Lexy is all set to marry Noah when she discovers that there’s a good chance he’s been keeping secrets - not only from her, but also from his employer, who just happens to be Lexy and her brother. When Lexy confronts Noah and fails to get a satisfactory answer about his perfidy, she hightails it to a spa in Utah where the only person who can give her the answers she is looking for is staying.
Although Noah has a good reason for keeping secrets, he can’t get Lexy to understand why he can’t tell her what’s going on. When Lexy breaks their engagement and heads to Utah, Noah has no choice but to follow so he can try to fix all that’s gone wrong. He’s not going to let some alfalfa sprouts and facials get in the way of marrying the woman he loves. Shortly after their arrival in Utah, however, Lexy discovers the person that she was looking for dead in her hotel room. Together with Noah, Lexy begins a search to find out all of the secrets that everyone’s been keeping.
Hot as Hell is a fast-paced story with an intriguing plot. From the beginning, the reader is thrown into the story and must try to figure out who all the players are and what’s going on. While some readers may like this approach, I found it slightly distracting; I felt like I had started reading in the middle of the story rather than at the beginning. I did enjoy, however, that Dimon’s trademark style is present – Lexy and Noah have great chemistry and the dialogue is always spot on.
I also liked that Lexy and Noah each have their own quirks, which helps make them more full-bodied characters. My only complaint regarding Lexy’s quirk is that it seems as though it could have been more developed. Lexy’s parents were hoarders, and it has made a pretty significant impact in her ability to interact with others. Growing up, she was always too ashamed to have people come over to her house. In her adult life, has this translated into an inability to trust people. The correlation between shame and trust, however, is never fully explained. While I commend Dimon for creating characters with “flaws” other than the ones you usually see, Lexy’s issue with hoarding could have been further integrated into the story.
On the whole, however, Hot as Hell is an enjoyable book with characters I didn’t mind spending some time with. It appears that there will be a sequel featuring some of the secondary characters that should be interesting.