I was excited about this book because it was a recommendation that since I loved Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating and Sophie Kinsella.
I'm sorry to say it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I wanted more romance and more character chemistry.
Long chapters, Sarah was frustrating.
I'll read In Hot Water to give the story a chance.

This book was amazing. Read very quickly but I did not want it to end. Can’t wait to see what Rebecca Freeborn comes up with next

This was not the book I expected. At first, I thought, hm, she's going to end up with the rock star, even thought blurb mentioned the photographer, Nick. Then, I was pretty certain it was her ex's best friend, said photographer. But how they got to the point of love, and the adventures they have together - turned a dark corner. Most of the time, I had to suspend belief, but envisioned a romantic type spy movie like the Bourne movies. Entertaining, but not always realistic, especially with the two leads are the average typical person, rather than a trained CIA agent.

However, this all said, the book kept me quite entertained. I was rooting for Sarah and Nick, yelling at Sarah when she did stupidly dangerous things, and then so happy at the end, as my brain and experienced the gamut emotions. While I was warned this would take a dark turn, I had no idea how dark.

Rebecca Freeborn caught my interest from the first page and it never faltered. Sarah, having been dumped by her boyfriend finds herself in a bar where she meets and hooks up with Chris, a guitarist and rock star. She accompanies him back to his hotel room where she has second thoughts. He leaves abruptly after a telephone call, and she is left in his room. She later discovers that he is a rock star and is has disappeared. As a journalist, she is eager to follow up on their meeting and write his story. She is accompanied by the magazine's photographer, Nick, with whom she had a one night stand. He is also the best friend of her former boyfriend. They set out on a whirlwind tour of Europe, looking for Chris. I was sorry to reach the last page and would love it if this would become the first in a series.

I have to say I really enjoyed this book. Romantic suspense at its best. The characters of Sarah and Nick were well developed and enjoyable. I was engaged from the first page, and I look forward to more by this author. Thanks to Pantera Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Great story. Enjoyable characters. This is a first from this author and I would purchase more from this author.

Oooooh where to start?

There is so much going on in this story! James, Nick, and Chris all want Sarah. Sarah wants to be a real reporting journalist as she’s supposed to be. When a night of drinking alone turns into an almost hookup, things start getting crazy.

To get the job she wants, needs, deserves, Sarah must take matters into her own hands.

Let this story grab you and whisk you away to go traipsing through Europe with Sarah on the heels of a potentially huge story.

Hot Pursuit is more a long, slow walk, especially for the first half of the book. It does pick up in the second half, and I might have enjoyed it at that point if it weren't for the characters. Sarah is not at all heroine-like. Not even a little bit and on top of that, she's completely incompetent, and her naiveté is over the top ridiculous. I assume her lack of knowledge on anything current is supposed to be funny with her working for a celebrity magazine, but the bumbling reporter act just grew tiresome. Nick is just as bad with his barbs and put-downs. If they're supposed to be witty, they fail, and he comes off as a jerk most of the time. I won't go into all the characters, but I didn't find a single one worth rooting for. They're all unlikable in one way or another. Our blundering duo does get around, traveling from one place to another, which could've been interesting. However, it's more like they reach point A, check in to a motel, see a couple of places everybody has heard of, then meander around and ask the wrong questions. Yet, somehow, they manage to learn where to go next, so it starts all over again - Rinse, lather, repeat. There is a small bit of romance at the end, but there's really no build up to it. There is a physical attraction, but not once did I get the impression of anything more than that. Needless to say, this one left me disappointed at best.

Hot Pursuit by Rebecca Freeborn was an adventure with suspense and fun. A quick read about a love story. Hot Pursuit was well written and I loved it.

Hot Pursuit is such a good mystery. I couldn't have predicted the ending to the book. It's very suspenseful and keeps your attention the entire book. You can feel sympathy for the characters and want it to end up great for them. I didn't want to put it down.

Hot Pursuit by Rebecca Freeborn was not what I expected it to be. The blurb sucked me in but when I got to the nitty gritty of it all I was totally left hanging.

I expected a steamy read with a tiny bit of intrigue and instead I got a whole lotta intrigue and suspense and less of the sexy lighthearted read I had intended. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad thing at all, however when you are expecting a certain something and it doesn’t pan out as such, you are thrown for a loop.

