Too Hot to Sleep (Temptation, 787) [Paperback]

When a girlfriend suggests phone sex as a means to put some spark into the flat relationship, Georgia is at first leery. After all, what does she know about stuff like that? But she's desperate, and she can't sleep anyway, so. . .why not?

Except, what she doesn't realize is that, in keying in her boyfriend's number into her new -- and exasperatingly defective -- answering machine, she's transposed two numbers.

Ken Medlock, one of Birminghams' Finest, can't quite believe his ears -- or his good fortune -- when he gets this truly amazing phone call in the middle of the night. Now, the right thing, he knows, would be to tell the woman she has the wrong number. But. . .you know how it goes. And it's been a really lousy day. . .and, well, one thing leads to another, including, some time later, the first decent night's sleep the insomniac guy has had in weeks.

And there things would have ended. . .except, through a fluke, Ken meets the unsuspecting Georgia the following day, and finds himself knocked clear into next week. Not to mention torn between wanting to get to know the strong, decent woman with the passionate nature better and not knowing how on earth to tell her that sure as heck wasn't Rob she was talking to the previous night.

Since this is a Harlequin Temptation Blaze, one expects the book to be "hot" -- in other words, blatantly sexy. And this one is, no doubt about it. And, if that were the book's ONLY claim to fame, this reader probably would not be endorsing it. Sex for its own sake in any book -- even in a line as sensual as Blaze -- is not my cup of tea. However, having previously enjoyed Stephanie Bond's work, I figured if anyone could take this premise and wring it for everything it was worth, she could. I was not disappointed.

Georgia Adams is a woman coming to terms with her sexuality, confused by whether or not her feelings are normal and natural. And the two men in her life - - our very human hero, Ken, and her "perfect" boyfriend Rob -- simply represent two sides of her personality: the side that wants equates "good" with "safe", and the passionate side. As Ken struggles with his dilemma of how to win over a woman he's basically lied to (an element that's handled with great skill, in this reader's opinion), Georgia's psyche is having a grand old time battling it out, as well. These are very real people, deftly drawn and presented -- no mean feat in a short book -- and Ms. Bond tells their story with a great deal of humor and compassion. For me, reading TOO HOT TO SLEEP was like devouring a small, sinfully rich piece of fine chocolate.

When he meets her at the hospital by accident, he realizes that she's the woman on the phone, and he's determined to know her personally. However, as the plot thickens, he realizes that he's in a lot of trouble. How could he tell her that it was really him she called without making her mad at him? Of course, Georgia has her share of problems, one of which being that she's fantasizing about Ken, when she really should be fantasizing about her boyfriend.

The story is fast-paced, very light in tone, and hot in sensuality. All Bond's fans would enjoy this new title from the talented author, while new fans will clamor to the bookstore to grab her older titles.