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*contemporary adult romance*
**explicit scenes and language**
***companion story to DELINQUENT DADDY***

SHE MARRIED THE ONE MAN SHE WAS TRYING TO AVOID

Thinking to assure a business merger with the wealthy, successful Cameron Banks, Olivia Donovan’s mother drags her to Las Vegas for a business convention, demanding she meet Banks and seduce him into wanting to marry her. But Olivia’s finished being Little Miss Yes-mother-whatever-you-say-mother. So, she sneaks away, intending to rebel and marry the very antithesis of Cameron Banks.

Who she finds is a drunk hottie that takes her to new heights of pleasure and shows her a side of herself she never knew existed before.

But after her amazing night in her new husband’s arms, she awakens the next morning only to discover she married and slept with the very Cameron Banks she’d been trying to avoid.

Is Cam the devil she feared, or will he end up being her one true hero?

301 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2010

38 people are currently reading
852 people want to read

About the author

Linda Kage

51 books5,538 followers
Linda writes romance fiction from YA to adult, contemporary to fantasy.

Published since 2010, she first went through a 2-year writing correspondence class in children’s literature from The Institute of Children’s Literature, then graduated with a Bachelor's in Arts-English with an emphasis in creative fiction writing from Pittsburg State University.

She currently lives with her husband, two daughters, a cat named Holly, and nine cuckoo clocks in southeast Kansas.

She started out reading with the Baby-Sitters Club, then moved to Sandra Brown, Linda Howard, Julie Garwood, and LaVyrle Spencer in high school. Now, she's all over the place with her romance reading tastes.

A few of her favorite things have been:
Stranger Things, Supernatural, Cheers, Teen Wolf, Umbrella Academy, Outlander, Yellowstone, Grey's Anatomy, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Shawshank Redemption, Dirty Dancing, Harry Potter, Tangled, A Walk to Remember, Dr. Pepper, Roast Beef with mashed potatoes and onion rings, the poem "Equipment" by Edgar A. Guest, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

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5 stars
212 (20%)
4 stars
376 (36%)
3 stars
307 (30%)
2 stars
94 (9%)
1 star
33 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
Profile Image for Karla.
987 reviews1,109 followers
November 24, 2013

4 Stars! Crazy premise, but it worked!


Olivia and Cameron are quick to hop in the sack, but considering the circumstances, it needed to be that way. It's starts out amusing enough, but then some serious issues are addressed. It was witty and heart-wrenching at the same time. Both main characters are dealing with some horrific events in their lives, and they really needed to find one another. It was a good pairing and they had great chemistry!

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this.


Profile Image for Lover of Romance.
3,712 reviews1,123 followers
September 11, 2023


This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨


First Impressions
Hot Commodity is a story that will blow your mind out of the water. Its a book that I should have expected this author to write, but it still was wild and crazy and complete bananas and yet I was completely on board with it. Linda Kage has a way about her writing, that no matter the crazy plot or circumstances that comes into play, I am ready to jump right into the story. And this author definitely wrote some crazy situations here, but you know what it completely worked for me while at the same time implementing great heart and character depth along the way. I fell so hard for these characters and their journey is not what you expect it will be from reading the blurb.

First Line
Olivia Donovan shouldn've known better than to answer the door to her twelfth-floor suite

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Cameron Banks
Cameron is a billionaire, running a financing company working with his cousin aka also his best friend. A recovering alchoholic from losing his wife to suicide.

The Heroine: Olivia Donovan
Olivia is a socialite in her own way, all she knows is the parties and events that her mother plans.
She is constantly being emotionally abused and manipulated until she sees a way out of the mess her mother plans for her.

Summary
Olivia Donovan's mother wants her to trap a man into marriage because of his financial assets. Olivia all of her life has worked to stay in her mother's good graces because she has seen what a monster she can be to others that cross her path in the wrong way. But this time, Olivia refuses to marry a man she has never met and is more than likely some old geiser. So she hatches a plan, to escape one night, and find a stranger in a bar, get him drunk and marry the man and ruin her mother's plans. But what she doesn't expect is the man she catches, is sexy and kind and they have a wild night of getting married in Vegas and hot sex. But in the morning she finds out that she married THE Cameron Banks and all of her work is for nothing....or is it? Will married to a Banks be different than she expect and find true freedom she has ever known?

