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Title: Hot MailAuthor: Janice Maynard
Genre: Erotic Contemporary Romance
Published: January 2009
From the back cover ~
One Naughty Valentine At A Time.
She's Going To Fulfill Her Secret Fantasy...
And Make Him Hers...
Jane has wanted Ethan for years but has never found a way to tell him. With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, she decides to seduce him by sending anonymous erotic valentines every Friday until the big day. Then she’ll finally reveal her true feelings— and wildest desires.
But when her stationery store is vandalized, it’s Ethan who comes to her rescue—and the sparks start flying way ahead of schedule. Now Jane and her erotic alter ego are competing for Ethan’s affections— and the results couldn’t be hotter.
A friends to lovers story, add a little mystery and a sweet secondary love story and you've got Janice Maynard's Hot Mail. I read another book from this author, The Perfect Ten, and enjoyed her voice so when I came across Hot Mail at the library I swiped it up, thinking it might be a nice, quick read and I wasn't disappointed.
The idea of sending anonymous erotic poems to entice a man was a last ditch effort for Jane Norman. She and Ethan Oldham had been friends for nearly fifteen years but that changed four years ago when Ethan became engaged, then ended the engagement, to a woman Jane knew was bad news. So Jane decided to keep her distance from Ethan. Their relationship became cordial but remote. No more hanging out together, watching movies or going hiking.
Jane decides that she misses Ethan but this time she wants more than friendship from him, she wants everything from him. She's thirty-two and thinks that it's now or never, that she needs to make a move on Ethan because it doesn't seem like he'll be making any moves on her. So she sets a time table for herself. Starting after New Years she sends a poem a week to Ethan with plans for the big finale on Valentines Day. She has six poems to write and send, hoping that they'll do the trick and get Ethan back in her life.
Ethan is the assistant chief of police of Statlerville, Tennessee. He loves his job and will love it even more once his boss retires. As it is, Ethan pretty much runs the station, waiting for his boss to retire in a matter of months so that he can take over as chief. Ethan's personal life is another matter. His dating has hit a dry spell ever since his engagement ended in less than ideal circumstances. He's also confused as to why Jane has cut him out of her life. He misses her and wants her back as his friend but doesn't know how to get her back. Then he's called to a break-in at Jane's business and they find themselves together again because of it.
When Ethan receives the first poem he has no idea what to think. He certainly doesn't think it's Jane doing the sending. But he is curious as to who would send it and why. In the mean time he's spending more time with Jane and they are slowly getting closer again. It's at this point when Ethan surprises himself and begins to see Jane in a different light, not as that of friend but as that of an attractive woman. Took you long enough Ethan! LOL
Jane is happy to be spending time with Ethan but she's hesitant to think that it's more than just Ethan doing his job. She continues to send the poems then gets upset with Ethan for not telling her about them. LOL In spite of that I liked Jane. She was a smart business woman who was practical in everything except her relationship with Ethan. If they had been such good friends for fifteen years, if she loved him so much, why wait so long to do something about it?
I liked Ethan a whole bunch. He had that small town cop vibe going. You know where they know the people and actually care about what happens to them. Ethan also had an older sister, Sherry, that he cared a great deal about. Sherry got pregnant in her teens, married the baby's father, then divorced him and raised her daughter alone. Sherry devoted her life to her daughter, after 20 years her daughter decides to live with her father in Florida. This leaves Sherry at loose ends. In comes Ethan to help Sherry out, hiring her to provide healthy meals for the police station. And this is where the secondary love story comes into play. It was sweet and added another aspect to the small town feel.
And because this is an erotic romance the sex scenes lived up to that label. Once Ethan got clued in that yes, he was attracted to Jane, he made sure Jane knew it! All in all a fun, sexy romance.
Information about Janice Maynard and her books can be found on the author's website.
