure of a housewife who steps out of the life she's been living and into one of her sexiest fantasies. HOT WATER is about more than just a weekend fantasy as I'm sure readers will discover. Julia is like many housewives. She's no longer happy with her marriage but stayed in the relationship because of their children. Her husband built his business, and Julia raised the children. Now the kids have moved away, and Julia risks everything she has to experience her wildest dreams. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I could relate to Julia and was able to live vicariously through her.

Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies)

Title: Hot Water
Author: Kathryn Jordan
Publisher: Berkley Trade/Penguin
Genre: Contemporary
Publication date: January 2006
ISBN: 0-425-20757-9
Pages: 274
Series:


Heat Level: 1 chili pepper

Rating: 5 Kisses



Hot Water is a gloriously poetic novel that begins in the style of Contemporary Chick Lit but rapidly branches out into philosophy and metaphysics, and into allegory and metaphor. Hot Water truly has the capacity to melt the most jaded, cynical, ice-block heart. Hot Water is a glorious precious gem of a story, one which transforms ugly routine reality into a faceted diamond catching the light. No reader, male nor female, is going to resist this one; it fully deserves best-seller status.


A tired, invisible, empty-nest housewife from Minnesota and a lover of books in all their aspects and fantasy in its most imaginative, treats herself to a weekend away, alone. And why not? Her loving hubby, owner of a heavy-equipment fleet, has just recently purchased a half-million dollar hunting lodge in the upstate Minnesota woods; a fact which he has kept completely concealed. With the collaboration of her sister, Lucile, she books a weekend getaway at a luxurious, magical, health spa in the upper California desert, hidden away and very expensive, and she, who's never driven a sports car in her life, leases a red Lamborghini for the weekend. She plans this to the be the weekend to build memories to last her a lifetime, so she also selects a male escort on the Internet, and chooses to identify herself as Julia, and him as William.


William is at the end of three years in his field and wants desperately to enter graduate school to begin work on his Ph.D. He just needs a little more in his savings, just a few more jobs, and a weekend with Julia from Minnesota will pay for most of the remainder needed. Neither Julia nor William could possibly entertain the notion that the weekend getaway will change them both, and those close to them, in ways they could not have conceived of, even in fantasy.


Hot Water is the kind of story one reads the first time for the sheer joy and pleasure of it; but it is also a novel that finds its way immediately to the keeper shelf. It will be reread over and over again, each time the reader is in need of a dose of Hope. There is not one factor at fault in this book. The plot, the characters, the gorgeous setting, the philosophy and metaphor: every aspect of this book shines, and the reader comes away looking at herself or himself for traces of faery dust glow. This book is that good. Kathryn Jordan is a debut novelist, but I hope this is only the first in a long line of outstanding stories from this gifted author.

Review by Frost, TwoLips [...]

Kathryn Jordan's book Hot Water was unbelievable. The book took me to a sensual place out of the ordinary beyond my wildest dreams. Sometimes we as women just go through life not listening to our innermost dreams and callings. This book inspires women who are stuck in a rut to go out and do something that they always wanted to do. I recommend it highly. Thank you Kathryn for writing about the goddess within ourselves.

I read Hot Water while immersed in a hotel jacuzzi tub. It was particularly delicious because the days were full and sometimes frantic as I spent time with my family. To allow the fantasy and reality of "hot water" to fill me each evening was the ultimate self-care. In Kathryn Jordan's novel, I found myself. The Self that delights in shocking sensuality and reversal of roles for men and women. (and "Ooola la! What would my parents say?")

As a Certified Life Coach and Professional Retreat Leader, I highly recommend Hot Water to midlife women who are wondering what's next and wanting to play with possibilities. Kathryn and her main character, Julia, will take you on this journey in ways that will surprise you. It's a safe place to tease the underbelly of your desires and discover what's there. (In my case, I'm ramping up the image of my hunky husband Derek as my own personal male escort and seeing what kind of "hot water" I can get into there!)

Jordan's book has it all for the female reader. It's sexy in a very comfortable way; it's deep in literary content and it's provocative with a delicious story line that makes it impossible to put down. I recommend it to all who love spice and not everything nice.

If you know anything at all about Desert Hot Springs, CA, and the Two Bunch Palms Resort, you'll enjoy reading this romantic tale about the hideaway created by "Big Al" Capone.