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Hot Zone #1
Male Call
Her sexy letters are his only lifeline in his dangerous world…Hot Zone, Book 1
Successful computer software engineer Eve Carmichael melts under yet another hotter than hot letter written by Reserve army soldier Sean O’Callahan. Yet Eve can’t take the thought of his life in danger overseas, and she resolves to get a sex life—and a life period. That means forgetting Sean before anything bad can happen to him. To celebrate her thirty-fifth birthday, Eve plans a trip to Male Call, a male review club. Still, she worries about Sean. She hasn’t received a letter from him in too many weeks. And oh, how she longs for those flirtatious, hot letters.
Sean finds Eve’s letters to be the only lifeline in his increasingly chaotic world. As their feelings grow hot and heavy, he can’t wait to return home and kindle that pure firepower.
When Eve receives a letter from Sean saying he’s been wounded, her fears are realized. But fate and a little mischievous planning by her friends will serve up the greatest surprise of all.
Contains explicit sex, some graphic language, and mild violence.
Successful computer software engineer Eve Carmichael melts under yet another hotter than hot letter written by Reserve army soldier Sean O’Callahan. Yet Eve can’t take the thought of his life in danger overseas, and she resolves to get a sex life—and a life period. That means forgetting Sean before anything bad can happen to him. To celebrate her thirty-fifth birthday, Eve plans a trip to Male Call, a male review club. Still, she worries about Sean. She hasn’t received a letter from him in too many weeks. And oh, how she longs for those flirtatious, hot letters.
Sean finds Eve’s letters to be the only lifeline in his increasingly chaotic world. As their feelings grow hot and heavy, he can’t wait to return home and kindle that pure firepower.
When Eve receives a letter from Sean saying he’s been wounded, her fears are realized. But fate and a little mischievous planning by her friends will serve up the greatest surprise of all.
Contains explicit sex, some graphic language, and mild violence.
74 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2007
52 people are currently reading
376 people want to read
About the author
Denise A. Agnew
109 books162 followersDenise A. Agnew is the award-winning author of over 70 novels and several optioned and produced screenplays and TV pilots.
Denise’s record proves that with paranormal, time travel, romantic comedy, contemporary, historical, erotic romance, romantic suspense and horror writing under her belt, she enjoys writing about a diverse range of subjects. Her experiences with archaeology and archery have crept into her work, as well as numerous travels through the UK and Ireland.
Denise is also a Writer/Producer (Where’s Lucy? Productions), a paranormal investigator (SOS Paranormal Investigations), Reiki Master, Certified Creativity Coach and Medium. As a Creativity Coach, Denise assists anyone in the creative arts, including writing and acting, to maintain lifelong creativity. Denise lives in Arizona with her husband. She is represented by Gandolfo Helin and Fountain Literary Management.
Visit Denise’s websites at www.deniseagnew.com and www.agnewcreativemedium.com
Denise’s record proves that with paranormal, time travel, romantic comedy, contemporary, historical, erotic romance, romantic suspense and horror writing under her belt, she enjoys writing about a diverse range of subjects. Her experiences with archaeology and archery have crept into her work, as well as numerous travels through the UK and Ireland.
Denise is also a Writer/Producer (Where’s Lucy? Productions), a paranormal investigator (SOS Paranormal Investigations), Reiki Master, Certified Creativity Coach and Medium. As a Creativity Coach, Denise assists anyone in the creative arts, including writing and acting, to maintain lifelong creativity. Denise lives in Arizona with her husband. She is represented by Gandolfo Helin and Fountain Literary Management.
Visit Denise’s websites at www.deniseagnew.com and www.agnewcreativemedium.com
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 16, 2010
Considering this was another short Kindle Freebie, I guess I shouldn't complain too much.
But...
The writing was incredibly juvenile. To me, it came across as a teenage girl writing cliched erotica. The dialogue was laughably bad. I realize this was a novella, but still the 'story' felt forced and rushed. Almost like the author had to fit a certain amount of elements into a certain amount of pages, regardless if it flowed together, and made an enjoyable story.
A quick summery of the plot of this jewel...Eve is in love with her co-worker Sean, who is now deployed by the military overseas. The love birds become old fashioned pen pals, and their letters soon take a turn for what I can only assume the author thought of as steamy flirtation, but in fact only comes off as silly, and uncomfortable exchanges. Anyway, after Sean is injured, Eve decides that she wants to move to the next level and actually attempt the awkward flirting in person.
