Sarah Mayberry has penned another sure-fire winner!

I know I don’t usually include category novels on the site, but that’s because of their sheer number versus manpower, which is just me. But this month, I had to include Sarah Mayberry’s Hot Island Nights. Why? One, because I’ve been going into withdrawal for one of her Blaze’s. Two, because Hot Islands Nights is a fabulous, hot, deeply emotional story and those are my favourites.

Elizabeth Mason is on the verge of making the biggest mistake of her life—marrying the wrong man. She’s saved this fate when she discovers that her long deceased parents kept the fact that the man she thought was her father was not her biological father. Her biological father is an Australian named Sam Blackwell. Raised by her rather controlling grandfather, she discovers that not only did he keep this information from her, but so did her fiancé.

Shaken by the news, Elizabeth realizes she’s allowed herself to be coerced into an engagement she doesn’t want, and if she sticks around, she’ll be guilted into a marriage she doesn’t want. Elizabeth doesn’t stick around. Within four days, she leaves England for Australia with every intention of meeting her father. Who she finds at her father’s address, however, is one very hot Nathan Jones.

On the surface, Nate resembles your typical beach bum, gorgeous and with six pack abs despite the fact that he drinks himself to sleep every night. He lives each day in an alcoholic haze and carouses the bars at night. But there’s a much deeper side to Nate and he’s writhing in pain; the pain of a loss so deep and profound he’s practically given up on life—at least the one he used to have. There’s certainly no room in this ‘new’ life of his for his roommate’s prissy English daughter. At least that’s what he thought until something that starts out casual starts to feel anything but.

As usual, Sarah Mayberry does what she does best, she gives readers a sexy read, that simmers with tons of sexual tension and at the same time infuses the story with depth of plot and characters. Every time I read one of her books, I wonder when she’s going to join the ranks of the single title authors—not that I ever want her to stop writing Blazes, but I selfishly want a longer book.

For Nate and Elizabeth it’s not love at first sight, but there’s an attraction and one that reaches its first peak the night they meet after their initial encounter earlier that day when Elizabeth knocks on his door looking for her father. Nate was certainly not at his best then, and didn't make a good first impression. He’s not exactly making a great one in this scene.

“You have the fairest skin I’ve ever seen,” he murmured. Every other body in the bar was brown from the Australian sun, but she was as pure and cool as a lily. He reached out a hand and ran his thumb along the curve of her cheekbone. As he’d suspected, she was as soft and smooth as silk.

She swallowed audibly. “Do you mind?” Her eyes were very wide, the pupils dilated.

“You know, I think I might, Betty,” he said, surprising himself.

He dropped his hand. He’d crossed the bar to tease her, to fill in some time, to amuse himself on the way to oblivion. But she wasn’t amusing. She was…disturbing, with her crisp, standoffish accent and tilted chin and uncertain eyes. For a moment they were both silent as they stared at each other.

“I’m not going to sleep with you, Mr. Jones.”

That made him smile again. “No one asked you to, Betty.”

I loved watching these two finally come together. I so wanted Nate not to hurt. He’d been through a very traumatic event, one that would scar most people for life. Also watching Elizabeth finally reunite with her father the final time in the book was bittersweet. At this point I could stop despising him and thinking him a failure as a human being.

If you don’t normally read category or Blazes for that matter, you need to give this one a try. You won’t regret. Then after you’re done, you need to check out Sarah’s backlist. She’s awesome! ~ Beverley