Hot Aussie Night (De Luca Sisters #2)

by Lexxie Couper

Blurb:

What’s cooking for Christmas? A hot serving of insta-lust with a side order of fake fiancé.

Life-long anxiety isn’t going to stop Elisa De Luca from enjoying her sister’s Christmas engagement party. She’s got a process, and as long as things don’t get too chaotic she’ll be okay. And then, she suddenly finds herself engaged to a hot, hot, hot Aussie—five minutes after meeting him—and chaos is the word of the day.

Super-chef Angus Daniels doesn’t do relationships, but the second he meets Elisa De Luca he’s drawn to her. Big time. When the shy American inexplicably saves him from a sharkish TV producer hellbent on making him the titular star on a bachelor show, Angus begins to question everything he thought he wanted.

A fake engagement requires a fake relationship, but it doesn’t take long for Elisa and Angus to realise there’s nothing fake about what’s happening between them. But when reality feeds baggage, and anxiety nibbles at certainty, love at first sight might not be enough for a happy Christmas. Or a Happy Ever After, full stop.

Themes: Contemporary, Holiday

Rating: 3.75 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

So who’s up for some hot, smexy, holiday fun in the heat of an Australian Christmas? The De Luca Sisters are back in a big way as another of the triplets finds her instant love-at-first sight connection with another sexy Aussie and as luck would have it he turns out to not be a total stranger in the end. Lexxie Couper continues this fun series which began with a fun Halloween story as she takes the two remaining single sisters to Sydney for the Bria and Owen’s engagement party right before Christmas this time. But Elisa is so not prepared for the life-changing moment when she tries to do a good deed and comes face to face with the hottest stranger to ever cross her path, but when her anxiety kicks in she runs for the hills. Angus Daniels is still kicking his own ass a few hours later for not getting the sexy little American’s phone number when she suddenly walks into his restraint, obviously one of his best mate Owen’s future in-laws and suddenly his day is looking much brighter. The plot thickens when they suddenly find themselves pretending to be engaged in order to keep him from being forced onto an idiotic bachelor TV show, but spending time together is no hardship for either Elisa or Angus. When things get hot and heavy REALLY fast, Elisa and Angus will have to decide if another De Luca triplet has found her forever love at first sight, or if they will part ways in the morning with only their hot memories to keep them warm in the future. Elisa and Angus both have some serious baggage that has kept them single, but you could tell they were both people with a lot of love to give and the connection was definitely there from the first second they clapped eyes on one another. Elisa’s past relationship has left her wary of men in a big way, but worse it made her anxiety in all situations nearly unbearable, but despite all of that she finds peace and calm in the arms of this near stranger and is unwilling to give up on that emotion without exploring it. The description that Angus has for her on first impression “fragile strength” was truly insightful because like a delicate spider’s web she was in many ways delicate and easily broken if not handled with care, but in other ways one of the strongest characters I’ve read recently. I really loved seeing her overcome her fears and embrace her chance at a great love, despite any of the obstacles that were in their way and the uncertainties of their future. Angus is the kind of man that was deeply affected by the childhood traumas that he keeps deeply buried from all of those that didn’t live them with him. He is determined to never hurt the woman he comes to love and therefore pushes them away to prevent any chance at a connection, but one look into Elisa’s eyes and he was sunk. He is smart, savvy, sexy, and sweet in so many ways, making Elisa truly feel like the center of his world even though they barely knew one another. The heat that these two put out is enough to start an out of control fire, but the beauty is that the fire is one I can see lasting all their days, despite only witnessing one day of it. For those that don’t believe in instant-love or true love at first sight, this story—and really this series—sadly won’t hit the mark for you, but for the rest of us that continue to hold out hope for that kind of connection for ourselves, this story rocked! Lexxie continues to astonish me with her ability to pack so much emotion and passion into such a short time span and make me wish my life was as exciting as her characters; another hit for sure and leaves me DYING for Zeta’s story.