A modern romantic suspense set in Africa among mercenaries, hidden identities and more ought to be exciting. Unfortunately, somehow Stephanie Tyler misses her mark with Too Hot to Hold, instead producing something too disjointed to enjoy that trudges through various settings and three sets of romances without ever being entirely convincing.

The Africa setting, which had great potential, is a damp squib. I had no feeling for the country, the heat and the atmosphere, from reading this book - it might as well have been set in New York. I was also suspicious about how everyone’s mobile phones seemed to work whenever necessary, but that’s a fairly minor point.

The main focus of the story is on Kaylee Smith, journalist, and Nick Devane, mystery Navy SEAL. When Kaylee and Nick’s paths cross, they find themselves working together to get to the bottom of the mystery of what happened to Kaylee’s husband, a man who saved Nick’s life. But Nick has secrets that mustn’t be uncovered; getting too close to Kaylee puts those in danger.

I imagine that a side romance between a couple of mercenaries and also between Nick’s adoptive brother and an FBI agent will be more thoroughly explored in a future book. The author’s handling of the romances in this book, however, don’t instill me with much confidence as to how successful that story will be. We never really feel like we properly get to know the characters; they seem to be ciphers - dark and deadly Navy SEAL, probing journalist, devil-may-care mercenary, etc., etc., jumping into bed almost immediately. Too Hot to Hold had a lot of potential but somehow almost none of it comes through. The supposed high point of the story plot-wise is Kaylee emailing a newspaper article to someone. Sorry, but that doesn’t get my heart racing...