From beginning to end, this was a hot mess, and not in a good way. If I hadn't been desperate for something read, I probably would have given up on it after the first 5 pages.
I have had some really bad luck with erotica lately, and this unfortunately falls in the category of 'Waste Of Time".
But...
The writing was incredibly juvenile. To me, it came across as a teenage girl writing cliched erotica. The dialogue was laughably bad. I realize this was a novella, but still the 'story' felt forced and rushed. Almost like the author had to fit a certain amount of elements into a certain amount of pages, regardless if it flowed together, and made an enjoyable story.
A quick summery of the plot of this jewel...Eve is in love with her co-worker Sean, who is now deployed by the military overseas. The love birds become old fashioned pen pals, and their letters soon take a turn for what I can only assume the author thought of as steamy flirtation, but in fact only comes off as silly, and uncomfortable exchanges. Anyway, after Sean is injured, Eve decides that she wants to move to the next level and actually attempt the awkward flirting in person.
From beginning to end, this was a hot mess, and not in a good way. If I hadn't been desperate for something read, I probably would have given up on it after the first 5 pages.
I have had some really bad luck with erotica lately, and this unfortunately falls in the category of 'Waste Of Time".
September 5, 2011
I got this book for free from Amazon for my kindle and I downloaded it to my IPad.
This is the first book in the Hot Zone series.
I guess I was lucky to catch this book for free from Amazon. It was the first time for me to try out this author and I totally enjoyed the experience.
Sean O’Callahan has been called to Iraq, before he left he asked his collegue the computer software engineer Eve Carmichael to write him while abroad. So as a friend she accepted.
First the letters were just asking about how everything was, how work was and just the normal stuff. Then the letters from Sean started to take a new angle and he started writing about his fantasies and dreams which included her. At first Eve was a bit shocked that the geek at work would write stuff like that. But when she saw a photo of him with his shirt removed, she was in for the shock of her life. She never imagined he would be this hot.
Now it was her turn to start fantasizing about him and wishing for his return.
But when he returns, will they still want to be with each other or was that just a desperate act?!
Very touching and romantic short story that I totally enjoyed.
This is the first book in the Hot Zone series.
I guess I was lucky to catch this book for free from Amazon. It was the first time for me to try out this author and I totally enjoyed the experience.
Sean O’Callahan has been called to Iraq, before he left he asked his collegue the computer software engineer Eve Carmichael to write him while abroad. So as a friend she accepted.
First the letters were just asking about how everything was, how work was and just the normal stuff. Then the letters from Sean started to take a new angle and he started writing about his fantasies and dreams which included her. At first Eve was a bit shocked that the geek at work would write stuff like that. But when she saw a photo of him with his shirt removed, she was in for the shock of her life. She never imagined he would be this hot.
Now it was her turn to start fantasizing about him and wishing for his return.
But when he returns, will they still want to be with each other or was that just a desperate act?!
Very touching and romantic short story that I totally enjoyed.
March 18, 2010
Ah free kindle books. You never cease to disappoint me.
I used to think that in erotica the writing could be bad, but this book has proved me wrong. I think the author wrote this with an audience of trashy stupid women in mind.
Case in point: Sean's letters - (paraphrasing) "I'm in the desert. It's effing hot. Like EFFING HOT. SO EFFING HOT. There is sand in every effing crevice. ...Thanks for sending a picture of you in your black dress. I would like to eff you." Main character's reaction - Eve was seduced by his subtle phrasing and description of the desert.
Yah he sure is eloquent. Pulitzer prize winning letters those are. I am embarrassed to admit I read this novella it was so bad.
I used to think that in erotica the writing could be bad, but this book has proved me wrong. I think the author wrote this with an audience of trashy stupid women in mind.
Case in point: Sean's letters - (paraphrasing) "I'm in the desert. It's effing hot. Like EFFING HOT. SO EFFING HOT. There is sand in every effing crevice. ...Thanks for sending a picture of you in your black dress. I would like to eff you." Main character's reaction - Eve was seduced by his subtle phrasing and description of the desert.
Yah he sure is eloquent. Pulitzer prize winning letters those are. I am embarrassed to admit I read this novella it was so bad.
September 11, 2012
*3.5 Stars*
This was a sweet short story. I'm not sure why I liked it so much, but I did. It was a friends to lovers story, so that helped it not seem too abrupt or sudden. This was the first time I've read anything by this author and I liked her style and hope to find more in the future.