What I Loved
Hot Commodity is pretty much what the title conveys but the story is so much deeper than what you see on the surface. The heroine has been abused and manipulated by her mother all of her life. And our hero while raised by loving parents, lost his wife to suicide and still blames himself and relies on alcohol. And even those these two live in the same world, they are so different from each other. Olivia is also having to discover who she is and what to do with her life and while Olivia and Cameron are trying to work through their own personal issues, there is also a marriage to worry about and what to do about it....should they get it annulled or stay married? But the longer Cameron puts off the paperwork for the annulment the more he wants to be with Olivia for good.

I really appreciated the story that is delivered here. And I completely see what the author was trying to convey into this story. I really enjoyed so much of this book. I was laughing all over the place though. The humor was beyond delightful and I couldn't get enough of it. Yet there were these moments that just strikes deep where you least expect it. I also love how the heroine is honest with the hero. She doesn't keep this big secret from him and I really appreciated that the conflict in their relationship were other aspects that had more deeper meaning for their relationship. I can't wait for the companion novel of the cousin's book.

What I Struggled With
There were some things that I struggled with. One this isn't the most polished story that this author has written. And some of the plot machinations was a bit "out there". I also wished we had a longer epilogue of Cameron's time after recovery.

Overall View
Hot Commodity was a delightful mix of heart, humor, and a unique marriage of convenience that will entertain from beginning to end.

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance
Character Types: Billionaire, Socialite Heroine
Themes: Family Bonds, Laughs, Addiction Recovery, Abusive Parentals, Las Vegas Wedding
Tropes: Marriage of Convenience

Book Perspective
1st POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Relationship Conflict

Song This Book Inspires
Falls Apart by Sugar Ray

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes

Steam/Spice Explanations

Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.

 photo Addicted To Romance Reviews 2_zpsplp8m0tb.png
Profile Image for Saly.
3,437 reviews578 followers
April 6, 2012
This book is actually set before Delinquent Daddy but came out later. Cam is filthy rich and Boston's cousin and still not over his wife's suicide ten years ago. He was 19 when he married her and knew she was a maniac depressive so he did everything he could to make her happy but it took it toll, she tried to kill herself two time before succeeding the third time and died in front of him. Her death messed up his mind and since then has been in a cloud, falling of the drinking wagon often and not seeing why his family is so worried about him.

The heroine Olivia has a mother who can call be called the worst names in the world, she tries to pimp out her daughter to the hero and in rebellion she goes to a bar and marries a stranger who in a weird quirk of fate turns out to be Cam. When they wake up in the morning both are horrified and want to get the marriage dissolved and part ways.

I did not enjoy this book much mainly because I did not get Olivia sometimes, she had crappy parents, her mom found no fault with abusing her and hitting her and Olivia put up with it because she had nowhere to go, I mean wasn't she an adult who could try working for a living instead of living with a monster who goaded her father to pull the trigger in front of Olivia and her. I found her behaviour with her mother spineless, she should have walked out on her a long time ago, it took Cam to take her away from her, then also she was dependent on him. I did like how she tried to make a life for herself, finding a job, learning to cook.

Now, Cam, I knew he was messed up but his mess went on for too long. His wife had issues and they were there before he met her too and his cousin warned him to stay away from her but he thought he could be the cure instead being with her crippled him. I really hated what he put his family through, using alcohol as a cripple and it took nearly killing himself for him to face that he had problems he had to seek help for and that he was turning into his first wife.

The book had it's moment when I liked it but I disliked how Cam took so long to screw his head on straight.
Profile Image for Yona Racheva.
1,267 reviews251 followers
December 26, 2013
The smile haven't left my face through the whole book, from the first till the last page.

Loved it, this book was just what I needed.

Cameron's wife killed herself 10 years ago and he still blames himself.

description

In the tenth anniversary of her dead he gets himself drunk, although he is a recovering alcoholic and was sober for 3 years. His wife had a severe case of depression and there is nothing that could have saved her. For the year they were together he made everything he can to make her smile, but nothing worked. So he was drinking in this club when Olivia came dressed in black leather as the Cat Woman. She was trying to escape her mother, her first rebellion and the only way to do it was to get married for anyone but Cameron Banks. The got wasted and got married by Elvis.
Some things happened and she ended living in his home, making her way in his heart, healing him and in the same time finding her wings and the place she belongs.

description

It was one beautiful story about healing, finding love and your place in the world.

But there were also some very hot scenes.

description

I'm starting to really like Linda Kages books.


description
Profile Image for Somia.
2,066 reviews169 followers
March 18, 2022

Didn't like how addiction, suicide and parental abuse was approached in this.

Plus things didn't feel well paced.

