Samantha Deveaux has returned to New Orleans, her childhoodhome. Tired of sacrificing her life forher famous father, Sam is determined to make a life for herself. Her new personal protection venture gets aboost when she is hired to protect Dominick LaRocca, business magnate and hunk extraordinaire, from the teeming hordes of women after his body—until she finds herself swooning over the handsome bachelor herself.

Because of a publicity stunt initiated by Nick’s two feisty grandmothers, Nick is being stalked by eager women to the point that he fearsfor his safety. When Samantha comes to his rescue, he hires her as his personal bodyguard, convincing her to pose as his girlfriend to keep the groupies at bay.

Electricity crackles between the two from the start. Before long, both Nick and Samantha are wondering if the arrangement was a mistake. The fire between them burns so hot, so fast, that neither can possibly escape without being burned.

INSATIABLE is a sequel to PURE CHANCE (#814), and features the same setting and some of the same colorful characters. Leto has done a great job of evoking the atmosphere of the Crescent City, particularly the French Quarter. Mentions of famous landmarks and descriptions of New Orleans cuisine weave a feeling of being in the middle of one of the most picturesque cities anywhere.

The earlier book featured Samantha’s sister, Serena. Can you guess their mother’s name? The combination of Samantha, Serena, and Endora is a little too cute and caused a small shudder early in the story, but the author is wise enough not to take the conceit too far. Just breeze on past, and enjoy the story. These three characters, together with Nick and his family, form a cast that is colorful, eccentric, and a lot of fun.

This book is part of the HEAT! series, for reasons thatbecome apparent before you are very far into the book. It is steamy and delicious, with some twists that enhance the story andraise the temperature considerably.

This is my second Julie Leto book, but it will certainly not be my last.