This was a sweet short story. I'm not sure why I liked it so much, but I did. It was a friends to lovers story, so that helped it not seem too abrupt or sudden. This was the first time I've read anything by this author and I liked her style and hope to find more in the future.
January 12, 2024
I mean, I knew this was not going to be good. I saw the rating. I saw the reviews. But I thought the smut would cover up the rest of the story somehow. I couldn't even get to the actual smut. Twenty percent in, and I was done. They were still trading dirty letters, and I was already bored out of my mind. The concept wasn't bad. It was just executed so poorly.
October 26, 2009
Genre & Keywords: Contemporary | Uniformly Hot: Iraq | Love Letters
Rating: 4 of 5 stars | Heat level: 2 of 3 flames
This is the second book by Denise Agnew I’ve read. My first one (Unconditional Surrender) happened to be the second novel in the Hot Zone series. Male Call is the first one in this series. I wasn’t very positive about Unconditional Surrender but I’m glad to tell I liked Male Call a lot better. The background stories of the protagonists are simple and clear, and therefore plausible and not interceding or disrupting the storyline. Again the hero is a hot, well-built military guy, but now he’s actually being a soldier from the start of the story. The pen pal thing with actual letters is, in this era of email, a bit far-fetched but sweet and well-written. The H/H falling in love through their letters is completely believable and makes you anxious to read about them finally meeting each other. And when they do, it’s great.
Their attraction is tangible and goes from sweet to hot in a short time. Sometimes I wondered about the language, for example what to think of a sentence like this: “Sean’s body moved like poetry until the distance between them collapsed.” (p. 37). I’m not a native English speaker so it could just be me, but it seems weird and it’s hard to picture what’s meant by this. But the important thing is that the story is developed well and the characters are portrayed nicely and the plot flows naturally to a satisfying end!
I’ve got books 3 and 4 in this series to look forward to and another two books by Denise Agnew on my TBR pile, Under His Protection and In Her Defense, about SWAT guys. I’ve bought these books partly because of the beautiful book covers. I also discovered that there’s a third SWAT-book, and that Ms. Agnew has written two books about firefighters (Meltdown and Combustion). So a lot of hot heroes that I’m gonna add to my wish list. In the meantime I will also try a few free stories from the authors website that I recently learned about.
Back Blurb:
Her sexy letters are his only lifeline in his dangerous world…
Successful computer software engineer Eve Carmichael melts under yet another hotter than hot letter written by Reserve army soldier Sean O’Callahan. Yet Eve can’t take the thought of his life in danger overseas, and she resolves to get a sex life—and a life period. That means forgetting Sean before anything bad can happen to him. To celebrate her thirty-fifth birthday, Eve plans a trip to Male Call, a male review club. Still, she worries about Sean. She hasn’t received a letter from him in too many weeks. And oh, how she longs for those flirtatious, hot letters.
Sean finds Eve’s letters to be the only lifeline in his increasingly chaotic world. As their feelings grow hot and heavy, he can’t wait to return home and kindle that pure firepower.
When Eve receives a letter from Sean saying he’s been wounded, her fears are realized. But fate and a little mischievous planning by her friends will serve up the greatest surprise of all.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars | Heat level: 2 of 3 flames
This is the second book by Denise Agnew I’ve read. My first one (Unconditional Surrender) happened to be the second novel in the Hot Zone series. Male Call is the first one in this series. I wasn’t very positive about Unconditional Surrender but I’m glad to tell I liked Male Call a lot better. The background stories of the protagonists are simple and clear, and therefore plausible and not interceding or disrupting the storyline. Again the hero is a hot, well-built military guy, but now he’s actually being a soldier from the start of the story. The pen pal thing with actual letters is, in this era of email, a bit far-fetched but sweet and well-written. The H/H falling in love through their letters is completely believable and makes you anxious to read about them finally meeting each other. And when they do, it’s great.
Their attraction is tangible and goes from sweet to hot in a short time. Sometimes I wondered about the language, for example what to think of a sentence like this: “Sean’s body moved like poetry until the distance between them collapsed.” (p. 37). I’m not a native English speaker so it could just be me, but it seems weird and it’s hard to picture what’s meant by this. But the important thing is that the story is developed well and the characters are portrayed nicely and the plot flows naturally to a satisfying end!
