Recent Release Review: Hot Pickle by JJ Knight (Deanna Roy)

19 September of 2020 by ButtonsMom2003

Hot Pickle By JJ Knight

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Contemporary

Tropes: Best friend’s little sister.

Released: August 31, 2020

Publisher: Self-Published

Length: 300 pages approx.

Synopsis

*A Top 100 Book on Amazon*

I’m rock hard.
No, not like that.
When that happens, you won’t need me to tell you.

I’m a competitive bodybuilder, ready for my first regional contest. And winning requires more than just killer workouts, diet, or stage presence.

It’s all about the tan.

My training partner Franklin uses the best in the business — Camryn Schultz. She understands the career killer of a badly placed white spot.

She’s also his sister.

So when the craptastic tan I’m given for my first competition requires an emergency patch, Frank knows exactly who to call.

The thing is, when Camryn’s hands hit my skin, more than a few muscles spring to life.

I’m about to head on stage in the tiniest Speedo imaginable and parts of me no longer fit.

What I need to do for my friendship and my future on the circuit is to walk away.

But when Camryn’s got her hands on my hard body, there’s no way this Pickle is going to get anything but hot.

Hot Pickle is a 300-page standalone romantic comedy about workout junkies, bodybuilding gods, and the couple who sprays together, stays together.

Teaser Graphic

This book was too good for just one cover! This ^one^ is the paperback cover.

Max is on the ebook cover.

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

Hot Rom-Com with just the right amount of angst!

I’ve been a huge fan of JJ Knight for over five years. She also writes under a few other pen names that I also love: Deanna Roy, Annie Winters and Abby Tyler. Hot Pickle is the second book she’s written about a family which owns delis in a few places in the US with the main location being in New York City. Big Pickle was the first book but each of them standalone so you can jump in anywhere.

Hot Pickle is such a fantastic book! I’m rather late getting to read it (it released on August 31, 2020) but life happens… The story is told in first person, alternating between Max and Camryn. The narrative style is like the characters are sitting down just talking to the reader. It was so easy to read and the flow of the words and pacing were great.

This is a best friend’s little sister story, with a touch of second chance, and it’s all kinds of funny. Lots of seriously funny innuendo between the MCs and others. You see, Max is just dipping his toes into the bodybuilding circuit, where teeny-tiny, shorts are worn. When his workout partner, Frank, summons his sister, Camryn, to help fix Max’s tan for his first competition, Max can’t control his reaction to her and the fun begins. Those teeny-tiny shorts can’t hide anything! The chemistry between Max and Camryn is off-the-charts sexy.

JJ Knight has written a fantastically witty story that had me laughing out loud as I read it. The only downer is Camryn’s overprotective, overbearing brother. Camryn knows he won’t take it well if he finds out she’s seeing Max so they decide to keep it a secret. You can probably guess some of what happens when he finds out. This situation provides just the right amount of angst to balance out the comedy.

Hot Pickle is also one of the hottest stories I’ve read that isn’t overly graphic. JJ knows just how to word the sexy time so that it’s titillating enough to satisfy most readers need for sexy time without being graphic or crude.

There are so many good reasons that this book hit an Amazon’s Top 100 list! Anthony is the last Pickle brother and his story will be here in early 2021. I’m a little sad that there are only three brothers for her to write about. This is a series that I could see going on for several more books. Maybe she’ll find a way to expand on her Pickle universe; I sure hope so.