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A review by thebritishbibliophile
One Hot Favor by Anna Durand, Anna Durand
5.0
'Humorous cricket terminology and time at the wicket, Anna Durand delivers a googly of a novel that will have you anything but 'out'. - The British Bibliophile
Thank you to Anna Durand for sending me an ebook Advanced Readers Copy for me to read and leave an honest review.
Anna Durand has certainly done us all a 'favor' (which I'm still tempted to spell the English way!), by writing us this humorous and sexy romance featuring balls, wickets and plenty of cricket terminology to wrap your mouth around. This is the ninth book in her Hot Brits series, and they just keep getting hotter, steamier and lip-bitingly good as they come. Pun intended.
Our attention this time is turned from the bonnie banks of Scotland, and the sights are firmly set on England's green and pleasant lands. Perfectly appropriate, considering the series name. Step forward Dominic 'The Dom' Rigby and Chelsea Vance. Dominic--a former cricketer, now teacher--and Chelsea, longtime friends, soon discover one another becoming more than that as they're put together for charitable purposes. Among a few others.
When the idea of a one night stand doesn't appeal to either party, neither does a relationship, they enter into a mutual agreement. A 'favor', if you will. At much insistence from Chelsea and reluctance from Dominic, he agrees to be a model for a 'beefcake' charity calendar full of retired cricketers, this is where the favor comes into play to bat. The condition to this favor? Should the occasion 'rise' when the two were together for whatever reason, be it Chelsea taking his photo or observing his stellar cricket skills, they scratch the itch. Nothing more, nothing less. Simply doing each other a 'favor'.
Chelsea and Dominic are quick to put rules into place to make sure that this becomes nothing more than just a simple 'favor', but aren't rules there to be bent and broken? Only these two will know just how far those 'rules' can be pushed, and pushed they were.
One Hot Favor brings back into the fold a few familiar faces from past novels in the series, to which it was great to see them again. Especially a certain 'Lord Steamy'. Those are not the only things being brought together in this humour-littered read. As previously mentioned, retired cricketers are being brought together for a charity game (you can read the ins and outs of how this came to be, in this book). As a Brit, it's a game that's deeply imbedded into English culture. Especially sporting culture. Being as ignorant to the sport as Chelsea herself is, specifically to how it works, its terms and scoring, I was learning alongside her as we get to see 'The Dom' come out of his reluctant shell and coach the retired team. Anna does a grand job of explaining the sport (which after reading about, I still don't understand. I'm more of a rugby woman!), and I'm definitely into the prospect of a semi-clothed charity cricket calendar, should one be made.
Cricket aside, things get hot not under the collar, but under the cricket whites/uniform. Anna never fails to bring the heat to whatever ground, literally, any of her characters are on. Be it the grounds of a castle or on the pitch in this case, cheeks are aflame and mouths agape. Who knew such things could be achieved upon the wicket and bails! Once again, you'll get to know why when you all get to that part of the book. Trust me, it'll be worth the read to get there because, as a cricketer, Dominic doesn't make just the one run. He makes several. With Chelsea.
I fully anticipated not to gel with the cricket aspect of this read, due to not being a fan of the sport outside of the book world, though I found myself pleasantly feeling the opposite by the time I turned the last page. There wasn't a shadow of a doubt in my mind that Anna could craft a story that could win over the most reluctant of cricket fans, or a story that captures the mind and heart of the reader, not one bit. I learned quite a bit about the sport (despite, as previously mentioned, still not grasping the concept), the story was as romantic and steamy as it was humorous. As mentioned in other reviews, a book that can make me laugh as much as it makes me blush is a winner in my book. Anna's comedic voice shines through in this book especially, and I can definitely catch a glimpse of her and her humour dotted throughout.
There's a reason that Anna is one of my favourite authors--and people--to read and support, and it's demonstrated here in this very book. Everything that I know and love about her writing, storytelling, simply everything is in here for readers to enjoy and appreciate. Though I still don't get cricket, maybe I need to go back and have another round with 'The Dom'. It can't hurt to be thorough, after all.