I’ve got books 3 and 4 in this series to look forward to and another two books by Denise Agnew on my TBR pile, Under His Protection and In Her Defense, about SWAT guys. I’ve bought these books partly because of the beautiful book covers. I also discovered that there’s a third SWAT-book, and that Ms. Agnew has written two books about firefighters (Meltdown and Combustion). So a lot of hot heroes that I’m gonna add to my wish list. In the meantime I will also try a few free stories from the authors website that I recently learned about.
Back Blurb:
Her sexy letters are his only lifeline in his dangerous world…
Successful computer software engineer Eve Carmichael melts under yet another hotter than hot letter written by Reserve army soldier Sean O’Callahan. Yet Eve can’t take the thought of his life in danger overseas, and she resolves to get a sex life—and a life period. That means forgetting Sean before anything bad can happen to him. To celebrate her thirty-fifth birthday, Eve plans a trip to Male Call, a male review club. Still, she worries about Sean. She hasn’t received a letter from him in too many weeks. And oh, how she longs for those flirtatious, hot letters.
Sean finds Eve’s letters to be the only lifeline in his increasingly chaotic world. As their feelings grow hot and heavy, he can’t wait to return home and kindle that pure firepower.
When Eve receives a letter from Sean saying he’s been wounded, her fears are realized. But fate and a little mischievous planning by her friends will serve up the greatest surprise of all.
March 15, 2010
I really liked this because I can relate. The whole being in love with a man who is deployed fits my current situation. I think my favorite part about this is how relate-able it is. Sean is mentioned being a geek, a computer nerd, well I refer to my husband that way. So the whole time I keep thinking it was me and him in the story. Well sort of. Most books I supply a dreamed up stud. But in this case I got to use my own. :P So that's one of the major reasons why I really liked this. I wasn't sure about the beginning because it was his letter said this... (paragraph of Eve's thoughts..) My letter in response was this.. It was different. I don't have anything good or bad really to say about it. Just that it was different.
I would recommend this for sure, for anyone who isn't afraid of erotica, and understands what it's like to go weeks with out hearing from your man not knowing when you'll hear from him next, or even when he's coming home. For a kindle freebie, I was very happy. It's just the pick me up a woman can need during her husbands deployment.
I would recommend this for sure, for anyone who isn't afraid of erotica, and understands what it's like to go weeks with out hearing from your man not knowing when you'll hear from him next, or even when he's coming home. For a kindle freebie, I was very happy. It's just the pick me up a woman can need during her husbands deployment.
August 10, 2016
Denise A. Agnew, The Hot Zone, vol. 1: Male Call (Samhain Publishing, 2007)
One of those crazy-coincidences erotic romances where the lovely lady has been missing her man (who didn't know about her feelings for him, while all the while he's been lusting after her, and doesn't it strike anyone else as annoying that the single worst thing about Gone with the Wind, the fact that the entire final two hours of the movie could have been dispensed with given one honest two-minute conversation between Scarlett and Rhett, is the one thing romance wirters are so enamored of?) is surprised by him showing up at a ridiculously incredible place, in this case getting back from Iraq and being manipulated by some well-meaning friends into appearing at a strip club. Yes, folks, you heard that right. Still, despite some tired-yet-unbelievable thematic clichés and the inevtiable predictability of the romance, there's some good writing to be found here, and the leads' emotions ring true. A pretty darn good short, this. ***
One of those crazy-coincidences erotic romances where the lovely lady has been missing her man (who didn't know about her feelings for him, while all the while he's been lusting after her, and doesn't it strike anyone else as annoying that the single worst thing about Gone with the Wind, the fact that the entire final two hours of the movie could have been dispensed with given one honest two-minute conversation between Scarlett and Rhett, is the one thing romance wirters are so enamored of?) is surprised by him showing up at a ridiculously incredible place, in this case getting back from Iraq and being manipulated by some well-meaning friends into appearing at a strip club. Yes, folks, you heard that right. Still, despite some tired-yet-unbelievable thematic clichés and the inevtiable predictability of the romance, there's some good writing to be found here, and the leads' emotions ring true. A pretty darn good short, this. ***
June 25, 2011
This is a cute little quick and I mean quick story. The plot or concept are 2 people writing each other and falling in love. i must admit in the beginning the author includes the letters that they are writing each other. For me it got a little annoying but it doesn't matter. Sean was crazy sexy and I loved Eve's personality. If you are the type that wants to feel connected to the characters on some deep level then this might not be for you as it's fast paste. The sex is a thumps up it was quick but still a thumps up.
