Hot Island Nights (Harlequin Blaze) [Kindle Edition]

Sarah Mayberry (Author)

Book Description

Elizabeth Morgan didn't intend to abandon her very proper life. But that's the best way to find her true—and less proper—self. So here she is in Australia, standing in front of a man who's clad only in a towel. Nathan Jones is so tempting he could be the ideal candidate to help this good girl be very bad!

Sure enough, thanks to Nathan's talented hands, Elizabeth is living all her sensual fantasies. And while the sex is great, something more is developing. She trusts him, and wants to share her secrets with him, and… Suddenly this feels more like a real relationship than some fun in the sun. Luckily, there's a cure for too much commitment—more wickedness!

Product Details

• File Size: 249 KB
• Print Length: 222 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 037379570X
• Publisher: Harlequin Blaze (September 1, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003ZK5M4G
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,511 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #62 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Series > Harlequin Blaze

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice, easy read but more interested in the sequel May 14, 2012

By T. Wheaton TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

Although I am a stone Sarah Mayberry groupie, I tend to shy away from the Harlequin Blaze line, even with her books. So I hadn't any intentions of reading this one. I finally picked it up so that I could read it before reading her more recent Her Best Worst Mistake, which is a sequel to this one.

While I think the story was well plotted and it felt like a much bigger book than it was, I felt a curious distance from Elizabeth and Nathan which did not let me get as invested in them as I could have.

The set up and plot is actually quite good with Elizabeth feeling he need to break away from a stultifying existence and throwing over her rather lackluster fiance in the process. She ends up in Australia having super-sexy times with the hunky, troubled Nathan. Both of the main protagonists have issues to confront. And again, it is amazing how much story this author manages to pack in the category format.

Elizabeth and Nathan have a romance that feels a little too whirlwind for me, so as I mentioned above it didn't quite work on that end. But I did enjoy the parts where she is attempting to connect with her long lost father as well as the areas the delve into Nathan's PTSD following a horrific car accident.

Since I also read this for the prequel benefit of the other book, I was intensely curious about Elizabeth's stuffy fiance Martin. He is the hero of the sequel. I wondered if I'd be able to envision him as hero material since he is described as being sexually boring in this book and given a mischievous nick-name 'Droopy drawers'.

I have to give the author kudos here as well. I can't even begin to count how many books I've read where the non-hero boyfriend of the heroine is given the character trait of 'stuffy' only to be further demonized or emasculated to further contrast with the hero. He either becomes overly pompous, or is made to seem super petty, or in some extreme cases he's made downright evil. But Mayberry neatly side-steps that here. Martin isn't demonized or somehow made lesser to further polish up Nathan. He and Elizabeth manage to maintain a friendship and the character retains some sympathy for the reader. So I was relieved that I wouldn't have to overcome some bad character pre-conditioning when I got to his book.

Still this was a nice, easy read on a Sunday afternoon and whetted my appetite for the sequel.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Hot Island Nights - Take Me Away Calgon September 8, 2010

By J. Legacy

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Prim, proper, conservative English rose Elizabeth Mannen receives some news that rocks her perfectly planned life, causing her to break off her engagement to her equally stuffy English fiance (aka Droopy Drawers, so coined by Elizabeth's best friend) and trek half way around the world to an Australian island hot spot in search of answers. She sure as heck wasn't prepared when Nathan Jones answered the door clad only in a low slung towel precariously tucked about his hips. And her English sensibilities were equally affronted when the Aussie charmer insisted on calling her Betsy and Lizzie. I personally like nicknames, so I found it quite amusing.

Nathan Jones isn't quite the carefree Aussie "mate" he appears to be. He's got a whole boatload of his own demons he's trying to work through. A tragic event in his life has caused him to drown his sorrows in the bottom of a bottle (beer, vodka whatever's close at hand), just so he can make it through the day. Mayberry does a really good job making you experience Nathan's grief right along with him.

Elizabeth and her cool, calming influence seems to be just what Nathan needs as he deals with his debilitating loss and slowly helps him find his way back to the land of the living. Hot Island Nights was a beautiful story of healing and understanding and Nathan and Lizzie make a potent couple.

Although this is a Harlequin Blaze, it seemed longer than its 217 pages and read with more depth of story and character than a lot of other similar books. There were lots of hot, steamy sex scenes and chemistry between Nathan and Elizabeth (after all it is a Blaze). Lizzie's previous sexual experiences with Droopy Drawers were lacking and pedestrian to say the least, but Nahtan's just the man to help Lizzie broaden her sexual horizons.

I've said this before about Mayberry whose heroes are Aussie men...there is nothing sexier than a hero with an accent - even if it is only in my head.

Take a trip down under and enjoy some Hot Island Nights.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not up to Mayberry's usual standard January 20, 2013

By Kala

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I read "Her Best Worst Mistake" (the companion novel to this) and LOVED it. Unfortunately, Hot Island Nights just didn't appeal to me at all. I had trouble buying the progression of Elizabeth and Nathan's relationship.

The sex started immediately and seemed to come out of nowhere, and the "feelings" between them also seemed to come out of nowhere. We get some glimpses in to Nathan's mind, and he was not seeming to want anything to do with Elizabeth outside of sex, then suddenly he's confessing all of his fears and life story and crying in front of her? I don't know, it just seemed forced and fast and Mayberry is usually SO much better than this.

I also just didn't like Nathan much as a character. I didn't find him interesting or attractive. I liked Elizabeth in "Her Best Worst Mistake" and she really was a complex and compelling character, but Nathan was just kind of a beefcake with PTSD over a car crash. After completely falling in love with Violet and Martin, I was really really hoping that Elizabeth would find someone just as amazing for her and Nathan just bored me to tears. I also hated the constant use of "Betty" and "Lizzy" as nicknames for Elizabeth

More About the Author

Sarah Mayberry lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her partner of nearly twenty years (who has recently become her husband!). When she's not in her pajamas eating peanut butter sandwiches and typing away madly on her latest story, she enjoys reading, cooking, sleeping, pilates, going to the movies and shopping. Not necessarily in that order!

Some of Sarah's favorite authors are Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Rachel Gibson, Karina Bliss, Mary Balogh, Julie James, Sherry Thomas, Meredith Duran, and Loretta Chase. Her favorite movie is When Harry Met Sally, although she is also very fond of His Girl Friday and Something About Mary.

Sarah loves to hear from readers via her website at www.sarahmayberry.com