Hot Stuff by Janet Evanovich and Leanne Banks
Compared to some of the stories written by Janet, this one is almost believable . It has her usual assortment of unique characters, including a man named Pugg who avoids the use of the word “I” at all costs and who’s convinced that Cate's the perfect girl for him. There is a touch of mystery flowing through the story and just a touch of danger tossed in for good measure. If you love romantic comedy, this story will definitely bring a smile to your face.
Details: Signet, April 2007
Excellence Rating: Very Good
Steaminess Factor: Yummy
Portia Harding’s education as a physicist left her skeptical of all things supernatural, which made her a natural companion for her friend who loves to investigate spooky houses and visit graveyards looking for ghosts. Even when an ethereal virtue passes her powers to Portia, she remains an unbeliever. That is until she runs into Theondre North. Theo isn’t merely the handsome man he appears to be, he’s also immortal. When the Court of Devine Blood tests Portia’s new powers, Theo stands by her side while she undergoes the trials to demonstrate her ability to become a virtue. Then after a brief encounter with the devil himself, Theo finds himself without a soul and needing blood for sustenance. But soon they find themselves caught up in a much bigger plot. Now can Portia and Theo find a way to save the themselves or will then find themselves banished from the world for all eternity? 
Beth Frasier was looking forward to her senior year in high school. Even with her grades, winning the science fair competition and being editor of the school’s newspaper, she felt she needed just one more thing to get into journalism school. So when she was invited to try out for the cheerleading squad, Beth knew that getting accepted would cinch her college application. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that the next morning she’d be hiding from the sun and Stephen Wills the football hero was also Stephen Wills the vampire. And now that he’s taken her life away the only thing that Beth wants is getting even. 
Jane Madison loves her job as a research librarian, including the hot looking Jason Templeton who visits the library nearly everyday. But she knows a handsome man like Jason won’t notice a quiet person like herself. Then when she moves into the house on the library grounds, she discovers a secret room containing a rather unique library. After reading aloud a few words from one of the books, she awakenes a witch’s familiar and soon became immersed in a world of magic. She begins her course of study by casting basic spells such as one which causes men to fall in love with her. Soon chaos reigns as Jane finds herself fighting off the attention of several nice men, including Jason, and now she wonders if using her newly discovered talents is worth the headaches. 
When 16 year old Floe Ryan wakes up, she finds herself 10 years in the future where her little sister is now her big sister and where her parents are still frozen in the Venice Beach Cryonics Center. It seems that they caught the same incurable disease that she had, but the Cryonics Center is under political attack and can’t revive them. Soon Floe soon finds herself learning to adapt to her new world. Fortunately Taz, a boy she know before she was frozen, also came down with her dreaded disease was revived at the same time, so she has at least one person she can turn to with her problems. Now Floe finds the world has changed even more than she suspected. Fashion, fads and even school have changed more than she expected. But when the Cryonics Center is forced to shut down, it’s up to her to find a way to save her parents if she’s to have any hope of returning to a normal life. 
After hitting Kate Moss with a cake, Madison Worth’s modeling career landed in the cow pasture. Literally. The only job she could get was modeling for Cheese Please, Jack Pleeseman’s family dairy business. While Jack needed someone to represent his cheese as part of an upcoming ad campaign in order to save his farm, he never expected someone who graced the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Life on a dairy farm is hard for a city girl like Madison, but soon she finds herself falling for the handsome dairyman. But Jack wonders when she’ll run off to the big city to return to her glamorous life as a model. Now it’s up to Madison to convince Jack that she’s really changed before Jack loses the farm. 
Darius, son of Zeus and god of gems, loved women. Unfortunately during a tryst, he turned himself into a statue to hide from a jealous husband. When the husband wrecked the statue in a fit of rage, Darius found himself walking the earth in search of a perfect replica of himself with which he could return to the normal world. Alexandra de Marco used a recently unearthed Greek statue as a model for one she carved from a slab of solid marble to raise money for the orphanage where she grew up. While Darius studied the statue, he also found something special in its creator – she affected him like no other woman ever had. Alex was surprised when her statue came to life, but now she finds herself without a statue for the charity auction and a Greek god who was as charming and sexy as he was 3,000 years ago. Now can Darius convince Alex that he shouldn’t be returned to the statue or will Alex condemn him to another 3,000 years without a body. 
While in the middle of a sports car race, Scotty Templeton suddenly finds he has a ghostly passenger. After wrecking his racecar and then his career, Scotty learns the only way to rid himself from this ghost is to deliver an engine from his car collection to the ghost’s mother. The ghost’s daughter, Maggie Cooper is ready to make the big leap to Chicago to move in with her boyfriend when Scotty shows up with his package. Maggie tries to convince him to leave, but while Scotty wants to comply, the ghost has other ideas. Soon, Scotty finds himself falling for the driven lady and now Maggie must decide to start her new life in Chicago with Mr. Dull or to abandon her safe relationship to take a risk on a racecar driver like Scott. 
Nymphs require lots of sex in order to stay strong, and the warrior king Valerian needs it more than most. But when he and his loyal men become separated from their women, Valerian stages an attack on the world outside Atlantis to get the women they so desperately need. Shaye Holling was guilty of nothing more than attending a wedding when she finds an army of hunks climb out of the water. Unable to defend herself, she soon finds in a strange place with a group of women who were also at the wedding. When Valerian sees Shaye for the first time, he realizes that she’s his life mate and no other women can satisfy him. Unfortunately Shaye doesn’t see things quite the same way and wants Valerian to return her to the surface. But when Valerian faces his enemy, will he be able to convince Shaye that they belong together or will Shaye become responsible for his downfall.