Scoundrels, sinners and slayers vie for the cursed statue of the goddess Saraswati, aka Shiva's Diva, held by American linguist Tempe Walsh.
Tempe Walsh is fluent in ten languages and she can't say no to adventure. Next stop: India! Her mission: find the priceless - and mysterious - statue known as Shiva's Diva. Her man: Briggan O'Brien, a sexy Irishman on the run from the Mumbai Mob. Brig has a strange way of doing business, whatever that business may be . . . and Tempe's still not sure how she ended up in his arms when the shooting started.
Nominated for Best Romantic Suspense (2005) by RT Book Reviews.
Excerpt
The first bullet decapitated the silver sail from my boat-shaped earring. A second or third could capsize the entire craft. I screamed, leapt up, then dove for the closest empty area of floor. Which landed me next to the vending machine. I heard a ripping sound and glanced down at what had been my skirt.
My left le=g was now exposed to mid-thigh. I ignored it in favor of eyeing the goodies above me. I could see Butterfingers and Baby Ruths. Snickers. Snyder's pretzels. A bag of peanuts was stuck in the drop slot. I paused for one insane second, wondering if I could ooch it out. A knife flew by, shattering the glass over the Milky Ways. So much for my snack. And my hiding place.
A low-hanging chandelier beckoned. I grabbed it and swung myself toward the red and gold beaded curtain in the back of the tavern. I crashed through, rolled and ended up behind several bottles of Rajit beer. I wedged myself inside the crack between two barrels, then cautiously began patting various body parts to make sure none were missing.
Instead of losing a limb, I seemed to have gained one. An extra arm extended from my right side. I opened my mouth to scream and a hand clamped over my lips.
"Eist do bheal!"
"Eist do bheal?"
That first bullet must have killed me after all. I'd just heard someone in a Bombay saloon say "shut up"...in Gaelic.
I was dead. Hungry and dead and bruised and I'd landed in St. Patrick's Gift Shop in heaven where the stock boys spoke Gaelic.
Professional Reviews Fun and Romantic Adventure
Flo Fitzpatrick pens a fun and funny romantic adventure. Full of zany characters and plenty of plot twists, this novel had me glued to each page. The fast pace and suspense plus plenty of humor had me both laughing and rapidly turning the pages to find out how the main characters were going to defeat the villains. I also loved the Bollywood setting. Highly recommended!
A dead-bang funny book
A delightful book I am very happy to recommend coming from Flo Fitzpatrick. This one amazing tale from start to finish that will leave you clamoring from more from this new writer.
Tempe Walsh is a translator. She has a job with client Ray Decore. Sounds simple enough. She is to translate from Hindi to English and back again as needed as part of a deal with Kimali Khan, brokering a sale for a stature. Tempe might raise eyebrows at the setting - Hot Harry's Bar in Bombay, but hey, a girl has to live a little! Only trouble ensures when Tempe spots the statue is a fake. Suddenly all hell breaks loose, resulting in her client getting killed. Instead of standing and screaming, our intrepid heroine uses her lithe bod and her trusty earrings to escape, taking one "Strider" O'Brian (this is the third book I have reviewed this month with "Strider" heroes, glut from LOTR!), with everyone chasing in their wake.
This is one delightfully wild, tongue-firmly-through-cheek tales that takes off and never lets up from start to finish. It's seasoned with a wickedly funny sense of humor, that has a touch of movie adoration tossed in. It is madcap comedy reminiscent of Hollywood romps of the 40s. A great aim, but can the writer pull it off? Yeppers, big time! Hot Stuff is absolutely dead bang on target from the homage to films past to romance lovers at heart and those of us who enjoy a good belly laugh along the way.
Delightful Screwball Romantic Comedy
Usually, being a translator means sitting in an office looking at legal documents. This time, though, Tempe Walsh actually gets to go to Bombay, India, where she intends to help an American art collector negotiate the purchase of a famous statue--a statue of an Indian Goddess which comes attached to both a blessing and a curse. Unfortunately for Tempe, there are plenty of other prospective 'buyers' and none of them, including the man she's working for, would mind getting the statue at a bargain price--even if that meant stealing, stabbing, or shooting.
Tempe meets up with a handsome Irish rogue who takes time out from his own thefts to attempt to sweet-talk her into his bed, and the two are quickly swept into an adventure that involves Tempe posing as a stripper in two separate clubs, dancing and performing the splits for a Bollywood movie production ('Bollywood' is the term used to describe the Indian film industry which mostly consists of song-and-dance numbers), kidnapping, late night fire drills, and lots more time spent with the handsome Briggan O'Brien.
Author Flo Fitzpatrick serves up a delightful mix of screwball comedy, adventure, an exotic foreign locale, and romance. Fitzpatrick seems to delight in breaking the rules--her first book was set in the theater and her second in India, in the entertainment business, with snakes and elephants for secondary characters. Fortunately, it works.
Congratulations to Zebra for taking a chance, but most of all, congratulations to Flo Fitzpatrick for creating such an entertaining romp. I am very happy to recommend HOT STUFF highly.
