Trope
Heat Factor: Lots of foreplay.
Character Chemistry: I like you, but can I trust you?
Plot: Amalia hires Julian to kidnap her in an attempt to rescue her sister from their controlling uncle/guardian. Julian has an ulterior motive. Plus there are a bunch of villains.
Overall: The premise is bonkers, the execution is fun.
Heat Factor: It’s euphemistic until it’s not
Character Chemistry: Long distance is probably worth it, right?
Plot: A professor of criminology with a true crime podcast hobby gets a mysterious and threatening letter regarding an unsolved missing persons case nearly twenty years old, and just when he thinks nobody cares, a sexy FBI agent shows up at the victim’s disappearance vigil to help solve the mystery
Overall: I was in the mood for romantic suspense, and it really hit the spot
The Prestons, Book #1
Heat Factor: Sometimes you just gotta bone in a shed
Character Chemistry: “We have fundamentally different values but we are still very attracted to each other.”
Plot: Max goes undercover to an estate that actually pays its workers to uncover wrongdoing in an attempt to get his dad to love him.
Overall: An interesting take on the “divided by politics” romance
Heat Factor: the eroticism is more in the emotional than the physical descriptions
Character Chemistry: slow-building and respectful
Plot: ancient history returns to the present, threatening the tenuous and secretive connection that Luc and Elle have been flirting with
Overall: WOW
Ten Tiny Breaths, Book 3
Heat Factor: Sex is frequent but not super detailed; we get only the cursory information of what bits are naked and in contact.
Character Chemistry: Girl with daddy issues + older man with white knight syndrome
Plot: Charlie needs money to disappear so she gets a job as a stripper and starts a thing with her boss. Also she’s reluctantly running heroin.
Overall: The purity overtones were unreal.
The Smut Report 