Hot Lips by Tara Lain (The Hot Cannolis #4)


Last month we shared a romantic suspense in the The Hot Cannolis series written by Eli Easton and this time, the drama comes from Tara Lain with Hot Lips

From the blurb:

Sometimes there are too many closets to come out of.

For two years, Tito’s been hiding from his past in the midst of his uncle and aunt’s big, crazy, compound full of relatives in a tiny town in California.

Now his past’s come to get him – and threatens not only Tito’s life, but to reveal the secret that will get Tito kicked out of the family he loves.

Time to fight back!

Ari Cohen, a tough cop on the hate crimes task force, knows about hiding and fighting, since he spends his life undercover searching out bad guys.

Ari’s got a big secret too that perfectly matches Tito’s --both in and out of bed.

But don’t play hearts and flowers yet.

The price they have to pay for the match may send them running back to their closets – if Tito can stay alive long enough to get there.


Hot Lips is a M/M romantic suspense mystery, packed with sexy secrets, danger, family love, and a crazy, one-eyed cat.


Sheena's Review:

First of all, I love this series. It's got progressively better as it's gone on, and as much as I liked the previous book, for me this is the best of the lot. I adored Tito and Ari (and Moshe) and loved reading their story. It's the perfect mix of romance, drama, suspense, and sass and it was just wonderful.

Hot Lips could be read as a standalone but features more cameos from the previous Canali couples than any of the other books. Not going to lie, I guessed Tito's secret almost from the start but I still loved the reveal, it was so well done. There aren't really a lot of books with drag as the main theme and I thought this was done really well. I loved meeting all the other drag queens and loved the names Tara Lain came up with. (I did think there was something off with Kobayashi Marie though, she was a little suspicious).

Ari and Tito together were 🔥 HOT HOT HOT though, oh wow. I just loved these two together so much. They were literally made for each other and I loved seeing them come together slowly.

The whole thing was so well done, with the stalking subplot and Tito's family finally accepting him, it was a wonderful, fun read and I can't recommend it enough.

Rating: 5 Stars


Heather's Review:

This book was definitely hot and steamy, but it felt almost like a standalone in the series, because we didn't have a ton of interaction with the rest of the Canali family and it felt a little out of time with some of the revelations and family movement that we've seen in the series... that being said, I truly loved Tito and Ari and loved how the mystery brought them together and the journey helped Tito to find his true self and acceptance for exactly who he was.

Hot Lips does have some graphic scenes involving kidnapping, stalking and violence, so please take those triggers into consideration before you pick up the book.

Rating: 4 Stars


Hot Lips is currently available as an e-book and paperback and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription

Comments