Review: Hot Mama (Bigtime #2) by Jennifer Estep

Title: Hot Mama

Series: Bigtime #2

Previous book in this series: Karma Girl

Author: Jennifer Estep

Genre: Adult, paranormal romance, superheroes

Publication date: January 2014 (First published in November 2007)

Published by: Jennifer Estep (1st edition by Berkley)

Source: Purchased ebook

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository | Thrift Books

Synopsis: Fiona Fine is the hottest fashion designer in Bigtime, N.Y.—literally. That's because she moonlights as Fiera, a superhero with superstrength and volatile, fire-based powers. As Fiera, she's also a member of the Fearless Five, the city's most powerful and popular superhero team.

However, Fiona's been through a lot lately, including the death of her fiancé, who was murdered by an ubervillain. But Fiona is ready to move on with her life, so it seems like good karma when she meets sexy businessman Johnny Bulluci at a friend's wedding.

But Fiona has little time to think of love thanks to Siren and Intelligal—the city's newest ubervillains who crash the wedding and then go on a city-wide crime spree. Fiona doesn’t know exactly what the ubervillains are up to, but if she doesn't figure it out, she's the one who just might go up in flames this time...

My rating: ★★★★☆

Me starting this book came out of nowhere. I read the first book, Karma Girl, last year and I was surprised that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. And I knew I would continue on with the series, but I didn’t think it would happen now! But I am glad I picked it up because I ended up enjoying it much more than the first book!

One of my issues with Karma Girl was that I didn’t really like Carmen. Snarky Fiona , however, I loved her! The girl isn't modest and she admits she’s bitchy, and you know what? I love her honesty. Lol. She has a really strong personality and I found it to be really fun. And although she says she’s bitchy, she actually really seems to care about people. One thing she does that really touched me was that she donates the money she makes as Fiera to places that are relevant to her superpowers. That was great!

Another issue I had with the last book was that I felt like the love interest was pretty meh. And on top of that, the relationship was very instalovey, which you know I hate. In this book, the relationship also happened much too fast for my liking and it gave me strong instalove vibes. However, I ended up liking Johnny more than I thought I would. When they went on their first date Fiona told us about the conversation they had at dinner and what he was like. At this point I was thinking I wasn’t going to end up caring for this guy either if we were just going to be told things instead of shown. BUT I was pleasantly surprised when they went to the carnival afterward and they had a really sweet moment up in the Ferris Wheel. After that, Johnny did these small, sweet things for Fiona that I really loved. He was very caring and I was glad to see he had an actual personality. Lol.

I also really loved his Grandpa Bobby, who was super flirty! That was cute. Lol. And I love that Fiona and Johnny’s sister Bella seem to get along. And I say this because Fiona is a fashion designer and so is Bella, so they’re kinda rivals. And what with Fiona being a self-proclaimed bitch, you’d think they wouldn’t get along, but they do! I mean, at this point they aren’t friends or anything, but they are friendly. The next book in the series, Jinx, is actually about Bella, so I am really excited to read it and get to know her better.

Okay, let’s talk about the superhero identity thing because WTF. I don’t understand how blind these superheroes can be regarding this. At first I thought it was maybe like the Superman thing where it’s this sort of magical thing where you just CAN'T see that they’re the same person even if it’s incredibly obvious. Like, it’s impossible because magic. BUT I actually don’t think that’s the case. I think they’re just dense. Lol. And I don’t know why, but it annoys me. Lol.

Let’s take Johnny, for example. There’s a superhero called Johnny Angel in Bigtime who was an older fella, but then he was killed by Intelligal. A younger Johnny Angel just showed up and that just so happened to coincide with the arrival of Johnny Bulluci. Johnny talked about having to return to Bigtime after his father’s death (cause he was taking care of the family business overseas), and that the last thing they ever talked about was Johnny not wanting to take over a certain part of the family business. A new Johnny Angel taking up the mantle... Johnny Bulluci not wanting to take over a certain part of the family business... could this be superhero related? Yes, yes it is. Johnny Angel is CLEARLY Johnny Bulluci. Johnny is even in both their names! Come on! 🙄 Lol. It wasn’t until the end of part one that Fiona realized they were the same person, and it wasn’t even because of all these obvious clues. No, it was because Johnny Angel dropped his watch, a watch that belonged to none other than Jonny Bulluci. Sigh.

But his powers are pretty cool. He called it a superstrong exoskeleton, which reminded me a lot of Gin’s ability to harden her skin with her Stone magic! AND Ashland was also mentioned! It’s just a little Easter Egg, but I always find them so fun, especially when it’s from one of my favorite series like Elemental Assassin 🖤

Anyway, all that being said, I enjoyed this book much more than the first one! I loved Fiona and I really enjoy this superhero world. The romance was still a lot and too instalovey for my liking, but I didn’t dislike Johnny. And yes I know this is a paranormal romance, but still! Lol. I think it helped going into this one with lowered expectations 😅 Lol. I’m excited for the rest of the series though!

Alternate covers:

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