Heat by Penny Reid

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Title: Heat
Author: Penny Reid
Series: Elements of Chemistry #2, Hypothesis #1.2
Published by: Tantor Audio
Release Date: July 28, 2015
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Cris Dukehart
Length: 6 hours and 23 minutes
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 Audiobook Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ IndieBound ✩ iTunes
My rating:

Blurb:

Four days left.Private beach (…and boat).Not so invisible girl.

And maybe less of a jerk-faced bully than originally thought.

What’s the worst (or the best) that could happen?

Kaitlyn is finding life outside of the science cabinet of obscurity to be quite illuminating …and so are her pants.

When things heat up between Kaitlyn Parker and Martin—previously known as the jerk-faced bully—Sandeke, she places her trust in the one person she never thought capable of earning it, let alone keeping it safe. Fortunately or unfortunately for Kaitlyn, where she gives her trust she can’t help but also give her heart.

But how will the world beyond the sanctuary of their newfound connection react to their relationship? Soon senators, chinless billionaires, and elements beyond Martin and Kaitlyn’s control want to weigh in on the young couple’s future.

Navigating the chaotic inferno of new love might be more than Kaitlyn bargained for, and much, much more than her trust—or her heart—can handle.

My Review:

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
3.5 stars — OK, major problem with writing this review — I was so sucked into the story that instead of following my modus operandi and writing the review immediately after finishing the book, I instead kept right on reading into book 3. So this review is going to be sorely lacking, b/c I’m terrible at remembering my thoughts and feelings once I’ve moved on to the next.

The steam factor turned up to 11 in this installment, but so did the angst. And I’m not sure how big a fan I am of angst….something I’m learning about myself. The relationship between Kaitlyn and Martin went into overdrive, and passed through so many levels of feelings. So with all the good stuff, we get some fighting too. I appreciated how much more we were learning about the characters as they were learning about each other, but occasionally I was confused by their actions….but that could have been just me. I was not always a fan of how Kaitlyn described Martin — how he looked at her with malice, etc — so it made it harder to always follow what she was falling in love with. It’s not that he didn’t have 3 dimensions, but his faults could be kind of alarming (at least the way she described them). So that would be where my half star loss came from….

I still really enjoyed the uniqueness that is Kaitlyn…she mostly made me laugh with her quirky habits and ways of seeing the world. I also enjoyed the banter between her and Martin. Don’t let my other comments fool you, the good stuff was GOOD.

Obviously I’m super happy that I had all 3 books in the bundle, otherwise the ending probably would have torn me apart more than it did. Needless to say, I motored right on into the next installment…

ON REREAD:
3.5 stars (though rounded down this time) — I pretty much concur with my thoughts above, but I had a harder time with the constant back and forth and angst of our characters.  They fight, they make up, they fight, they make up…  I get that they’re learning about each other, and I was really interested in what I was learning about both of them as we went along.  But their fights were hard to take.  And while I enjoyed their steamy moments a LOT, I also was uncomfortable with them at times.  Am I the only one that is concerned with the way Martin pushes?  Like, he’s right on the bounds of consent (but perhaps Kaitlyn is an unreliable narrator).  I was also a bit bummed with the throwaway line about Kaitlyn thinking she’s asexual…I’m not sure if she really thought that, or if she was just using it as an excuse, but it made me frown.  #sensitive

The other reason I’m rounding down this time is that I really don’t like Martin.  I don’t find him swoony.  I find him to be an asshole.  Which, I get, he’s supposed to be.  But an asshole with a “perfect chest” is still an asshole, and I truly need more than physical perfection to be interested in a guy…Kaitlyn, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to as much.  I’m not saying I didn’t understand why he is the way he is, but he showed ZERO growth in this installment.  I can’t remember how this trilogy ends…I know he redeems himself, but I wonder if it will be enough for me this time?

On the audio front, Ms. Dukehart is still fucking NAILING it as the narrator.  I ADORE the way she portrays both Kaitlyn and Martin, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to just reading this story, when she can do a much better job for me.  😉