Beach Reads: You’ll Need to Cool Off After These Steamy Books
These are the dog days of summer when occasionally you don’t even want to bother going outside. Hopefully, you can hit the beach and cool off in the ocean. Some midafternoon ice cream doesn’t hurt, either. Whether your toes are in the sand, or you choose to chill out in the AC, here are some hot and steamy books to keep you entertained through the last hot and steamy days of summer.
“No One But You” by Brenda Novak
Sadie Harris is trying to put her life back together after her marriage fell apart. Waitressing just isn’t enough to make ends meet and help her get custody of her son. She takes a risk and accepts a job working for Dawson Reed on his farm. But Dawson isn’t just a regular boss. He recently stood trial for the murder of his adoptive parents. Dawson is innocent but that doesn’t stop the people in town from being cautious around him and expecting Sadie to be as well. As their working relationship starts to get personal, Sadie realizes there is much more to Dawson than anyone else can see, and she’s just added something else to her list of things worth fighting for.
“Until You” by Judith McNaught
Sheridan Bromleigh is a teacher, working only with wealthy young ladies. She is hired to travel with one of her students, the heiress Charise Lancaster, to England to meet her fiancé, Lord Burleton. Along the way, Charise elopes with a stranger and it’s up to Sheridan to explain this to her fiancé. But when she goes to find him, she accidentally steps into the path of a cargo net loaded with crates and wakes up in the mansion of Stephen Westmoreland, the Earl of Langford, with no memory of what happened, what she’s doing there or even who she is. Everyone calls her Miss Lancaster, which she knows isn’t right but is the only clue to her past. When Sheridan begins to fall in love with the handsome English earl, her future starts looking brighter than ever. But will things stay the same when she finds out her true identity?
“Indigo Lake” by Jodi Thomas
I couldn’t do a hot and steamy book review without at least one cowboy, could I? Especially one that involves forbidden romance. Blade Hamilton has never even heard of Crossroads, Texas, until he inherits land there. He pulls into town on his vintage Harley-Davidson to find a beat-up ranch house, an empty prairie and a dark river that cuts a path between the Hamiltons’ land and the land of their estranged neighbors. Dakota stops to help a stranger on a motorcycle and is immediately drawn to him. It’s only when she realizes who he is that she’s torn. Her whole life she has been raised to hate the Hamiltons, but there is something about Blade’s wolf-gray eyes she can’t forget.
“The Day of the Duchess” by Sarah MacLean
In the third book of the “Scandal & Scoundrel” series, the Duke of Haven, Malcolm Bevingstoke, has lived the last three years completely alone, punishing himself for mistakes made and love lost. Haven needs an heir, which means Malcolm needs to find a wife before the end of the summer. However, he already has one. Seraphina, the Duchess of Haven, returns after years in exile. She’s hoping to get her life back and find happiness again, without the man who broke her heart. She is offered her freedom if she can find a wife to replace her. Until then, she has to spend the summer with the husband she can’t seem to resist, even though he broke her heart. Malcolm has one summer to make things right with the love of his life.
“Wired” by Julie Garwood
This is a steamy, modern-day romance that includes a hot computer hacker and a bad-boy FBI agent. Allison Trent is a computer hacker, when she isn’t taking classes or modeling. She’s the whole package: beautiful face, brilliant mind and ambitious! She dreams of writing a security program that could revamp the entire technology industry. Liam Scott is a hotshot FBI agent with a leak in his own department. He needs Allison’s talents to break into the highly secure FBI network and figure out who the rat is. Allison isn’t interested because she doesn’t want Liam to discover the secrets that she is hiding. But Liam will do anything to convince her to work with him, in more ways than one. This temptation could prove fatal for both of them.
“Some Kind of Hero” by Suzanne Brockmann
In the 19th book of the Troubleshooter series, Lt. Peter Greene is responsible for training Navy SEAL wannabes into elite fighters. But when his ex dies, he becomes a single father to a 15-year-old girl he seems to have no control over. He’s having a hard time connecting with Maddie but sleeps well at night, knowing that he might not understand her but at least he can protect her. That is, until she disappears. Peter knows Maddie is in trouble and he needs the Troubleshooters team to help him get her back. Shayla Whitman is a romance writer. She never imagined she’d find herself in the middle of this terror but she’s a mother and when Pete comes to her for help, she can’t turn him down. She understands teenagers and that just might be enough to help. Except, working with Pete is becoming complicated as things start heating up and their emotions start getting in the way. They need to find a way to focus and find Maddie before it’s too late.
