Hot in Hellcat Canyon

Starred review from March 21, 2016
Bestseller Long, known for her historical Pennyroyal Green series, has a brilliant, quirky style that gives her first contemporary a delightful gleam. Her clever phrases make her small-town setting and characters seem fresh and new. Locals are charmingly astonished when star actor John Tennessee McCord’s broken truck lands him in the small town of Hellcat Canyon, Calif. J.T. is swiftly smitten by waitress Britt Langley when she uses the word enigmatic in conversation over his lunch order. Having escaped a disastrous marriage, Britt protects her heart with an “invisible force field” that can’t quite hold off J.T.’s genuineness, intelligence, and charm. J.T. is a hero who puts Britt’s needs over his own, and Britt finds she understands J.T.’s deepest yet unacknowledged desire. The entire town roots for their romance, which is endangered more by Britt’s fears and some realistic, understandable miscommunications than by the possible return of J.T.’s former girlfriend, a fellow star whose posters plaster the town. This laugh-out-loud treat is warmly emotional and richly satisfying. Agent: Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Agency.

April 1, 2016
When a down-on-his-luck actor washes up in quaint Hellcat Canyon, it shakes up long-buried feelings for a lonely waitress. Will John Tennessee McCord land Britt Langley in hot water, or will he just add heat to her lukewarm life? J.T. is fresh from being dumped and rejected for a part he was born to play when his truck breaks down in Hellcat Canyon. He stumbles into the local watering hole, the Misty Cat Tavern, and lands at one of Britt's tables. They trade some sparkling dialogue and are immediately attracted to one another, but as is always the way, they both have a fair amount of baggage. J.T.'s is a Wikipedia page full of bad-boy stories. Britt's is an abusive marriage that ended well before her husband died in a car accident. They settle into what Britt assumes is a temporary (and superhot) fling, and then real life steps in to complicate things. Woven into Britt and J.T.'s courtship are the stories of Hellcat Canyon's citizens, who are as complex and nuanced as the language the author uses to describe them. Mrs. Morrison, Britt's neighbor, is still handy with a shotgun at 92 and drinks her rum on the rocks with Dr. Pepper. Sherrie and Glenn, who own the Misty Cat, keep things spicy in the golden years of their marriage pretending to be a stranded mermaid and a sexy fisherman. This book is a treat to read. The author's love of wordplay is evident in the snappy dialogue that the hero and heroine trade, and it's damn sexy. Long's ability to create a love story that leaps off the page is as impressive as her characters are likable and dynamic. Let's hope she keeps cranking them out for a long time.

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June 15, 2016

On track to put her life back together after an abusive marriage and a bitter divorce, wary Britt Langley has settled into life in tiny, quaint Hellcat Canyon, CA, and the last thing she's looking for is another man--especially one like so-out-of-her-league TV star J.T. (John Tennessee) McCord. But J.T. isn't about to take no for an answer, and Britt's not about to give in--setting the scene for a sometimes prickly yet more often touching relationship that, like Britt's "rescue plants," is a joy to watch come to life. Sweet, spicy, and just plain fun, this lively romance introduces a laid-back Gold Country town, rich with history and teeming with characters you'll want to know better, and launches an engaging, laughter-filled community series that won't let readers go. VERDICT A departure from Long's historical "Pennyroyal Green" titles, Hellcat Canyon has the same offbeat, small-town vibe and rural charm, promising another terrific series. Long (The Legend of Lyon Redmond) lives in Northern California.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2016
Everyone's life has a before-and-after marker, and for Britt Langley that moment occurs when J. T. McCord arrives in Hellcat Canyon. Of course, everyone in the small town with a television set or subscription to People magazine knows exactly who John Tennessee McCord is ever since the hit television show, Blood Brothers, made him a celebrity more than a decade ago. Set to star in a new series about the California gold rush, J. T. is driving around the Sierra Nevada area when his beloved old truck gives up the ghost in Hellcat Canyon. The minute J. T. meets Britt at the Misty Cat Cavern, where she works as waitress, he realizes she is something special. Now with all the sparks of attraction flying back and forth between them, things are about to get really hot in Hellcat Canyon for both J. T. and Britt. A star herself in the historical-romance world, Long (The Legend of Lyon Redmond, 2015) makes a flawless transition into contemporary romance with a wonderfully sweet yet also intensely sexy love story that brilliantly showcases her deliciously sharp sense of humor and rare gift for creating realistically quirky, wonderfully engaging characters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)