Keeping It Hot
Sydney Landon     
December 2021 Releases

Contemporary
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Mystery

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Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Breakfast in Bed
Book: 1

The New York Times bestselling author of Wishing for Us delivers a new novel about finding love and adventure with the sexy businessman next door....
 
Zoe Hart owns the coffee shop in one of the hottest upscale resorts in Florida, run by her childhood best friend, Dylan Jackson. Even though Dylan is a workaholic, he still finds time to enjoy the beautiful women who pass through his hotel—all of them except Zoe. She has been in love with Dylan for years without him noticing. But with her thirtieth birthday fast approaching, she realizes she can't keep pining away for a man who doesn't show the merest sign of romantic interest in her.
 
When Zoe launches her plan to shed her tomboy image in Dylan's eyes, she's thrilled once he starts to notice her in a whole new way. But she’ll have to face the risk that seducing her best friend might come with lasting changes to their longtime friendship...

Zoe Hart is living the dream as an owner of a coffee shop in an upscale resort on the Florida Gulf Coast. She’s got a spunky coworker in Dana and is best friends with the smoking hot resort owner…who she has been in love with since grade school. With her 30th birthday coming up, Zoe has one mission, Operation: Make Dylan Fall in Love With Her.

Dylan Jackson works hard and plays harder. With the upcoming expansion of his successful resort Oceanix, his work load continues to increase but he can always count on his best friend Zoe to keep him relaxed when the stress gets to be too much. Except Zoe went out and got a new wardrobe and now Dylan is having a “hard” time (wink wink) keeping his thoughts strictly platonic where Zoe is concerned.

I’m a sucker for best friends-to-lovers romances so this book drew me in right away. Zoe is fed up with being single at 29 but has only had eyes for Dylan. I applaud Zoe for finally going after something she wants, especially since it could be detrimental to their friendship.

As basic as it sounds, sometimes something as simple as a wardrobe change does a wonder for a woman’s confidence (and may catch the eye of a special someone). Once Dylan finally recognized his desire for Zoe, the relationship progressed in what felt like a natural way. Now don’t get me wrong, Dylan was not without his flaws but, underneath it all, While Zoe was still the most important person in his life.

She looked incredible. Which stirred up all kinds of conflicting emotions for him. He was stunned that he’d never noticed exactly how gorgeous she was before. And strangely proud of how she’d blossomed into a beautiful butterfly. He also felt fiercely protective.

I appreciated how the author made the transition from friends to lovers. As Zoe and Dylan realized their feelings for each other have changed over time, they must work through the resulting changes in their relationship. And let me tell you, I wanted to reach in and shake them both at times throughout the book.

I think one of my favorite characters in the whole novel was Zoe’s best girl friend, Dana. The girl was a hoot! The things that came out of her mouth had me laughing out loud. But what I really appreciated was the confidence she instilled in Zoe. She always pushed Zoe to dream for more and not settle for anything less than she deserved. And with the interactions with Dylan’s brother Asher, I cannot wait to read Dana’s book (which is the next novel in the series).

For my first book by this author, I would definitely call it a win. I’d highly recommend to any fans of Sarah Morgan or Jamie Beck. It’s a fun, summer read while laying on the beach. And if you’re not on the beach, all the talk of the resort will make you want to be!

~ Megan