Body Heat

Opposites attract in this sizzling contemporary. Maura Mahoney, an accountant angling for a promotion at Cherry Lane, a senior living facility, is leading a staid existence when she meets a hunky construction worker, Jesse Blue, assigned to community service there after too violently defending a friend from her abusive boyfriend. Despite his bad-boy, motorcycle-riding persona, he shows patience and understanding in dealing with the residents, for whom he’s building a new garden. An instant mutual attraction leads to Maura and Jesse having hot fantasies about each other, but Maura is reluctant to act on hers and risk disappointing her adoptive parents. For his part, Jesse thinks the beautiful redhead is out of his league and still feels hurt by past relationships based more on sex than love. In asking whether her two sympathetic leads can overcome their personal issues, Fox will have readers fervently hoping for a happily-ever-after. Agent: Emily Sylvan Kim, Prospect Agency. (Dec.)