Review: Hot Times In The Park
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 26, 2012
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.  My Opinions are mine and not based on receipt of this book.The couple in the first story, Back to Nature by Cassandra Carr, were the inspiration for the other four couples featured in the rest of the stories in the book.  Great premise, at least I thought it was a great premise when I started reading.  Dmitri and Mara take time to have a little fun at a local park. where they are seen having oral sex in a lean-to.From there, we meet Mari and Wyatt, who only see each other once a year to have sex, in Jami Davenport's story Hail Mari.  They find a secluded place in the trees to have their fun with an older couple arguing about custody of their cat on a nearby bench.Cristal Ryder introduces us to Valerie and Tyler in Taking It Outside.  Valerie spots Mara and Dmitri having their fun while she waits for Tyler to join her.  Instead of the afternoon Valerie had planned, they decided to follow Mara and Dmitri's lead...Cassandra Carr gives us Miranda and Ross in A Whole New World.  They do things a bit differently.  Miranda discovers her voyeuristic tendencies, but isn't quite as willing as the others to jump right into the games.  They decide to take their fun and games and public displays elsewhere... their car, the backyard, then finally back to the park where it all started.And our final story gives us Alex and Jaid, who are friends with Mari and Wyatt, in In The Open from Jami Davenport.  Like Mari and Wyatt, they only see each other once a year and Jaid has it all planned out too.  However, their plans change and they end up enjoying their yearly romp in the water in the park.I loved the intertwining of the stories.  The heat level was better than expected, to be honest, but the stories are far too short to develop the characters and relationships.  We know the basics, but we don't know anything more than that.  If the plots had been developed more, the stories would have flowed together better and been more enjoyable.  That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the stories, because I did, but not as much as I would could have.  The other thing that bothered me was the "happy endings' for Mari and Jaid.  Their relationships with Wyatt and Alex did not have to change, it didn't add anything to the story, nor would it have taken anything away from the stories.