Escape to Hawaii in this sexy and emotional second-chance romance that will have you believing in love again. Heat Wave is a standalone contemporary romance from the NYT Bestselling author of The Pact and Love, in English
They say when life closes one door, another one opens.
This door happens to lead to paradise.
And a man I can never, ever have.
Still grieving the loss of her sister who died … sister who died two years ago, the last thing Veronica “Ronnie” Locke needed was to lose her job at one of Chicago’s finest restaurants and have to move back in with her parents. So when a window of opportunity opens for her – running a kitchen at a small Hawaiian hotel – she’d be crazy not to take it.
The only problem is, the man running the hotel drives her crazy:
Logan Shephard.
It doesn’t matter that he’s got dark brown eyes, a tall, muscular build that’s sculpted from daily surfing sessions, and a deep Australian accent that makes your toes curl.
What does matter is that he’s a grump.
Kind of an asshole, too.
And gets under Ronnie’s skin like no one else.
But the more time Ronnie spends on the island of Kauai, falling in love with the lush land and its carefree lifestyle, the closer she gets to Logan. And the closer she gets to Logan, the more she realizes she may have pegged him all wrong. Maybe it’s the hot, steamy jungles or the invigorating ocean air, but soon their relationship becomes utterly intoxicating.
There’s just one major catch.
The two of them together would incite a scandal neither Ronnie, nor her family, would ever recover from.
Forbidden, Illicit, Off-limits – sometimes the heat is worth surrendering to, even if you get burned.
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You can view this story in two different ways: The ultimate example of sloppy seconds… or characters who choose to live in the moment, consequences be d@mned. Aren’t they kinda sorta the same thing though? Just kidding.
Basically, the romance in Karina Halle’s Heat Wave has a pretty significant emotional obstacle that creates a forbidden feeling to the relationship dynamic. But love is love so embrace it when you find it. Regardless of the questionable relationship (or maybe because of it), Heat Wave’s sexy factor was in full force. But the jump from sexual tension to full-blown love was instant which gave me a tiny bit of whiplash to be honest. I actually checked to make sure I didn’t accidentally skip a chapter or two. However, I can easily forgive this because the additional chapters may have snowballed into series territory and oh how I am loving standalone novels these days! Warning: the relationship drama in this book was both palpable and eye-roll worthy in my opinion. It was right there at the fence between my emotions and nerves and just sat there teetering. However, Heat Wave’s Kauai setting was absolutely stunning and I felt transported – all my senses had an opportunity to participate in the reading experience and I loved that! If you have been following Karina Halle’s contemporary romances, make sure to add Heat Wave to your list!
There is just so much to love about Heat Wave by Karina Halle. It was full of angst, slow burn, hot and steamy scenes, and did I mention the forbidden aspect?! Yum yum. It was peppered with inspirational and whimsical thinking that makes you reread the sentence because it is so poignant. I don’t know how Karina does it every time. I’m quickly picking up anything she has written. I’m trying to devour all of her words as fast as possible.
Also, the setting is set in Hawaii. I’ve always wanted to visit and now I can’t wait until we can visit! Karina does such a great job that you could almost feel like you were in Hawaii.
This little gem is only about 2% in the book and you know you are in for a good ride:
“There are moments in your life, people in your life, that when they cross your path and meet your eye, you know. Maybe it’s all in the chemistry, certain pheromones that react when they mix together, maybe it’s a smell that triggers a memory, maybe it’s a glimpse at a future you don’t recognize or a hint at the past, a life you’ve lived and forgotten. Whatever it is, you know that moment, that person, is going to shape you for the rest of your life.”
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They say when life closes one door, another one opens.
This door happens to lead to paradise.
And a man I can never, ever have
Veronica “Ronnie” Locke met Logan Shephard first but her sister had him, until she died. Now she is on her way to Hawaii to work as a chef in his restaurant. I know people had mixed emotions about this but I think everything deserves love and happiness and looking inside, because things are not always as they appear
***4.5 ‘It’s your home’ Stars***
Between the cover and the blurb I knew I had to get my hands on Heat Wave one way or another. I mean how can you not want to reach out and grab this book and just stare at the cover. The fact that it was set in Hawaii did have me hesitate a bit because as most of you know I have a whole #MyHawaii issue , but my curiosity got the better of me as whole (though I will get to the #MyHawaii thing later) and I jumped at the chance to read the book and I ended up loving it! It has the perfect blend of sweet, smexy and angsty and if filled with characters that you want to keep hanging out with long after reading ‘The End’
Veronica grew up feeling as if she wasn’t worth anything to her family. She was never ‘enough’ for any of them and though it hurt her heart she still managed to march to the beat of her own drum and reach for her dreams even if they didn’t mesh with what they wanted for her. I loved Veronica. She had moxie with a good bit of impishness mixed in there. She didn’t always make the right decisions, but there was no way to doubt the passion behind them, especially the one that got her fired from her job (I personally thought that was brilliant!). Her heart is her greatest asset, but also the thing that trips her up the most because of how big it is.
Logan had one dream and that was to own his own hotel and though he made the correct choices in obtaining that dream, they were also the worst and he finds himself in purgatory as he works to keep his dream alive, even when he isn’t truly living. After finishing the prologue I didn’t like Logan all that much, in fact a “Oh no he didn’t” came out of my mouth, but I trusted in the journey, though there were a few more instances of outrage in regards to situations with him, and I ended up loving him. He is a grump and an asshat (I LOVE their nickname for him) but that’s because he carries such a heavy weight on his shoulders but when he sheds that skin he’s more snarky, sneaky and holy hot and determined alpha male. When the real Logan Shepard comes out to play, he is absolutely lethal.
