RITA Reader Challenge Review

Hot in Hellcat Canyon by Julie Anne Long

This RITA® Reader Challenge 2017 review was written by Crystal Anne with an E. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Long Contemporary category.

The summary:

A broken truck, a broken career, and a breakup heard around the world land superstar John Tennessee McCord in Hellcat Canyon. Legend has it that hearts come in two colors there: gold or black. And that you can find whatever you’re looking for, whether it’s love . . . or trouble. JT may have found both in waitress Britt Langley.

His looks might cause whiplash and weak knees, but Britt sees past JT’s rough edge and sexy drawl to a person a lot like her: in need of the kind of comfort best given hot and quick, with clothes off and the lights out.

Her wit is sharp but her eyes and heart—not to mention the rest of her—are soft, and JT is falling hard. But Britt has a secret as dark as the hills, and JT’s past is poised to invade their present. It’s up to the people of Hellcat Canyon to help make sure their future includes a happily ever after.

Here is Crystal Anne with an E's review:

First, let us all enjoy the Post-It notes that I jotted down thoughts on. It was a library book, so no notes in the margins.

I’m not getting hunted down for a librarian for nobody.

Post-Its with a bunch of notes

So I am familiar with the fact that this website loves them some Julie Anne Long, and their effusive love for her has actually caused me to one-click at least two Pennyroyal Green books.

That doesn’t mean I have actually read them yet. #failureasafunctionaladult

That familiarity means that I am aware that she has a reputation for writing really good small town. However, when the Pennyroyal Green series and its attendant corsetry came to an end, she went for contemporaries. Still with the small town, though. What I came to find out is that yes, she does good small town.

So let’s meet our lucky couple, shall we? First we have Britt Langley, a pretty blonde that both waitresses at the local watering hole and works in real estate. She’s very nice, has justifiable pride in a well-developed vocabulary, and has what is literally a pathological impulse to rescue neglected plants. Trigger warning: she also has a history of abuse that has left her both gun-shy in the extreme and she is just now starting to let herself get back into things that she loved and made her happy.

Then we have John Tennessee McCord, who goes by J.T., because that is one hell of a moniker. He is Southern, an actor who is currently on a bit of a career downswing, but he can see a possible upswing in the offing. He’s often funny, absently flirtatious (it’s pretty much second nature to him), got a black belt in his free time (like you do), says some breathtakingly stupid things during the course of the book, and has a grey streak in his hair, because someone thought of me specifically and wanted me to be happy (#silver fox #cometoButthead).

Basically, I spent the whole book picturing Timothy Olyphant’s absurdly handsome face. THANK YOU.

Gif of Timothy Olyphant in a henley shirt, jeans, and a Stetson, with the text Shitload of Swagger

There was nothing particularly new about the structure of the story. Dude walks into bar, dude meets hot lady, they both notice that the other is hot, at least one of them is reluctant to bone, they both decide that boning without a commitment is a thing that they will do, they have the best sexytimes ever, sketchy pasts invade their present, they both realize they caught feelings, someone makes a big gesture, and then declarations of love occur. Seriously, this particular sketch has been A LOT of books. That said, this book makes it work, and while not particularly fresh, it has a lot of things going for it that make it a comforting and engaging read.

Timothy Olyphant saying, Sounds like a love story

First, we have the cast of characters that always comes with the small town. We’ve got a gun-toting granny, a big dumb dude, the ladies who run the local hair place and dress shoppe, and the staff of the watering hole consists of a forever-married couple and the requisite taciturn and temperamental cook that has mad burger skills. Oh, and there’s Sequel Bait. That said, it was pretty clear that all of those characters had rich internal lives (that forever-married couple are into some gentle role-playing, and the big dumb dude makes a conscious choice to not remain dumb), and their interest and delight in the love story that was unfolding in front of them was cute. I also enjoyed some of the Hollywood types that descended onto the town, and by that I mean I liked Franco. He made for an interesting foil in the fact that even though he and J.T. are hyper-competitive, it is clear that most of the negativity is on J.T.’s side.

Then we had the conflict. Most of it is interpersonal and driven by misunderstandings on both sides. Which is fine, I don’t always need a knife-wielding maniac to drive conflict. I had several “Use your freaking words!!” moments. Both characters had had experiences that caused them to not be particularly skilled at relationship building. The book probably would have moved a bit faster had at least one of them just tried to be somewhat straightforward. They both also had the capacity to be astoundingly unreasonable (people, amirite?).

Timothy Olyphant in a Stetson and a busted lip saying, Could you be any more vague

I did like them as a couple, though. When not being close-mouthed to a fault, they both genuinely liked each other and tried to do nice things for the other. One of my favorite parts was when they were both hanging out and decided to trade e-readers so they could read what the other had. I also liked that this couple was a bit older than what one often finds. J.T. is forty, and Britt thirty-two. These were already people that had had lives, and experienced both success and failure. It might be my age (I’m 38), but I’m here for a lived-in character (also, get off my lawn).

