Carly Phillips, Hot Number

Hot Number

Carly Phillips

HQN, Aug 2005, $7.50, 384 pp.

ISBN: 0373770553

Her parents died in a plane crash in the Andes when she was ten; her Uncle Yank "Yack" Morgan raised Micki Jordan and her two older sisters though he knew nothing about girls. Still he showered them with love and ultimately brought them into his sports agency. Micki became a partner with her siblings and publicist at The Hot Zone, an offshoot of Yank's agency.

Unlike her girly girl sisters, Micki is a tomboy who thinks nothing of entering the locker rooms of professional sports teams. However, she decides to change her appearance from one of the boys to a HOT NUMBER. Though New York Renegade Rick Carter thinks he is the one she wants to impress since he took a drunken kiss from her, Micki leans towards his teammate renowned playboy Damian Fuller. As she succeeds in catching Damien's full attention, she panics, afraid of rejection and defeat, unlike the baseball star who will lose plenty of games during his career. Damien tries to prove he is her only one, but a paternity suit apparently strikes him out.

The second Hot Zone sports romance (see HOT STUFF) is a fun tale that the audience will adore as Micki the tomboy becomes a HOT NUMBER that her clients want in their bed. The storyline is often amusing while providing insight into the drudgery of professional sports from an athlete's perspective. The support cast, especially her siblings and uncle and Damien's teammates add depth to a well written contemporary tale that will leave fans waiting for the final game starring middle sister Sophie.

Harriet Klausner