Rating: B+
A friends to lovers story, add a little mystery and a sweet secondary love story and you've got Janice Maynard's Hot Mail. I read another book from this author, The Perfect Ten, and enjoyed her voice so when I came across Hot Mail at the library I swiped it up, thinking it might be a nice, quick read and I wasn't disappointed.
The idea of sending anonymous erotic poems to entice a man was a last ditch effort for Jane Norman. She and Ethan Oldham had been friends for nearly fifteen years but that changed four years ago when Ethan became engaged, then ended the engagement, to a woman Jane knew was bad news. So Jane decided to keep her distance from Ethan. Their relationship became cordial but remote. No more hanging out together, watching movies or going hiking.
Jane decides that she misses Ethan but this time she wants more than friendship from him, she wants everything from him. She's thirty-two and thinks that it's now or never, that she needs to make a move on Ethan because it doesn't seem like he'll be making any moves on her. So she sets a time table for herself. Starting after New Years she sends a poem a week to Ethan with plans for the big finale on Valentines Day. She has six poems to write and send, hoping that they'll do the trick and get Ethan back in her life.
Ethan is the assistant chief of police of Statlerville, Tennessee. He loves his job and will love it even more once his boss retires. As it is, Ethan pretty much runs the station, waiting for his boss to retire in a matter of months so that he can take over as chief. Ethan's personal life is another matter. His dating has hit a dry spell ever since his engagement ended in less than ideal circumstances. He's also confused as to why Jane has cut him out of her life. He misses her and wants her back as his friend but doesn't know how to get her back. Then he's called to a break-in at Jane's business and they find themselves together again because of it.
When Ethan receives the first poem he has no idea what to think. He certainly doesn't think it's Jane doing the sending. But he is curious as to who would send it and why. In the mean time he's spending more time with Jane and they are slowly getting closer again. It's at this point when Ethan surprises himself and begins to see Jane in a different light, not as that of friend but as that of an attractive woman. Took you long enough Ethan! LOL
Jane is happy to be spending time with Ethan but she's hesitant to think that it's more than just Ethan doing his job. She continues to send the poems then gets upset with Ethan for not telling her about them. LOL In spite of that I liked Jane. She was a smart business woman who was practical in everything except her relationship with Ethan. If they had been such good friends for fifteen years, if she loved him so much, why wait so long to do something about it?
I liked Ethan a whole bunch. He had that small town cop vibe going. You know where they know the people and actually care about what happens to them. Ethan also had an older sister, Sherry, that he cared a great deal about. Sherry got pregnant in her teens, married the baby's father, then divorced him and raised her daughter alone. Sherry devoted her life to her daughter, after 20 years her daughter decides to live with her father in Florida. This leaves Sherry at loose ends. In comes Ethan to help Sherry out, hiring her to provide healthy meals for the police station. And this is where the secondary love story comes into play. It was sweet and added another aspect to the small town feel.
And because this is an erotic romance the sex scenes lived up to that label. Once Ethan got clued in that yes, he was attracted to Jane, he made sure Jane knew it! All in all a fun, sexy romance.
Information about Janice Maynard and her books can be found on the author's website.
Rating: B+
This reminds me a little of "You've Got Mail"(the movie), LOL! Does Jane start to compete with herself, Leslie? Personal contact vs. the poems.
ReplyDeleteGosh Hils, I haven't seen that movie in years. Meg Ryan owned the bookstore and Tom Hanks ran the big chain bookstore right?
ReplyDeleteYou could say Jane gets a bit jealous of the woman sending the poems. LOL Mostly due to Ethan not telling her about the poems. :)
Sounds cute, Leslie :D I'm going to try to check it out :D
ReplyDeleteI have this on my que at paperspine. I forget originally whose review I saw, but it does sound cute. I also really enjoy the friends to lovers theme.
ReplyDeletenath ~ I hope you're able to get it. :)
ReplyDeleteJill ~ The friends to lovers theme is one of my favorites. :)