Heated

by Naima Simone

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781542038294
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	07/05/2022
Series:	Burned Inc. , #1
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

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 have been 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.

Editorial Reviews

Readers will be eager for more.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2022-04-13
An inventive entrepreneur mixes business with pleasure when she strikes up a flirtation with a client’s ex in this steamy contemporary romance.

Zora Nelson is the president of BURNED Inc., a company that specializes in giving its clients amicable ends to their relationships. When Zora lands Valerie Summers—a wealthy woman who values discretion—as a client, she personally handles her assignment by way of reading a Dear John letter to her soon-to-be-ex. Cyrus Hart is surprised that his girlfriend of six months has sent someone else to break up with him. He’s not entirely heartbroken, though his job as an entertainment lawyer requires him to network and Val helped with that. Zora and Cyrus share an immediate attraction, and, after running into each other soon after, they fall into a friends-with-benefits scenario without Cyrus knowing the depth of Zora’s involvement in the end of his last relationship. Cyrus assumes Zora is a friend Valerie convinced to read the breakup letter for her, and Zora doesn't bother to correct him. The fact that Zora was both paid to break up with him and is the president of the company hired to do so remains a secret for most of the book, like a storm cloud hanging over every sweet and sexy moment. Zora is characterized as the business-savvy president of BURNED Inc., having started the company with her two siblings. Despite initial doubts from investors, their parents, and even potential clients, Zora has proven them all wrong with plenty of satisfied customers. Her only minimal hesitation in getting involved with Cyrus and potentially jeopardizing her company's reputation feels out of character. As Zora’s leading man, Cyrus is fine but not distinctive. There are a handful of bright spots amid Zora and Cyrus’ lukewarm connection, mainly Zora’s interactions with her darling siblings both in and out of the office. A fake dating element emerges around the halfway point but feels very much half-baked.

A mismatched romance with both too much and not enough going on.

Kirkus Reviews