The chemistry between Sara and Nick was great but there was just so much childishness going on between them that it took away from the story and hurt it much of the time. Had this just been a lighthearted read, it totally would have worked but being that this one leaned more towards intrigue and less from the sexy steamy read, this kind of interaction really hurt the story and my want to take it more serious as I felt the story called for. Kinda sad because I feel Hot Pursuit had a lot of potential and could go really far, and I can easily see 5 stars for this one but it fell short for me.

An ARC was generously provided in exchange for an honest review of which this is both honest and completely voluntary.

This was a very entertaining book. It was a quick and relaxing read. Adventure, suspense, romance, humor, action, and travel were all included. So much was happening all the time that it definitely held your interest to the very end. I thought the characters were well developed and while I didn't like all of them, they were all interesting. I look forward to reading her next book. I received this ebook from NetGalley for an honest review.

I love a good mystery with a mix of romance! Nothing Intrigues me more than having to figure out what’s happening as I’m reading! Though I enjoyed the read at times I did feel like I was struggling to stay engaged but overall I enjoyed this book

Oh what a gal! You go girl! I liked following her from a flunky job to her dream job. I liked how she ran after the story regardless where it took her and she put up with the photographer. But I admit I ending up liking the photographer by the end of the book. The book was entertaining with a nice ending. Totally a good read.

Sarah works at a women’s magazine writing a beauty column, but her passion is journailsm. She was recently dumped by James, her boyfriend of two years, after they bought a house together, leaving her drowning in a mortgage she can’t afford. She has an encounter with a guy at a bar, and finds out later that not only is he a famous musician, he’s now wanted for questioning on the murder of his band mate. Her boss wants to break the story, and Sarah lies to get to cover the story and have her big break.

She is sent to Europe to do some investigating. Unfortunately the photographer sent with her is Nick, her ex’s best friend who she had a one night stand with before she met James. Needless to say they make for awkward travel partners.

They go on an investigative mission across Europe, trying to track down the famous Chris Ford before the police catch him. There’s tension between Sarah and Nick, and there is also James, the ex, who has decided he wants Sarah back.

I had quite a few problems with this story. First, suspend your disbelief that a thirty year old journalist doesn’t have a smart phone. Sarah is clueless about travel since she’s never done it before, which just marks her as naive. But she’s also clueless about journalism, which has been her job for eight years. I know she was only writing a column for a fashion magazine, but I just wanted to shake her. If you want to be taken seriously, take your job seriously. She works for a fashion/celebrity gossip tabloid and don’t know any celebrities and hate fashion, but is frustrated when she don’t get serious assignments? When she gets a chance for a serious assignment, she acts so incompetent that I seriously think a fourteen year old would have investigated it better. At least a fourteen year old could work a smart phone and get an Uber.

Also for someone who wants to write real life hard hitting journalism, have a clue about the world around you. A drug mule had to be explained to Sarah. It was funny, in the oh bless your heart kind of way.

While Sarah is frustratingly naive, Nick calls her out on it. I was prepared to like him, because he does help her out while at the same time giving her crap over being horrible at her job. But while he was bitingly sarcastic, he was so much of a jerk to Sarah that I couldn’t root for him at all.

<b> “Don’t flatter yourself, Burrowes.” His smile was twisted and cruel. “Been there, done that.” </b>

On a positive note, I enjoyed the travel in this novel. It was fun to read about the different cities they ventured to. Sarah’s naivety paid off there, she was enamored with new places. Also the mystery of who was framing Chris Ford kept me reading. Adelita was a delight and could probably use her own book. The writing was very well done, it was the characters I couldn’t connect to.

After finishing this book, it’s a start to a new series. I hope that Sarah gets better at her job. And I hope Nick becomes less of a dick to her. But it was too little too late by the time I reached the end.

<i> I received this ARC through Netgalley and the opinions are my own. The quotes come from an unfinished copy. </i>

This was a fun and easy read, however the characters were one-dimensional and the plot was a bit ridiculous. Sarah was a bit of a twit, and her former fiancee was just a crazy person. The one-night stand was out of place and didn't seem to fit in with her personality.

The pacing was off, the chemistry was truly never there, and I just thought it was boring. All of the traveling was fun, though!