Five stars!
Thank you to Anna Durand for sending me an ebook Advanced Readers Copy for me to read and leave an honest review.
Anna Durand has certainly done us all a 'favor' (which I'm still tempted to spell the English way!), by writing us this humorous and sexy romance featuring balls, wickets and plenty of cricket terminology to wrap your mouth around. This is the ninth book in her Hot Brits series, and they just keep getting hotter, steamier and lip-bitingly good as they come. Pun intended.
Our attention this time is turned from the bonnie banks of Scotland, and the sights are firmly set on England's green and pleasant lands. Perfectly appropriate, considering the series name. Step forward Dominic 'The Dom' Rigby and Chelsea Vance. Dominic--a former cricketer, now teacher--and Chelsea, longtime friends, soon discover one another becoming more than that as they're put together for charitable purposes. Among a few others.
When the idea of a one night stand doesn't appeal to either party, neither does a relationship, they enter into a mutual agreement. A 'favor', if you will. At much insistence from Chelsea and reluctance from Dominic, he agrees to be a model for a 'beefcake' charity calendar full of retired cricketers, this is where the favor comes into play to bat. The condition to this favor? Should the occasion 'rise' when the two were together for whatever reason, be it Chelsea taking his photo or observing his stellar cricket skills, they scratch the itch. Nothing more, nothing less. Simply doing each other a 'favor'.
Chelsea and Dominic are quick to put rules into place to make sure that this becomes nothing more than just a simple 'favor', but aren't rules there to be bent and broken? Only these two will know just how far those 'rules' can be pushed, and pushed they were.
One Hot Favor brings back into the fold a few familiar faces from past novels in the series, to which it was great to see them again. Especially a certain 'Lord Steamy'. Those are not the only things being brought together in this humour-littered read. As previously mentioned, retired cricketers are being brought together for a charity game (you can read the ins and outs of how this came to be, in this book). As a Brit, it's a game that's deeply imbedded into English culture. Especially sporting culture. Being as ignorant to the sport as Chelsea herself is, specifically to how it works, its terms and scoring, I was learning alongside her as we get to see 'The Dom' come out of his reluctant shell and coach the retired team. Anna does a grand job of explaining the sport (which after reading about, I still don't understand. I'm more of a rugby woman!), and I'm definitely into the prospect of a semi-clothed charity cricket calendar, should one be made.
Cricket aside, things get hot not under the collar, but under the cricket whites/uniform. Anna never fails to bring the heat to whatever ground, literally, any of her characters are on. Be it the grounds of a castle or on the pitch in this case, cheeks are aflame and mouths agape. Who knew such things could be achieved upon the wicket and bails! Once again, you'll get to know why when you all get to that part of the book. Trust me, it'll be worth the read to get there because, as a cricketer, Dominic doesn't make just the one run. He makes several. With Chelsea.
I fully anticipated not to gel with the cricket aspect of this read, due to not being a fan of the sport outside of the book world, though I found myself pleasantly feeling the opposite by the time I turned the last page. There wasn't a shadow of a doubt in my mind that Anna could craft a story that could win over the most reluctant of cricket fans, or a story that captures the mind and heart of the reader, not one bit. I learned quite a bit about the sport (despite, as previously mentioned, still not grasping the concept), the story was as romantic and steamy as it was humorous. As mentioned in other reviews, a book that can make me laugh as much as it makes me blush is a winner in my book. Anna's comedic voice shines through in this book especially, and I can definitely catch a glimpse of her and her humour dotted throughout.
There's a reason that Anna is one of my favourite authors--and people--to read and support, and it's demonstrated here in this very book. Everything that I know and love about her writing, storytelling, simply everything is in here for readers to enjoy and appreciate. Though I still don't get cricket, maybe I need to go back and have another round with 'The Dom'. It can't hurt to be thorough, after all.
Five stars!