Hot Stuff

Hot Stuff is the first book in the Cate Madigan series by popular American author Janet Evanovich, written with Leanne Banks (although, to date, some nine years later, no second book has appeared). Cate Madigan is working in a bar and renting a room in the luxurious condo that belongs to the bar's entertainer, drag-queen Marty Longfellow. When ex-cop Kellen McBride walks into the Bar, the attraction on both sides is immediate, but both Cate and Kellen are wary of involvement.

Then Marty disappears, sending a drooling bull mastiff named Beast to guard over Cate in his absence, perhaps something to do with the condo being ransacked on a regular basis. Socialite Kitty Bergman and her two large male sidekicks are insisting that Cate reveal Marty's whereabouts, and a short, round, hairy tyre salesman named Patrick Pugg, who always talks in the third person, is insisting he wants to be her boyfriend.

That this is the work of the author of the Stephanie Plum series is quite apparent: there are plenty of laughs and the action is almost slapstick at times. There's a bit of romance, a bit of intrigue, a bit of cake, a mystery resident and even a budding novelist. A fun read. 3.5 stars