Acquired via KU.
Profile Image for Akyraa.
396 reviews17 followers
July 24, 2013
i hate heriones like Olivia...spineless idiots who need a sugar daddy to continue living...seriously, her mother used to beat her...her father committed suicide in front of her after her mother's provocation...her mother wanted her to whore herself to Cameron and still she had the gall to act like a perfect daughter and like the idiot she is married a drunk stranger to rebel...seriously...are you for real...
Profile Image for Lisa :).
191 reviews
January 8, 2018
I‘m a bit disappointed to be honest.

I read most of the Forbidden Men series and I loved it. I love the characters, the stories and the writing.

Everything I loved about Forbidden Men I found seriously lacking in Hot Commodity.


The heroine was a spineless brat throughout most of the book. She never stands up for herself and lets the people in her life run all over her. Olivia can be summed up as an air-headed, bland character.


Cam, the hero, is a mess. His first wife killed herself and he blames himself ever since. He tries to drown his sorrows in alcohol. We don‘t really see a lot of his sweet side since he is drunk for most parts of the book. He had the potential to be swoon worthy but came up extremely short.


So the mcs were meh and totally forgettable.





But what bothers me most was how mental health issues were addressed (might be a „millennial“ thing).


Here are a few points that stood out for me:

1.
When Olivia and Cameron first got married in Vegas and woke up hungover in Cam‘s sister‘s house, his sister tells him to get over his depression.

I know people with cases of depression and it‘s not something to just „get over“. You can’t go all Barney Stinson („Whenever I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead“) and turn a light switch on depression. That‘s just not how it works.


2.
Sienna, Cam‘s first wife, killed herself after two attempted suicides. She has suffered from severe depression for most of her life. Cam knew this from the beginning. His cousin warned him about Sienna being manic depressive. He thought he could cure her by making her smile more. I know this was supposed to show that he was actually a sweet guy and I am in no way blaming him for Sienna‘s death but why didn’t he ever bother to learning about Sienna‘s disease? Honestly, that could have saved him so much trouble during that whole experience. Everyone said he blamed himself for Sienna‘s death but it seemed more like he blamed Sienna without recognizing that she was really sick.


3.
After accidentally slicing her wrist open after a fight and Cam accusing her of attempted suicide Olivia states that she didn’t try to kill herself because those people are weak and don‘t care about anyone but themselves. I can‘t even begin to describe what is wrong with that sentence. Everything about it rubs me the wrong way.
Why is it so hard to understand that depression is a disease of the brain? Why are we still blaming people for dying from the effects of a malfunction of the brain?


4.
This is what it comes down to. Sienna is made out to be the antagonist. That she was sick beyond being just sad is never actually acknowledged. That’s so very frustrating.


5.
Cam is an alcoholic. While that is disease all in itself it is also the symptom of deeper problems. But even after a year of rehab and getting sober he never treats it that way. To him therapy is something to get over with and not the chance to actually get better.






So if you‘re not bothered by how badly mental health issues are portrayed this might be for you. I couldn‘t overlook (for good reason IMO) and was left disappointed by a story that had the potential to be great!










Profile Image for Nishtha.
318 reviews16 followers
July 6, 2015
I wish i could write a bigger review but as it is , i am really short on time so in brief,


A Handsome widower and a millionaire, Cam is struggling coz of his past, his wife committed suicide years ago and he can't get past it. The heroine who is being demeaned and belittled by her own flesh and blood, her Mom, is not strong enough to raise her voice against her mother. Her Mother insults her even more by handing her a prophylactic and ordering her to seduce Cameroon Banks[THE HERO]. Just to be brazen for once,She goes and marries the first guy she finds in the bar who SHE THINKS is completely opposite of what her mom wants[ RELAPSE].

Well, next morning they both wake upto a hangover which worsens when they get familiar with the truth. Now, comes the divorce WITHOUT letting 'the mummy' know. What happens next is a spoiler and the most beautiful story enfolding itself.
Profile Image for dreamerinexile.
736 reviews4 followers
November 22, 2014
Heart in your mouth 4

I wasn't sure I would like it but I did. This was a story about a woman who's never got to live her life the way she wanted. She's always been ruled by her mother until the day she decides to defy her. Enter her sweet, funny, incredibly sexy significant other. He's got a messed up past and he's still trying to survive it. Enter crazy chemistry and feeling and doubts.

It was heartbreaking to see these two struggle through their past and survive. I loved Olivia and adored Cam, his drunken antics were to die for. Gahhh!!!

