Samhain Publishing, $5.50, ISBN 1-59998-663-9
Contemporary Romance, 2007
Blaina Triton, the heroine of Ashleigh Raine’s Driven to Distraction, is a stuntwoman. She doesn’t just enjoy explosions and fireworks, she loves sex too and isn’t ashamed about it. When she spots this very hot hunk by the roadside with a broken down 1970 Barracuda, she checks out his car, follows him home, and jumps Mr Hardbody’s big bone. On his Corvette. That flirtation between the two of them is so, so, so hot that I have to check to see whether the hair on my head is on fire. When these two really get down and dirty, I have to fan myself. This is a hot read, baby.
Blaina and her Mr Hardbody feel the earth tilt a few degrees off its axis so even though she wants their hot shag to be a one time thing (she doesn’t do relationships), she agrees when he asks her to meet him again, same time and same place the following Saturday. However, it is only two days later when Blaina shows up to begin her work on the movie Dangerous Intentions does she realize that Mr Hardbody is no other than the stunt coordinator Jay Williams. For the next three months they will be working together so things shall become most… interesting, since Jay is the kind of fellow who wants things to be professional and tip-top on set.
Blaina and Jay are electrifying because of how Ms Raine makes the chemistry between them sizzle like popcorn on a hot stove. I really love how Blaina can give back as good as she gets. She loves sex, loves life, is great at her job, and she doesn’t need a man since she has her own life and friends before Jay comes into the picture. Blaina is on equal footing with Jay every way on the way and when Jay is behaving like a twit at times, she lets him have it. She’s a fabulous heroine. As for Jay, I adore how he becomes such a sweet little hot shot when he realizes that he’s in love with Blaina.
There is a nice glimpse provided into the lives of stuntmen – they exist somewhere in the middle, not quite Hollywood stars but clearly above the level of us mere mortals – but not to the point of overwhelming the story with details. But the main focus of the story is the sometimes tumultuous but always hot, hot, hot relationship of Blaina and Jay. This story is all about fast cars, faster men and women, and plenty of the hot, hot, hot stuff. Did I say that this story is hot, hot, hot? Driven to Distraction is like the Barracuda that is taking me for the ride of my life and I’m like that silly young girl laughing in exhilaration. Baby, this is hot stuff.