Talk about a rocky road to travel to get to your HEA, but I enjoyed every second of it. Watching as they danced around each other, poking and prodding until neither could deny that the attraction between them had never died despite the choices that were made that had them walking very different paths until “fate” intervened and threw them together. There were quite a few issues they had to work out between them, and let me tell you some of them were pretty intense, but I liked how they eventually worked themselves out and once they did, lemme tell you Logan and Veronica were amazing together. We’re not only talking sexual heat here, though an Arctic temp bath should be waiting for you, but they had a similar outlook on life, challenged each other in the right ways and understood each other’s souls. Simply put: They fit.
The #MyHawaii “thing” ~ So, I tend to avoid books set in Hawaii because I have my view of my island home and don’t think it’s fair to get judgey if another’s view doesn’t mesh with mine. But in this case my curiosity was piqued because I follow Ms. Halle on IG and see the gorgeous pictures she posts of Kauai and see how much she loves the island, so I wanted to see what her Kauai looked it and I have to say it’s somewhere I’d love to be. The love she has for Kauai jumped off the pages. I felt the sweat beading on my skin from the humidity, smelled the plumeria in air and got lost in the live aloha laid back vibe that permeates every aspect of island life.
I enjoyed the writing style and pacing of the story. The 1st person POV was well done and while there were moments where I wished it was a dual POV, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story in any way. There are some issues that come up that may be triggers for some, but I thought they were handled well. One actually had me pausing in my reading to write down my thoughts about it and what I thought the outcome would be (Note: I was right, though Ms. Halle did have me doubt myself for a hot second). The secondary cast of characters were all very well written and I loved the depth they brought to the story, even the ones I didn’t like, and would love to see some of them getting their own stories told in the future!
~ Copy received from InkSlinger PR & voluntarily reviewed ~
I really liked this story, it makes me want to visit the island now! The way Karina writes, it’s like you’re right there experiencing everything at the same time, very descriptive. Sometimes it can be a bit too much or boring, but the story flowed and it helped that I liked all the characters. Except Veronica’s mother, I wanted to throat punch her. Overall I thought it was great story!
Reading Heat Wave I was transported to a tropical paradise. I became completely immersed in the book, in the setting, in the mysterious backstory. I felt off-balance throughout, almost like I was missing half of the information and constantly grasping for clues… and I LOVED that!! It made the pages almost flip themselves as dove into the book unable to rush the beautiful, almost leisurely pace of the storytelling.
“This is about really living life and finding out what’s important. What’s important to you, Ronnie?”
I’m half-pleased that he’s called me by my nickname and half-ashamed that I sounded so snooty. I swallow hard. “I don’t know what’s important anymore,” I admit, my voice dropping a register. “I just know that whatever it is, it’s not back at home.”
He purses his lips, eyes studying me. “Hmmm. Honest. I like that. Well, maybe that’s why you’re here. To find out what’s important. What makes your soul sing. I told you this place would shake you up, didn’t I?”
I couldn’t help but fall in love with Veronica and want her to find her happiness.
I loved this book and I loved the act of reading this book. Karina Halle’s writing is like the Hawaiian waves, she picks me up and tosses me wherever she wants my feelings to go and powerless to resist her magic!!
I absolutely loved reading this book. I was transported to the tropical Hawaiian paradise along with the characters. I couldn’t help but fall in love with Veronica and want her to find her happiness.
“Of course the fear of having my heart broken is there but that would be true with anyone you’re falling for. Every time you have the chance to climb high, you also have that chance to fall.”
I enjoyed the slow island pace of the story and I felt like I was gathering clues and constantly grasping for more and more information like I was helping to build the story.
“The other side of desire is fear,” he murmurs, his voice reaching though me like a hot knife. “The other side of fear is desire. What side controls you?”
From the moment Veronica “Ronnie” Locke laid eyes on Logan Shepherd, she knew he was the man for her. Unfortunately, life had other plans and Logan ends up married to her sister, Juliet. With the help of her parents, Logan and Juliet lives out Logan’s dreams by building a hotel in Hawaii.
A tragic accident leaves Logan alone and running the hotel. When Ronnie ends up jobless and having difficulty finding a job in Chicago, she is forced to look elsewhere. She never would have guessed that she would end up at Logan’s hotel but that’s exactly what happened. Her widowed brother in-law and the man she has always wanted his now her boss.
The past couple of years, Ronnie has grown to not have the most pleasant thoughts about Logan so when she shows up to report for her job, she is not surprised to see that he’s just as grumpy and the same jerk she’s gotten to know over the past few years. They completely butt heads and don’t seem to be getting along. Will Ronnie be able to get past his attitude and feel comfortable in Hawaii or will he wear her down and send her packing back home to Chicago?
First of all, I’m going to Hawaii next month and Karina Halle has now set up some serious expectations!
This was a delicious forbidden love story. There is so much push and pull. First when Ronnie ends up in Hawaii. Both her and Logan are super stubborn and they fight all the time. He’s rough around the edges and short with her. She’s bossy with her ideas for the hotel. Even if they make sense, Logan doesn’t want to hear it. I like the build of the chase. I also think that adding in another factor that drove a wedge between the two of them other than just Logan marrying her sister really helped to strip down their relationship and cause them to work hard to build it back up.
I really enjoyed the sense of family that was created with the hotel staff. Everyone had a place and held their own. Everyone looked out for everyone else. I grew to love the staff just as much as I did both Logan and Ronnie.
Karina Halle’s writing always captures me. It just flows so easily and it’s descriptive perfectly. There is always this great balance of delivering the story and helping you build the background in your head. Her books are always a must for me. If she writes it, I read it. No matter what.
Overall, I really enjoyed this forbidden love story. If you are looking for a little angst, a bunch of stubbornness and overall a beautiful love story, then this is the book for you!