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After flying through Single Dad Seeks Juliet, I of course had to immediately jump into the next book in the series. Book two in Max Monroe's Single Dad Collection is Hot Stuff. I was able to apply this book to the Summer of Swoon board 2 prompt orange on the cover.
We start with Garrett. He's Jake's best friend and we're a few months after his divorce. He's has 12-year old twins and is a local firefighter. A bit part of his divorce was his ex not being able to handle the schedule of a firefighter. His house also does a lot with wildfires, so there are times where he's gone for days or even weeks at a time with little contact. The youngest daughter of his chief, and new doctor is Lauren. She's moved back to town after working in New York. They first meet at his physical, then bump into each other a couple other times over the next few months before finally Garrett says enough. He cajoles Lauren to go on a date with him just to see if there's something to the chemistry between them.
I really liked this book. While the banter wasn't quite as on point as Single Dad Seeks Juliet, I still really enjoyed their connection. I also loved that while Lauren was also awkward and not the most able socially, she was awkward in a different way than Holley so it didn't feel rinse and repeat. Not that Max Monroe writes rinse and repeat, but I have read authors before that can get like that. This was also a lot more steamier and I feel like Garrett and Lauren really enjoyed their physical relationship. I can't quite decide if I wanted more emotional connection between them, not that I feel it's lacking, or if I want Jake and Holley to have more steamy scenes.
I once again loved how the kids were written. They really both had their own connection with Garrett, but also Lauren. I know this is the point of the series, single dads, but Max Monroe just wrote the kids both so well in this series so far. It felt like a family unit through and through and I could really relate to the doubts about adding in another adult to a divorcee with kids. I also loved how Lauren got a pet fish via Garrett and how she starting talking to him all the time.
This was more a 4-star for me because her dad got a little overhanded for me. I also wished that Lauren didn't want their relationship to stay secret as long as they did. I really felt for Garrett when Lauren passed out and he felt torn going to her and unveiling the secret in front of her dad. He was so upset and worried about her and couldn't act on his worry. It just broke my heart a little bit. I did love that the fact he was a firefighter wasn't really made that much of an issue for Garrett and Lauren. I've always thought that not only is there the officer, firefighter or soldier needing to be thanked for their service, but their family as well. I feel like this was such a wonderful look into what it's like for a healthy relationship that's with someone of service. While I understand it is hard and puts extra strain on a relationship sometimes it can be glossed over in romance unless it's dealing with an ex that had issues.
I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to moving forward in the series and Max Monroe's backlist. I'm so happy to finally get around to reading them. While I'm not usually drawn to contemporary, it's nice to have another author that I know has good humor to add to my rotation for when I'm in the mood.
Have you read Hot Stuff?
Bookishly Yours,
Stasi🍎
STATISTICS: Hot Stuff, Max Monroe, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 330 pages, published in 2021
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