Mr. Serious meets the Queen of Fun in this cute romcom. It’s the third book in the Hott Springs Eternal series and has a grumpy billionaire meets sunshine trope. I can always count on Serena Bell for a light, fun, spicy read and this one was all that and more!

 

Preston’s grandad left a will that stipulates that each of his grandsons must complete a task in order to save their family’s land in Rush Creek, Oregon from being sold to a mining company. The land was a working ranch until a few years ago when Preston’s sister Hanna and their grandad converted the land into a wedding venue and spa. Now it’s Preston’s turn to complete a task that chosen especially for him which, he of course, hates the very idea of.

 

The man is a very high-powered guy in finance, living a luxurious life in New York City. When he left to go to school back East, his grandfather was angry to see him leave Rush Creek and when he brought his wife for a visit, his grandfather didn’t like her and told Preston that he would fail. Preston has been proving he is a success ever since. This has come at a cost. His wife divorced him–he was always working–and, currently, he is under a lot of pressure to complete a big merger deal. If it goes through, he could clinch a big promotion.

 

When he gets the letter from his grandad’s will telling him what his task is–he has to go back to Rush Creek and create a fun activities program for his sister Hannah’s wedding resort–he’s not happy about it. He’s even less happy, when he gets home to Rush Creek, to find out that Hannah has hired Natalie (who is new to the series) to be the activity director at the resort. Hannah tells them they will be working together and they have six weeks to design activities that will be tested at the Rush Creek summer festival. If these are a success, Preston will be able to return to New York and Natalie will stay and run the program.

 

Natalie was living with her boyfriend Lloyd but when she went to tell him about her new job at Rush Creek, she found him holding hands with another girl. Now, she has no place to live–she can’t stay with her parents because they aren’t very welcoming and want her to get a job in the medical field. But Natalie hates working at a desk. She, however, loves her new job as the Activities Coordinator at the Hott Springs Resort and luckily, she’s able to move into company housing. Once she meets Preston, they immediately start brainstorming ideas for their program. This is amusing because the two are so different! He comes up with ideas that sound more like team building activities from the eighties, human knot, scavenger hunt and charades while Natalie suggests they need to think bigger with more upscale options. When Preston balks at her ideas, she begins to suspect that he doesn’t know how to have fun.

 

Natalie’s ideas are so fun, I want to go there and try them. She suggests they partner with Wild Adventures (from the Wilder Adventure Series) for horse rides, paddleboarding, rock climbing and boat trips. They decide to come up with ten ideas to try out at a family party. The party is a hoot because we catch up with characters from her other books when they try a paint splatter room, pop up rage room (they sledgehammer things) and Natalie and Preston end up Jell-O wrestling. The heat builds between them and their chemistry is off the charts!

 

I loved how Natalie and Preston truly understood each other and were able to find joy in everyday things. Natalie’s joie de vivre and playful energy was a delight and the way Preston wined and dined Natalie was a chef’s kiss.  

 

I would have liked to see more of Natalie (and Preston) with her family, especially towards the end, but that’s a small quibble. I don’t think it’s necessary to read the previous books in the Hott Springs series but they are all a good time, so consider them and the Wilder Adventure Series if you haven’t read them yet.

 

This is a fun, lighthearted novel with plenty of spice and I think readers looking for an escape will find it here.