Review: Heated


Heated
Heated by J. Kenner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Why is it that criminals always seem to be one step ahead of the cops? For those who enjoy J.D. Robb's Eve Dallas Series, this is in the same flavour with a female cop and a questionable businessman. This is where the similarities end. Heated is lighter on the investigation and heavier on the kinky erotica. Sloane O'Dell is a cop on a leave of absence. Recovering from her gunshot wound, her good friend Candy asked her to look into a missing friend. Amy worked at a strip club in Chicago. She disappears under mysterious circumstances. The club is owned by one of the "knights" of Chicago. The knights are three rich business men - Tyler Sharp, Cole August and Evan Black. Sloane focuses on Tyler the club owner to figure out if he was involved with Amy.

This story contained several threads going at the same time. The main plot device is the "long con". Who is conning who? Does Sloane pull one over Tyler's eyes as an off duty cop? Or does Tyler pull a fast one over Sloane? The twist is good and enjoyable. It did make me admire Ms. Kenner a bit, with how she set Sloane and Tyler up.

Sloane is a decent character. She's persistent and loyal. Tyler is the more interesting character yet he's left undeveloped. I'd like to learn more about Tyler. The two do have chemistry with each other. It does seem a bit easy for them to fall for each other. The sexual heat between the two of them is good too. The conflict based on the location of their job is okay. What didn't make sense to me was why Sloane made such a point about Tyler being dirty. For me, the set up for Tyler being a criminal is a bit weak. It's based on rumors and a vengeful ex-boyfriend. How does this equate to a dirty dealing businessman?

The detective work in this story is a bit sketchy too. Perhaps Ms. Kenner needs to do a bit more research on law enforcement because this was a bit too light and way too easy for Sloane to gain information. For those who read mysteries and crime stories, this story won't satisfy. It is almost as if the mystery in this story is an afterthought. The focus is on Sloane trying to resist Tyler. While Sloane seems to be a nice girl, it's not readily apparent why someone like Tyler would take interest in her over all the choices available to him. While Sloane does have a painful history, it doesn't set her up to be the top of her class, so to speak. Sure, she's pretty but what really does she have to offer to Tyler that he can't get from other more capable women? She's not really a shining star. This disconnect made this story a bit less memorable for me. Overall, the story is sweet and the characters are cute. This story is recommended for romance lovers who female cops and questionable males getting down and dirty.


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