BOOKWORM REVIEW: Heated by Naima Simone
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
STEAM: 🔥🔥🔥
Zora Neale Nelson has a lot on her plate. She manages a firm with her two siblings, Levi and Miriam, that specializes in helping couples break up. That's right: she owns a break-up management company. She is also responsible for wrangling the wild cats that are her brother and sister, thanks to unrealistic expectations set on her by her constantly bickering parents.
When her office becomes short-staffed one day, she ends up breaking up with Cyrus Hart on behalf of her client. An instant attraction blooms between the two of them, but nothing comes of it as the goal was to break Cyrus off from her client. Their paid-for interaction should have ended there, but fate has them running into each other, giving their connection more opportunities to grow.
When Cyrus needed a girlfriend to get ahead at work, he recruits Zora as "payback" for putting him in the single market in the first place. Will the proximity be enough to foster that connection into a happily ever after?
I loved the premise and main characters of the book. Cyrus is ambitious -- almost tunnel-visioned -- and charming. He is also very aware of social dynamics, which helps with his efforts to build a friendship and eventually a relationship with Zora. He is cunning enough to use circumstances to his advantage, such as guilting Zora into being his fake girlfriend.
I really enjoyed Zora's arc more as she had a lot more adversities, to begin with. Her entire family takes her for granted as the peacemaker and organizer. The pressure is enough to make any grown person crumble, but she has endured it. I wished there was a more satisfying conclusion to that plot line, but perhaps we will see in later books of the series.
The chemistry between these two was well established from the get-go, thanks to the dual POV. The immediate spark subsequently grew into a sizzle and ends with super-spicy moments that was well worth the slow-burn wait.
This is the first of the series, and it does a great job of setting up for the subsequent books. It can be read as a standalone because there are no cliffhangers.
** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Naima Simone, Montlake Publishing, and NetGalley for providing an ARC. **
ABOUT THE BOOK
From USA Today bestselling author Naima Simone comes Heated, a sizzling novel about a breakup professional who embarks on a fake relationship with a client’s ex—the one person she wasn’t supposed to fall for.
Zora
I’m Denver’s unmatchmaker. Every city needs one.
Why? Because people break up—and sometimes they should. But when I learn that entertainment attorney Cyrus Hart is someone else’s mistake, I can’t believe it. He’s smart, successful, and sexy as hell.
When a chance encounter with Cyrus turns into something more, I can’t help but fall for him. Our chemistry is undeniable. But his ex used my company to send him that letter—and that’s a problem. Especially since he doesn’t know I own the company.
How can this possibly work? I know from experience that the riskiest ventures are the worthiest ones…but falling for Cyrus Hart may be my biggest gamble yet.
Cyrus
I’m a man with a plan—college, law school, a great career. So far, so good.
Until a stranger shows up on my doorstep and reads me a breakup letter from my girlfriend. My carefully laid plans unravel.
But then I meet someone new. It’s spontaneous. It’s electric. And it’s not according to plan.
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MEET NAIMA SIMONE
Published since 2009, USA Today Bestselling author Naima Simone loves writing sizzling romances with heart, a touch of humor and snark. Her books have been featured in The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly, and described as balancing “crackling, electric love scenes with exquisitely rendered characters caught in emotional turmoil.”
She is wife to Superman, or his non-Kryptonian, less bulletproof equivalent, and mother to the most awesome kids ever. They all live in perfect, sometimes domestically-challenged bliss in the southern United States.