So for me this one was a 4 cute plus heartbreaking stars.
Profile Image for Mariana.
229 reviews13 followers
July 24, 2021
(ENG. Español después)

✨ Well, hello. I just finished this book and wanted to share my opinion. After being obsessed with the Forbidden Men series since I've read them, I didn't thought another book written by Linda K was going to be so important to me. That changed with the Love Mark series and it changed again now.

I looooove arranged marriage so much and this version of "it's-arranged-but-it's-really-not" was awesome for me. Olivia had lived under her mother's power her entire life. And yes, her mother is a horrible person as you'll soon realize in this book.

Cameron is a total mess! I liked him sometimes and I definitely liked him more in the epilogue but you need to know that a past experienced really broke him.

This book talks about a serious subject I can't read without crying because of I've experienced the same thing from their perspective so in the end not only Cam was a mess but also me! Way to go!

If I recommend this book? YES.
Profile Image for Silvia.
581 reviews2 followers
October 18, 2013
5 sexy fantastic star

the story yet sexy, sizzling, hilarious and ery romantic...i loved all the character ..i loved how cameron so in love and addicted to olivia but he didnt realize it and i loved how olivia stood up her own mother, shes really a brave woman and fell for a gorgeous guy and ended together .HEA he he
38 reviews
Read
August 12, 2012
Read this after discovering Linda Kage- loved this book Great combination of someone who had a rough childhood to finding someone and empowering herself with a great family. Humour again features- the pace is also fantastic. read this.
Profile Image for Ahana M Rao (Heart’s Content).
689 reviews84 followers
August 26, 2012
It was a really nice book. And not what I expected. I loved the characters, their love despite their inhibitions, their stories, their past that made them what they are and the idea of their AMAZING future together.
5 STARS!
13 reviews1 follower
February 24, 2011
I loved this book. It was a great read from beginning to end. My nook did not like the format though, and some of the sentences were out of order, but I persevered because I enjoyed it so much.
Profile Image for Faz.
154 reviews
Read
November 17, 2012
awesome book about fighting against your circumstances no matter what the environment. the hero was a drunk and the heroine was abused etc by her mom but they both ended up in a grt place
Profile Image for J.
3,104 reviews50 followers
October 1, 2016
Okay read but I wasn't totally sold on the story or the writing.
Profile Image for Devon.
154 reviews9 followers
May 15, 2022
This book was not exactly what I was expecting. Let me give you the content warnings first: verbal and physical abuse (on page), suicide (on page), alcoholism, grief.

There’s so much going on with these two characters, their pasts. And I’ve read books where that is the case but somehow in this book, I’m left feeling like something is missing. It’s kind of all over the place in a messy way and while I felt for the main characters, they both make wild and impulsive decisions. They lash out and misunderstand and the plot and pacing don’t leave time for us to deal with these moments fully. This is a 2.5 or low 3 stars.
1,150 reviews4 followers
October 25, 2023
very heavy themes with light trope

snackable in a soap opera way.
Feel like there needs to be a LOT of trigger warnings on this book.
Suicide, Alcoholism, Mental Illness, Parental Abuse ... more...
Feels like it was written a long time ago in the way the author deals with these delicate themes.
The story is told from the viewpoint of the characters but particularly the way they comment on suicide feels very callous.
Other than that the story is sweet and spicy.
The mother figure is a monster, it's always hard to find such characters believable.
Interesting and a lot depressing due to the heavy issues it incorporates.
559 reviews1 follower
January 10, 2021
4 - easy quick read about Cam, millionaire who married at 19 to a suicidal wife and got a payout that he tried to lose in an investment but kept gaining money, and Livy, an unloved, living under a rock, innocent girl. It all starts when her witch of a mother, Vivian, tried to whore out Livy to hook Cam as a business deal. Livy sick of things has a one night stand/ drunken marriage to a stranger who turns out to be Cam.

Loved the supporting characters, and how Cam took responsibility of Livy from the get go.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jordan Bailey.
905 reviews2 followers
February 25, 2024
be aware of certain triggers

I did like these characters and the story. I have a handful of questions left where there were mentions of things and just never brought up again. I will say that mental health wasn’t spoken about correctly. Olivia’s father and Sabrina’s actions were spoken of the same and they came from different places and that seemed wrong. The way that it was spoken about seemed personal and not unbiased.

I did like the story though
2,786 reviews2 followers
July 29, 2018
Wow!

