Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Who doesn't love a brave, hunky firefighter? This new series by Bella Andre is all about firefighters, but not the kind we are familiar with who fight structure fires, but the kind who fight wildfires. They're called wildland firefighters, or Hotshots, and they battle blazes like forest fires continuously off and on for about nine months out of the year, mainly out West. This series sounded promising to me, so I had high expectations, and for the most part, it delivered. Sure, there were some predictable moments (why do the heroines always sleep with the heroes and then think "Whoops, that was a mistake. I don't want to fall for this guy and risk losing another person I love to a dangerous job--my heart can't take it!"), and a few moments where I rolled my eyes and said "What?", but I decided to go with it and have fun. And I did. Of course it helped that the H/H were so hot together that they nearly spontaneously combusted (pun intended)!

Maya Jackson's an arson investigator for Cal Fire, but she's in Lake Tahoe, Nevada on personal business. She's come to pick up the belongings of her younger brother Tony, a firefighter who was killed in an apartment fire and died a hero a few days earlier. Overcome with grief at losing yet another member of her family (her beloved father, a former firefighter, had recently died), Maya feels like she needs some liquid courage to face the sad task ahead of her. So she heads off down the street from her brother's cottage, looking for a bar or restaurant. Tahoe Pines Bar & Grill--that will do. Darn, it's closed--the sign says come back at 5 pm. After pounding on the door, a sinfully sexy guy with shoulders out to here takes pity on her and lets her in. After a couple of whiskeys and a few answered questions, Maya is overcome with something (grief, lust?) grabs the guy and plants one on him. Things progress to the point of "Oh God", what have I done?" and the next thing you know, Maya's out the door, before Mr. Sexy can get her name or number.

Fast forward six months, and Maya's back in Tahoe. Still looking for answers into the fire that killed her brother, Maya requests for a chance to work on the Desolation Wilderness wildfire, as it will keep her in the Lake Tahoe area. This fire's origins look suspicious and may be arson, and all signs are pointing to fireman Logan Cain as the prime suspect. Even though Logan has had an outstanding career as a Hotshot, heroically saving many lives and expensive real estate in his 15 year career, that all means nothing when you're reported to be in the wrong place at the right time, and an anonymous tipster fingers you as an arsonist. So Maya comes to check this guy out, and watches as he and another firefighter narrowly outrun a rampaging fire to rescue one of their crew members. When Maya gets close enough to interview him about the Desolation Wilderness wildfire, she realizes he's the same guy she had her way with at the Tahoe Pines Bar & Grill! Can you say conflict of interest?

Well, of course Logan remembers Maya (he thought she was the sexiest woman he'd ever been with), and he's not through with her. He knows there's something there, and the feeling is mutual. But Maya's got a job to do, finds out some rather incriminating stuff in Logan's past, and since Logan is guilty until proven innocent, he's suspended from his job. Logan professes his innocence, and Maya wants to believe him, and after talking to his co-workers and hearing nothing but good things about the man he's become, she starts thinking of other possibilities. Does somebody have it in for Logan? Is someone trying to frame him?

After a couple of attempts on her and Logan's life, it's clear that Logan is not the arsonist. Maya and Logan work together to figure out who could be doing this. Working together in close contact heats up the passion between them, and soon Maya and Logan heat up the bedroom. Very erotic, but very confusing for Maya. Does she want to risk her heart on a man who could go to work one day and never return to her? Is she strong enough for that? Can she afford to say those three little words that Logan wants to hear?

This was a sexy read. Maya was a pretty brave, strong woman, and a smart cookie. Thankfully she didn't keep pursuing Logan as a suspect because even I could see that he was being framed. The author throws out a handful of possible suspects and of course at first I guessed wrong! I'm not sure I was totally sold on the reasons the real arsonist acted the way they did (this is when I said "What?"), and at times I was thinking "this is a little preposterous" during the final showdown between Maya and this wacko, but what the heck, I went with it. And if it brought Maya and Logan together, so much the better.

Of course the best part of the story was the relationship between Maya and Logan, and whenever they were together the pages came alive. Although I wanted to check Maya's head for rocks a few times when she considered walking away from Logan--this guy was the complete package, and only a fool would give him up!

So to sum up, this was a good beginning to the series (which shows a lot of promise because there's plenty of hot firefighters who were introduced). A little suspense, a hot romance, and I learned something about wildland firefighters (very brave guys). I'm looking forward to the next installment of this series, titled Hot as Sin A Novel, about Logan's buddy Sam MacKenzie. 4 stars.