It’s Getting Hot in Here | Jane Costello
REVIEWED BY LINDA HILL
Twice divorced and a high flying TV executive, 47-year-old Lisa Darling seems to have it all – including an unreliable ex-husband, two demanding children and an uncanny knack of asking too much of herself. When her work colleague Rose is off sick and replaced by Zach Russo, life doesn’t get any easier.
It’s Getting Hot in Here: book review & synopsis
Oh yes indeed! It’s Getting Hot In Here is exactly the book we all need to take us away from the cares of the world whilst providing huge entertainment and laugh-out-loud moments in a completely believable and relatable story. I loved it. The plot might be based in everyday life, but it romps along and grips the reader.
Lisa Darling is the new best friend you never knew you needed. A single parent, she illustrates to perfection the balance between being a dynamic, competent corporate television executive and a frazzled mum trying to deal with a hobby obsessed young son and a typically recalcitrant teenage lad. Add in a demanding role with the PTA at her sons’ school and peri-menopause symptoms, and Lisa embodies everything so many of us have been through ourselves.
The characters are wonderful. Alongside Lisa is the utterly gorgeous Zack Russo. Never mind the title, Zach has all the attributes to get both Lisa and the reader a little hot under the collar. There are some brilliantly sexy moments that are written with such skill they never make the reader feel uncomfortable or voyeuristic, but they add spiciness and entertainment to the story.
However, Zach is no two-dimensional eye candy, but rather is a dad doing his best for his daughter Mila, even if it means sacrificing his own happiness, so that we fall in love with him completely.
Fun, romantic and engaging!
Indeed, although this is a witty, romantic and engaging story of a 47-year-old woman that is incredibly fun and entertaining to read, Jane Costello manages to weave in other topics that give depth and balance too. Rose’s cancer treatment, the manipulation of women through body image, and the way teenagers can head off the rails without even trying are concepts that feel real and impactful so that the narrative feels mature as well as diverting.
Bright, breezy and effervescent, this is a story to make you laugh aloud and shout in agreement with Lisa. But don’t be surprised if it leaves you with the burning urge to descale the kettle!
It’s Getting Hot In Here by Jane Costello is out now (Hodder Paperbacks, PB, £9.99) and available from Amazon.
Read more fiction reviews by Linda Hill including A Christmas In Prague by Helga Jensen, Edith Holler by Edward Carey, The Black Loch by Peter May, Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood, Small Bomb At Dimperley by Lissa Evans, The Book Swap by Tessa Bickers and Scandalous Women by Gill Paul.
