cover image Legally Hot

Legally Hot

Lora Leigh, Cheyenne McCray, and Red Garnier. St. Martin’s Paperbacks, $7.99 mass market (336p) ISBN 978-0-312-38913-0

Men in uniform are the focus of this uneven anthology. In Leigh’s mediocre “Sheila’s Passion,” ex-Marine Nick Casey sends Sheila Rutledge’s heat meter to 11 in relentless, interchangeable sex scenes, but she stubbornly resists taking their relationship to the commitment level. In stark contrast, McCray’s “Deadly Dance” is a tender pas de deux between ballerina Keri Holliday and NYPD detective Adam Boyd. Their romance is threatened by Keri’s ex, a ruthless murderer hell-bent on revenge. Best of the three is Garnier’s “Caught”: Megan Banks has been saving herself for her first love, Arizona homicide detective Cody Nordstrom, but he’s determined to rein in his passion and only offer her friendship as long as his twin brother, a convicted killer who recently escaped from prison, remains at large. All three stories suffer from the constraints of length. (Jan.)