Hot Flashes Cold War
About
HOT FLASHES, COLD WAR
The Erogenous Woman Chronicles — Book One
R.H. Legner
She saves empires. He burns the rules.
Neither planned on becoming the other's biggest problem.
Simone Vale has built the kind of life most people only put on vision boards.
Powerful career. Impeccable reputation. Financial independence. A perfectly controlled existence.
At least that's what it looks like from the outside.
Because underneath the tailored suits and executive composure is a woman who is discovering something wildly inconvenient:
She still has a pulse.
And then Luca Moretti walks into her life.
Italian-born. Younger. Brilliant. Ridiculously confident. And blessed with the kind of smile that should require a damn permit.
Luca doesn't see Simone as older.
He sees her.
The intelligence.
The authority.
The sensuality.
The woman underneath the armor.
And he's completely fascinated.
Simone, however, has rules.
Lots of rules.
Rule one: Don't sleep with someone you work with.
Rule two: Don't get emotionally involved.
Rule three: Absolutely, positively, under no circumstances, fall for a younger man.
Simple.
Except Luca has never been particularly interested in simple.
What begins as professional friction becomes flirtation.
Flirtation becomes proximity.
Proximity becomes a dangerous amount of chemistry.
And suddenly Simone is discovering that the hardest thing about being a grown woman isn't admitting you want someone.
It's admitting you might actually want more.
Because Luca isn't interested in being her midlife rebellion.
He doesn't want to be her secret.
And he sure as hell isn't interested in pretending the connection between them is nothing more than a fling.
But Simone has spent years learning how to protect herself.
Luca is about to discover just how difficult it is to love a woman who has already learned how to live without you.
Then the whispers start.
The age difference.
The gossip.
The judgment.
The inevitable question:
“Why would a woman like her want a man like him?”
Simone knows exactly why.
That's the problem.
Because women aren't supposed to want too much after a certain age.
They're supposed to become sensible.
Quiet.
Invisible.
Grateful for whatever attention they're given.
Simone has one response to that:
Absolutely fucking not.
She's spent too many years becoming herself to start shrinking now.
And Luca?
He's about to prove that sometimes the man who makes you lose control is the one who finally makes you feel safe enough to let go.
Raw desire. Sharp banter. Career ambition. Age-gap tension. Emotional vulnerability. Public judgment. Private chemistry. And two people discovering that the heart doesn't give a damn about the rules.
HOT FLASHES, COLD WAR is for every woman who has ever looked in the mirror and wondered whether her hottest chapter was behind her.
Spoiler:
It isn't.
Sometimes the woman who has already lived, loved, lost, survived, and rebuilt herself doesn't need a second chance at youth.
She needs a first chance at being loved exactly as she is.
And sometimes…
The man who walks into the room and ruins all your carefully constructed plans?
Is exactly the man you were waiting for.