Hot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis | Review

Posted December 22, 2019 by Asheley in review / 0 Comments

Hot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis
Hot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis | ReviewHot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis
Series: Heartbreaker Bay #6
Published by Avon on September 25, 2018
Pages: 388
Source: Library
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four-stars

Who needs mistletoe?

Most people wouldn't think of a bad Santa case as the perfect Christmas gift. Then again, Molly Malone, office manager at Hunt Investigations, isn't most people, and she could really use a distraction from the fantasies she's been having since spending the night with her very secret crush, Lucas Knight. Nothing happened, not that Lucas knows that — but Molly just wants to enjoy being a little naughty for once...

Whiskey and pain meds for almost-healed bullet wounds don't mix. Lucas needs to remember that next time he's shot on the job, which may be sooner rather than later if Molly's brother, Joe, finds out about them. Lucas can't believe he's drawing a blank on his (supposedly) passionate tryst with Molly, who's the hottest, smartest, strongest woman he's ever known. Strong enough to kick his butt if she discovers he's been assigned to babysit her on her first case. And hot enough to melt his cold heart this Christmas.

Review:

This is my favorite of all of the Heartbreaker Bay books so far, easily. But I swear these books just keep getting better and better.

Hot Winter Nights features Molly Malone and Lucas Knight. Molly works at Hunt Investigations along with all of the other big, badass guys in the installments before this one, including her brother Joe who was featured in About That Kiss. Lucas is one of those guys and just happens to be Joe’s best friend. Which means that this is basically a forbidden romance book because Joe has given Lucas very specific instructions to keep his hands off of his little sister.

Hot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis

Forbidden romances are always fun to me, and particularly this one because I love Molly so much. She’s so feisty and that comes from her past. When they were growing up, Molly and her brother Joe practically took care of their father instead of the other way around, after his military service left him with debilitating PTSD. Before that, Molly and Joe did whatever they could do to get by, and sometimes their choices weren’t the greatest. Molly is left now, as an adult, with trust issues. Somehow Lucas is able to understand this without fully understanding the depth of Molly’s past and pain. Lucas comes from this really large, really great, really supportive family. So even though his past is nearly totally opposite from Molly’s, he really sees into her heart and soul and can see who she really is.

Molly has wanted to work on investigations for a long time-like, go into the field undercover like her brother. Of course, with Joe and the rest of the guys being as overprotective as they are, they don’t want her to do this. But she’s tired of just being the “front desk person” even though she’s really good at her job. Even though she’s been told NO by her boss and by Joe, Molly takes a case on her own, after hours. The case seems innocent at first, but it becomes clear that it actually could be quite dangerous. When the rest of the guys at Hunt Investigations find out she took the case anyway, they dispatch Lucas to protect her…but they don’t want her to know. Lucas decides to help her out with the case and not tell her that his boss her instructed him to provide her with protection because he doesn’t want her to know that the rest of the guys think she isn’t capable.

Also, it is worth point out that these two are already halfway in love with one another when the book begins. So the added time together, after work hours, working on this case together-it just adds to the romantic tension because it is very clear that they have chemistry together. The conflict is: what will happen if/when Molly finds out that Lucas is protecting her for Hunt Investigations? She will not be happy at all.

The case itself actually a little funny as it involves this Santaland-type of Village where the staff wear elf costumes and the overall theme is Christmas. But the owners are really bad guys who appear to be laundering money, and Molly and Lucas are really in danger. Molly’s insistence on remaining involved without backup puts the both of them at risk, and her willingness to do this is a big flaw. She’s also snarky and fiercely independent, but these are part of the reasons that I’ve loved her throughout the series thus far. Lucas is really adorable. He’s also a tough guy in that alpha sort-of way, but he’s got such a good heart. He doesn’t want to do anything to hurt Molly’s feelings or to let her think she can’t handle the case, but at the same time, this is really kind of stupid because they’re both truly in danger. Lucas is also genuinely head-over-heels for this girl and it is too cute. I absolutely adore the way he interacts with his family.

I finished this one, and honestly I’d turn right around and read it again. I liked it that much. These two have such great chemistry and this one made me smile throughout. Love that!

Check out my other reviews in the Heartbreaker Bay Series:

Sweet Little Lies | The Trouble with Mistletoe | One Snowy Night | Accidentally On Purpose
Chasing Christmas Eve | Holiday Wishes | About That Kiss
Hot Winter Nights | Playing For Keeps | Wrapped Up In You | Twist Of Fate

About Jill Shalvis

Jill Shalvis Author Photo

New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website, www.jillshalvis.com, for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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