Review: Just in time for summer! Turn up the AC!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 28, 2014
In book 3 of her Latin Heat Trilogy, author Diane Escalera cooks up a smoking hot romance between her two lead characters, Christian La Costa and Destiny Quinn!Christian and Destiny are looking to change their love lives so they each sign up for an online dating service that puts them in a small cooking class where they first meet.First off I liked the opening scene in Playing with Destiny. A singles’ cooking class is a great idea since the attention isn’t focused solely on chatting up someone. They can either meet someone new or learn how to make something. The pressure to find someone isn’t overwhelming and allowed me the chance to get to know Destiny as she is, not as a woman who is so focused on chatting someone up because that’s the only thing there is to do.Christian is a bit of a mystery in the beginning, I wondered at his reasons for being in a singles’ setting when it’s clear he has no trouble getting women. Aside from being incredibly handsome though, Christian is a good man. He’s protective, funny and intelligent. I loved that he didn’t rush Destiny, he recognized her caution about him and even admired her for taking steps to protect herself from potential danger.That said, Christian and Destiny have great chemistry from the very moment they set eyes on each other, but I loved how Destiny handled that attraction. She freely admits that Christian is a handsome man but that also triggers some suspicions. She questions why someone like Christian needs to sign up for an online dating service and she isn’t quick to fall for his charming personality. As much as she wants him, Destiny uses common sense to protect herself until she gets to know Christian a little more. That was something that really stood out for me. I’m always a harsher judge with female characters for some reason but I did like Destiny a lot because of her common sense. She’s not a perfect character either which definitely made her more likable to me.Final Verdict: Playing with Destiny is definitely a sexy story and Escalera knows how to build and maintain scorching sexual tension between her characters without making it seem forced or fake. The story flows smoothly and is engaging the whole way through. This is now the second story by Diane Escalera that I’ve read and enjoyed and I hope there will be more in the future.