One word can describe this delightful romp of angest, turmoil, romance and finally love --- that word being WOW! Great read.
Profile Image for Daisy.
999 reviews107 followers
December 15, 2018
2.5 stars

This didn’t work out for me, it’s told in third person and that just makes me lose all concentration. IMO it looses the connection between characters and the reader.
Profile Image for Tia.
422 reviews1 follower
May 19, 2019
Kage is a great writer but this book was to be honest on the dull side for me lacking the passion and depth of character I would like.
Profile Image for Sheila.
Author 85 books190 followers
February 25, 2011
Hot Commodity, by Linda Kage, is one sexy, thoroughly grown-up fairy tale with modern-day equivalents of princes, princesses, wicked witches, poisoned apples, the lot. The “royals” trade in commodities and make fortunes. The “wicked witch” is a scheming mother, and the poisoned apple’s depression or alcohol. Fate plays the part of fairy godmother, bringing true lovers together. But now it’s up to the young couple’s hearts to determine if that’s where they want to stay. If the bedroom scenes, played out with delightful imagination and abandon in various parts of hotel, house and street-corner are anything to go by, those hearts and bodies know far more than their still-confused heads. But then, these people have wounds in their past just as deep as any rejected Cinderella’s and far more real; everyone knows you have to heal your past before you move on.

Linda Kage’s characters are vivid and fun, with great dialog and amazing moves, just sufficiently grounded in the real world to be believable, just sufficiently far above us minor mortals to be delightfully fun to read about. From Pasadena, to Vegas, to Chicago and beyond, from abject submission to brave determination, from haunted past to present to promising future, Hot Commodity runs the gamut of US locations and emotions. Secret pains are revealed and secret joys made known. And the reader is left to delight in the happiest of happy everafters. I’d love to see the movie.



Disclosure: I won an ecopy of this book and volunteered to write an honest review.
Profile Image for Morgan.
521 reviews268 followers
March 1, 2012
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE REVIEWS AT READING, EATING AND DREAMING I WAS BLAIR WALDORF

Realistic? Hardly.
So freaking good that you don't even care? Definitely.

Hot Commodity was another fanfreakintastic story by Linda Kage. Based on the synopsis, I expected this story to be sweet, sexy, and funny. It was all of those things and more. Touching on issues such as suicide, depression, alcoholism, and neglect, this story was unexpectedly moving as well. This was my fourth Linda Kage novel so I should have been prepared for an emotional whirlwind, but I wasn’t. Linda Kage has a talent. She knows how to bring tears to my eyes. So far, I’ve read four Linda Kage novels; all four novels have made me cry. Either I am a complete wuss or she is just really, really good. I'm voting that she is just really, really good.

I gave Hot Commodity by Linda Kage 4 STARS (3.5 STARS). I'm a huge Linda Kage fan. I strongly recommend this story to adults who are searching for fun, sexy romance novel that they can connect with and characters they can root for.

-XOXO

READING, EATING AND DREAMING
Profile Image for LynnMarie.
856 reviews79 followers
April 7, 2011
Dodie's Review

Olivia has been pushed around by her mother for years. For years, she has been subject to her mother's every whim. Her mother controls every aspect of her life from her work, to her wardrobe, to her
pin money. When her mother orders her to bed and wed Cameron Banks, its finally the last straw. Olivia finally attempts to disobey her mother, but it backfires.

Olivia turns out to be a strong heroine; determined to help her man overcome his demons and become the best husband he can. Cameron ends up being the perfect husband for Olivia, determined to help her break her mother's hold on her and help her learn to be independent. AND, they have hot, steamy, explosively good sex every time they are alone together.

This book was a wonderful romance. I became invested in Olivia and Cameron's story, and was cheering for their HEA from the sidelines all the way.



5 Tea Cups!

Profile Image for Deasy Rostianti.
210 reviews17 followers
February 27, 2016
"Will you marry me or not?"

Olivia Donavon finally had enough with the way her mother Vivian Donavon treated her and was making her final attempt in her desperate rebel to ask the first drunk she chooses to be her husband. It turns out; the same drunk guy is none other than the Cameron banks who is the target of her mother’s greediness and the man he was supposed to trap in sleeping with her. Well, the worst case is that Cameron and Olivia did get married. So, what on earth could possibly happen next?

It was a great book, for some of us, we might shed tears because some parts of Olivia’s story are quite tragic. You will love how Cameron with his easy and hilarious style stood up against Vivian for Olivia. Plus, the sex and hot scenes part was way off the chart and if I may say quite steamy, so...read and find out more.

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