There were a few things where, well, I had concerns. At least the first two love scenes took place in weirdly unhygienic locales (I’m not kidding, it is exactly what my Post-It note said). Second, the ex-girlfriend is villainous to the point of ridiculousness. Not a lot of complexity, almost no humor. Also, I’m sorry, I refuse to believe that a successful, skilled actress has never heard of the Greek myth of Persephone, nor do I believe that a guy that clearly enjoys reading and learning would have tolerated her for very long.

In all, I enjoyed the book, and will probably seek out more of Long’s work. As I said, I can live with the fact that there was a formula when the writing of the formula is good. Chocolate cake comes from a formula, too, and I am always here for a good piece of cake. Also, any book that makes me picture Timothy Olyphant for 374 pages is going to engender a general fondness.

Nice solid B+

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Hot in Hellcat Canyon by Julie Anne Long

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Add Your Comment →

  1. Julie says:

    I enjoyed both books (I think there’s only two) in this series, and I’ve yet to read a(n?) historical by Ms Long (she sure does have a boatload of historicals though!).

    🙂

  2. Carolyn says:

    Really enjoyed this review. ☺

    Really enjoyed Ms. Kong’s writing too. One-clicked this so fast! Didn’t know she wrote contemporaries so am looking forward to reading.

  3. Carolyn says:

    Oh good lord!! That’s Long, not Kong,lol!

  4. DonnaMarie says:

    GREAT review Crystal Anne! It left me thinking three things:
    1. I need more Timothy Olyphant, although my preference is the scruffier long haired version of I Am Four and This Is Where I Leave You.
    2. I need more chocolate cake. Luckily a vendor brought in a Portillo’s chocolate cake with lunch, so that’s easily remedied.
    3. An old saw: You will often see a smart man with a dumb woman, but you will never see a smart woman with dumb man.

  5. DonnaMarie says:

    Wait!! FOUR things: the sequel bait better be the taciturn cook with mad burger skills!

  6. Julie says:

    Looks like the 3rd book will be out the end of August

    Dirty Dancing at Devil’s Leap: A Hellcat Canyon Novel 😀

  7. Kareni says:

    Thanks for a fun review, Crystal Anne with an E. I enjoyed this book, too.

  8. LauraL says:

    Thanks for the fun review, Crystal Anne. I loved seeing your post-it notes! Hot in Hellcat Canyon was recommended to me by a friend and has been on my library wish list nearly a year. I am now tempted to read it and skim the love scenes in the unhygienic locales (no wonder Jill Shalvis wrote a glowing blurb!) just to imagine Timothy Olyphant as J.T.

  9. Ren Benton says:

    Bless these gifs that we are about to receive.

    I didn’t even read for context after the first one. Raylan didn’t shoot anybody, so I assume it went okay. 😀

  10. kitkat9000 says:

    Loved the review, but thank you from the bottom of my heart for the Olyphant gif’s.

    Not ashamed to admit that I originally tuned into Justified just to watch him, stayed because the show was great. I mean, Raylan! and Boyd! with Dewey for comic relief. Miss that show so much… methinks it’s time for a rewatch.

  11. Leanne H. says:

    I’m laughing reading all these comments. But not as hard as I laughed at “also, get off my lawn.” Great gifs, great review!!

  12. CJ says:

    Your review made me realize it was Olyphant in Deadwood that I was imagining while reading this book! Thanks for clarifying my latent visual aid. Great review. I would bump the grade if her contemporary characters would carry condoms. Historicals okay, but contemporary, I always have to suspend my disbelief too much and it takes me out of the story wondering how they can be so blasé about pregnancy and STD’s.

  13. Katrina says:

    Hilarious review. And, oh, the gifs! I keep looking at the “Shitload of Swaggah” one. I’ll just leave my “thank you” here, shall I?

  14. JoS says:

    You had me at Timothy.

  15. TheFormerAstronomer says:

    I haven’t read all of the review yet – but can I just say that as a non-USian if you’d asked me to imagine what somewhere called ‘Hellcat Canyon’ looked like, I wouldn’t have picked the cover vista? There might have been more, um, canyons? And fewer meadows?

  16. Christine says:

    @ TheFormerAstronomer “Hot in Hellcat Botanical Gardens” just doesn’t have that ring to it, though, you know? (I was also perplexed by the cover… you could at least have a grassy slope or something! Maybe a tree? Also, I feel like that truck is stalking them.)

  17. Crystal says:

    Thank you for the kind words, folks.

    Please believe that I ENJOYED tracking down those GIFs.

  18. Rose says:

    I loved this review. Excellent writing plus Justified gifs was the best possible use of this internet space. A+++

  19. Kara Skinner says:

    This review was fantastic! Also love Timothy Olyphant. However, evil ex girlfriends with no complexity is one of my biggest pet peeves in romance novels.

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