Feel free to join my book group on Facebook (Romance Novel Junkies) and fan page ( Romance Novel Junkies Book Reviews). We have over 500 members, which includes well known and indie authors and avid readers as members who are apart of this group. We would love to hear about new books and thoughts. Also check out our kindle and ebook lending library. Twitter @romanceJUNKIES.
Feel free to join my book group on Facebook (Romance Novel Junkies) and fan page ( Romance Novel Junkies Book Reviews). We have over 500 members, which includes well known and indie authors and avid readers as members who are apart of this group. We would love to hear about new books and thoughts. Also check out our kindle and ebook lending library. Twitter @romanceJUNKIES.
August 2, 2012
When Eve Carmichael told fellow co-worker Sean O'Callahan that she wanted to write to him when he left to serve his time as a reserve army soldier, she never expected the letters to take an erotic turn. With each letter she is seeing a different side of Sean that has her wondering why she never saw it before. With his promises of caresses and sexual fantasies she is not sure what to think about where they stand, but when he shows up in person she will have to decide if she is ready for the next step.
Most of the story takes place during the letters between the two, you get the feeling that Sean has had a crush on Eve before he left and is not certain if he is reading the signals right. I enjoyed the story, the end is wrapped up a bit too quickly for me though. Overall fun read.
Most of the story takes place during the letters between the two, you get the feeling that Sean has had a crush on Eve before he left and is not certain if he is reading the signals right. I enjoyed the story, the end is wrapped up a bit too quickly for me though. Overall fun read.
March 21, 2010
I think this book was an ok read. Nice sweet love story. It definitely had the possibility of being a wonderful book. It was just too short to get a lot of character development. It would have been better if there had been more about the lives of the two main characters and how their relationship actually started. This could easily have been written as a full length novel. I think if that had happened it would have been much better.
January 12, 2015
Just your average erotic short story. Cute enough little romance between the h & h. They knew each other and were already friends before the story began, so that helped avoid the usual short story "we met yesterday but I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you" thing. That's one issue I have with a lot of short story romances so the fact that this didn't have it pleased me.
July 16, 2014
I won this book from Denise Agnew. I liked it. It was a quick read for me. Eve is getting ready to turn 30 and her friend wants her to live a little. Sean is the solider/co worker that Eve is writing to.
Their letters start getting really steamy. Sean tells Eve he will be home soon to make their letters real. Eve goes to male strip club for her birthday. Guess who dances for her birthday.
Their letters start getting really steamy. Sean tells Eve he will be home soon to make their letters real. Eve goes to male strip club for her birthday. Guess who dances for her birthday.
Read
April 1, 2010Hot, Short story about Eve who works in an office with Sean. She really does not notice him until he leaves to serve overseas in the military. Before he leaves, they agree to write to each other. But as time goes by, their letters to each other become pretty hot. When he comes home, they are hot for each other.
April 15, 2010
Cute short story. First half you see the correspondance between two people through letters while the guy is deployed. A romance develops between the two through the letters. Later you are treated to the real life meeting between the two. I was definitely shifting in my seat with this one.
March 17, 2010
free on kindle.
March 24, 2010
I have proven if you give me a book for free, I will read it no matter what. This was free short story this week from Amazon. Still not sure it was worth it, even free.
April 3, 2010
2 1/2 Stars really while the concept and story line were good and the love scenes were hot, but the letters were cheesy and hokey.
April 6, 2010
I have always wanted to try out something by this author but this book is just bad. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The idea is a good one but it's poorly written.
July 13, 2010
Great read! I stayed up WAY too late to read it but it was worth every bit of sleep I lost. Can't wait to read more in the series!
July 16, 2010
Not well written: It felt amateurish and rushed. The story seemed tongi from point A to point D without any story development in between.
July 15, 2011
Cute, sexy (the dance!) & hot!
December 14, 2011
Short cute story, if only if really happened like this the world would be a happier place
February 25, 2014
Fast short read. Best part was the letters between the two leads.
November 14, 2021
Great Quick Read
The Author was able to tell the story without it feeling rushed. The characters drew me in the story quick. Great writing great story.
The Author was able to tell the story without it feeling rushed. The characters drew me in the story quick. Great writing great story.
March 28, 2010
I really liked this one. Good plot and HOT!
September 8, 2016
If you're looking for a fun, sexy read give this a try.
March 27, 2012
This had some hot scenes in it!
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September 30, 2012free download for kindle
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews