Jennifer Estep

About the author

Jennifer Estep (author of Karma Girl), has been featured in magazines such as Southern Living, Cosmopolitan and Entertainment Weekly. You can find out more about her on her site, www.jenniferestep.com.

Bite-Size Summary

When fashion designer Fiona Fine isn’t creating haute couture for residents of Bigtime, NY, this hot-tempered blonde saves lives as part of the superhero group “the Fearless Five.” As “Fiera,” she has the power to manipulate fire.  But all work and no play make Fiona a very bored girl. Although still grieving over the loss of her fiancé, she decides to rejoin the dating scene and meets up with hunky playboy, Johnny Bullucci, a man with dark secrets of his own.

Why I Love the Book

I have been a fan of Ms. Estep’s writing since her debut novel, Karma Girl. She has a talent for creating worlds and characters that evoke empathy. Her engaging writing style keeps up with the story’s fast pace. The plot kept me guessing until the last page. I finished this book in one day—it was that good.

I love Fiona, who is strong-willed, loyal and a successful businesswoman. Not only does she have superhuman strength, she has an emotional strength I applaud. A year has passed since her fiancé Travis (alias: “Tornado”) was murdered in Karma Girl, and Fiona finally decides to risk her heart again by dating. I appreciate this move because, as anyone who has lost a spouse/mate knows, it takes a lot of courage to risk that heartache again.

As far as heroes go, Johnny Bullucci puts the “sex” in sexy. Between his leonine good looks, Greek accent, super-strong exoskeleton and mega bank account, what’s not to love about this tortured hero? Like Fiona, he recently lost a loved one, his father, to violence. The attraction between him and Fiona is evident from their first meeting at Karma Girl’s wedding, which gets crashed by the local super villains, Siren and Intelligal. (Don’t you just love the names?)

The secondary characters are also very well done. Lulu Lo, a wheelchair-bound, computer hacker dating one of the Fearless Five, is my favorite. Her constant bickering with Fiona adds continuous comic relief.

Favorite Scene

“A beautiful bridesmaid alone by herself. What a sad, sad cliché,” a low, cultured voice called out.

I looked up. A man stood in the doorway. He topped out at just over six feet, with a mane of tawny blond hair that curled around the collar of his impeccable tuxedo.

“I’m not a cliché.”

“…You certainly are beautiful.”

“I was just taking a break from the festivities,” I replied.

“Really? You know we could create our own festivities, you and me.”

I stifled a laugh. That was one of the lamest lines I’d ever heard. “Really? And how could we do that?”

“Let me show you.”He flashed me a devilish grin, pulled me into his arms, and planted his lips on mine.”

Additional Kudos for

Although this was a sequel, you can read it as a stand alone without much confusion. Ms. Estep seamlessly weaves in back story without bogging down the plot.

I love the diversity in this story: I believe Johnny Bulluci has some Greek roots; one of the Fearless Five is African-American while his girlfriend is Asian and physically handicapped; and another super-heroine called Black Mamba (GREAT name) is African-American. Kudos to Ms. Estep for crafting a story true to the diversity of New York.

Again, I cite the importance of a great cover. I actually prefer the trade paperback cover [featured on the right] to the re-release cover.

Which do you prefer?

Recommendation

This book is a keeper. I read Karma Girl and really enjoyed that, and I liked Hot Mama even better. Although I haven’t read Jinx, the story of Johnny’s sister, Monica, I am extremely interested to see how her story plays out.