Sarah tricks her boss into giving her a journalist assignment tracking down a missing celebrity who has been convicted of murder. Nick, a photographer (and Sarah's nemesis) is sent along on the journey. This book is a lot of fun! I enjoyed the adventure, the sarcastic conversations, and there were some laugh out loud embarrassing moments.
I did find Sarah to be a bit annoying. But that's where she's at. in this moment in her life. She doesn't have the career she wanted and her boyfriend basically ghosted her. She's lost and all she can do is replay those moments in her head to try to find a solution. I think the adventure of her journo assignment and Nick helped to distract her from those thoughts.
Overall, it's a fun read! Definitely a perfect, light vacation novel.

When you look up this book on Amazon or NetGalley, there is a little subhead that says, “If you love Sophie Kinsella, Zoe Foster and Christina Lauren, you’ll love Hot Pursuit by Rebecca Freeborn!”

Now, I’m quite sure it wasn’t the author who made that statement. I’m sure it was her publisher. But just as a note to all the authors and publishers out there who use this marketing tactic: Don’t.
The simple fact is that if you compare yourself to a great, industry giant like Sophie Kinsella or Christina Lauren, your book will most likely suffer in comparison. It’s like a horror author saying they’re the next Stephen King, or a singer saying they’re the next Whitney Houston. It’s just...douchey. (Note: the only exception to this rule is when someone ELSE says something nice about a book. Then, quote away, authors and publishers. But then AND ONLY THEN is it not a dick move to pull a humble brag like that.) So, as I feared, this book suffered in comparison to Sophie Kinsella, Zoe Foster and Christina Lauren. A bummer, but not surprising.

Here’s what went wrong:

The heroine, Sarah:
Sarah is a wishy-washy turd of a heroine. She’s hung up on her twatwaffle of an ex (even though he ditched her and stuck her with a mortgage she couldn’t afford) right up until the very end of the book. She’s also the worst reporter in the history of reporters and only succeeds at her job by stumbling head-first into information. It’s blind stupid luck that she gets her story, which I hate. I much prefer smart heroines who are good at their jobs. (Competence porn is my jam) She’s also dumb enough to accept a drink from known criminals. (Who does that? OF COURSE it was drugged) In short, Sarah is TSTL (too stupid to live) and I have no interest in TSTL heroines.

The hero, Nick:
Nick’s not quite as annoying as Sarah. I mean, at least he’s good at his job. But he’s also a bit of a jerk who flirts with everything in a skirt and pretty much treats Sarah like crap. (He also pulled a “hey, I’m not good with feelings and you made me feel stuff, so now I have to ignore you” thing on Sarah in their past together, which is one of my all-time least favorite tropes EVER.) I didn’t see anything in his actions or words that led me to believe he had any real romantic interest in Sarah. I mean, I don’t blame him; she’s a turd. I wouldn’t want her either. But that lack of romantic interest was a bit of a problem for me as a reader, seeing as this is a ROMANCE novel.

Other randomness:
This book also features Sarah’s turd of an ex, who, frankly, I think is perfect for Sarah. They’re turds of a feather as far as I’m concerned. (Off topic: Do romance heroines ever break up with decent guys? I’d like to see that happen once or twice.)

And on another note, this book was the first I’ve ever read to feature a Scottish rock star (not the hero, a side character) who was a complete and total dud. He was weak, cowardly, not a great kisser, and generally a total bore. How the hell can a Scottish rock star in a romance novel be so repellant? That should be, like, illegal or something.

The mystery and action in the story was also fairly lame. And a random sex scene was thrown in at the end of the book for the sole purpose, I think, of the publisher being able to call this book a romance and capitalize on the millions of romance readers out there. It read like it was pieced together from every 1980s romance novel that had Fabio on the cover. Very, very cliche.

So, needless to say this wasn’t a read I’d recommend to, well, anyone. Would I have been as hard on the book if it hadn’t been touted as the second coming of Sophie Kinsella and Christina Lauren? Maybe, maybe not. I guess we’ll never know...

I enjoyed reading Hot Pursuit by Rebecca Freeborn. This was a quick read with humor, mystery, romance and an adventure! Sarah’s life has not been very good recently. Left with a mortgage she cannot afford, she is trying to survive when an opportunity of a lifetime lands at her feet. What she never expected was the photographer assigned to go with her, who happens to be her ex’s friend.

With no real experience, Sarah is trying to navigate her assignment and the man traveling with her. Suddenly she finds herself in the middle of a mystery and quite the adventure. They end up travelling through Europe trying to find the missing Rockstar. Nick and Sarah had great banter and chemistry. Though the story at times moved quickly, it was was enjoyable

Happy reading!