John “JT” Tennessee McCord, popular actor and one-half of the former Hollywood “it” couple, gets stuck in Hellcat Canyon when his truck breaks down. Because he’ll be filming there on location, he decides to find a more permanent place to live than the local bed and breakfast.

Britt Langley works for the property management company and at the Misty Cat Cavern, which is a local restaurant where she first lays eyes on JT. She doesn’t know who he “is”, she just knows how her body reacts to him.

His stubble-darkened jaw could have been drawn with a protractor, so precise and severe were its lines. It was a face straight out of a daguerreotype. He had a sort of elemental beauty that smacked her in the solar plexus the way her first glimpse of Hellcat Canyon had.

They renew their brief acquaintance when he comes to her for his home search. The attraction between them but when he flirts and asks her out, Britt turns him down.

This part was a little unbelievable to me. Not that she turns him down but that he keeps asking her out. He’s a charming, gorgeous Hollywood star and he keeps after her. It was hard to buy, as much as I love a good chase.  

I thought the story was slow to really get off the ground. In places, there were descriptive paragraphs that went on too long and slowed the forward momentum. The story picks up the pace and conflict with the introduction of Rachel, who is JT’s ex and an actress. How he actually handles her return really had me shaking my head. That’s all I’m going to say on that because I don’t want to give too much away.

As frustrating as I found parts of the last one-third of the book, my agitation over the conflict hooked me and made the rest of the story fly. Hot in Hellcat Canyon was, if at times slow, a solid start to the series.

~ Susan