blaze

Fanning the Flames by Victoria Dahl

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

21966886
Grade: A
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Jackson: Girls’ Night Out #0.5
Published: 7/1/14
Reviewed by Anne
84 pages

Jake is a widower and a fire chief.  Lauren, a librarian, is divorced from a close friend of Jake’s.  The fire station and the library are in the same building.  Lauren and Jake know each other, and each is attracted to the other, but neither has been ready to move on from their first marriages.  But it’s been years, and their mutual attraction and some observant friends are pushing them to do something about it.

Go read this book.  Now.  Seriously.  This is one of the best short stories I’ve ever read.  Darn near perfect.  Lauren and Jake both have grown children.  They’re both doing fine on their own, though they’d love a little companionship.  Watching them circle each other, and then finally move on each other?  So much fun!

It’s got an awesome “caught in the act” scene.  Reading about Lauren and Jake figuring things out was really just perfect from beginning to end.

I’ll leave you with a quote:

“Is that all it takes to make you happy?  Mid-priced Scotch?”

She laughed, but as her laughter died away, her eyes snapped with heat.  “No, actually.  It takes more than that to make me happy.”

Her voice had gone low and warm, and regardless of worry or guilt, Jake was damn sure not going to miss that hint.  “Lauren,” he said, setting down his drink. “Are you drunk?”

“I’m a little buzzed.”

“How buzzed.?”

Her gaze slipped own to his chest.  “Buzzed enough to tell you that I love watching you run without a shirt on.”

“Oh.”  That blasted all thought from his brain and left him blank for a moment.

“You’re really sexy.  I shouldn’t tell you that, but I’m buzzed and I really want to tell you.”

“Lauren—“

“Because you walk around without a shirt like it’s no big deal.  Like you don’t even know.  And Jake?  It’s really, really…” She reached out her hand slowly, fingers brushing over the fabric of his shirt.  “Distracting.”  p.44

 

Falling for Max by Shannon Stacey

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

18812534
Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, Small Town
Series: Kowalski Family #9
Published: 7/29/14
Reviewed by Anne
192 pages

The latest rumor about Max Crawford in the town of Whitford is that he just might be a serial killer, what with his mysterious locked up basement and all.  No one really believes it, but they know so little about him that they settle for gossip.

Tori Burns is a part time waitress at Whitford’s Trailside Diner.  When Max decides it’s time to start looking for a wife, his first step is to be more social, and going to Trailside is where he starts.  He and Tori hit it off, but Tori’s only interested in being friends.  Her parents’ bitter divorce has left her convinced that love is not worth taking a chance on for her.  Still, she’s willing to help Max, who is a little awkward socially, practice his dating skills. Now they just have to ignore the chemistry between them and find some eligible bachelorettes in Whitford.

This latest book in the Kowalski Family series was another winner for me.  I enjoyed so much about this story!  The Kowalskis appear as secondary characters, but don’t overwhelm the main plot.

Max and Tori are great characters.  They each have personal obstacles to overcome.  Max is never said to be on the autism spectrum, but that would be my guess about him.  Social situations can be challenging for him.  He’s very literal and very focused.  He’s looking for a wife, and Tori sees right away that he needs someone who will appreciate his differences and not see them as drawbacks.

Tori comes with a lot of baggage from her parents’ divorce.  She’d always thought they had a loving marriage.  So when it fell apart and they became extremely angry and bitter she was shocked.  Even more surprised when she found herself in the middle of an emotional tug of war between them.  It got bad enough that she moved to Whitford to put some physical distance between herself and her parents.  Aside from her baggage, Tori’s an interesting woman.  She designs book covers and websites, working from her apartment.  She works part time at the diner to indulge her social side.  She also enjoys being with her cousin, the young chef at Trailside.

Besides the characters and the low conflict plot (my favorite!) Shannon Stacey’s trademark humor is in abundance.  There were so many lines that had me laughing.  Here’s an example I love!  Tori and Max are practicing small talk.  She starts:

“I like to play Bingo.”
He didn’t even hesitate.  “That’s wonderful.  How many cats do you have?”

As much as I enjoyed their dialog, I also appreciated how things worked when they were not getting along, too.  They weren’t perfect.  Their reactions were realistic, and it takes growth on both their parts to come through it.  It was a joy to read!

I’d highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy small town contemporary romance, and readers who like low conflict romance.  While it’s part of the Kowalski series, it would stand alone fine, too.  That said, I’m really enjoying the series and looking forward to reading more about Gavin on his quest to become a big deal chef!

Truly by Ruthie Knox

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
18481904

Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: New York #1
Published: 8/5/14
Reviewed by Anne
315 pages

Wisconsin girl May is stranded in New York.  She very publicly rejected her boyfriend, Dan, when he proposed, then managed to dump him in private, leave his apartment, and get mugged on her way to the airport.  She doesn’t want to reach out to Dan to help her out, so she’s nursing a beer she bought with her last $5 in a Packers bar.  She’s hoping to find a friendly person who might help her out.  Instead she finds Ben.

“When she’d tried to catch his eye, venturing a friendly smile in his direction, he’d pulled a paperback book out of his back pocket and propped an elbow on the bar between them.
Do not disturb, that elbow said.
And also, just possibly, I am a dick.” p. 7

Ben is coming off of a really horrible, angry year.  In an attempt to convince himself there is a little bit of him that can pretend to be polite, he eventually stops ignoring May and offers to help her out.

There was so much to love about this book!  First and foremost, May was a woman from Wisconsin, with deep Wisconsin roots, and I found I identified with her a lot.  Not in personality as much as some of the things that shaped her.  The need to be polite.  The ability to hold her liquor.  (Ok, actually I’ve never had that ability, but it is something that most Wisconsinites I know possess.)  The love of the Packers.

I give bonus points to this story because May’s dad is an engineer at a nuclear power plant!  I used to work at a nuclear power plant and it’s something you rarely see mentioned in a romance!  It wasn’t a big part of the story at all, but just the mention made me grin!  Also, May’s ex was a quarter back for the Packers!  That was awesome, and knowing what a star that would make him in Wisconsin (even after he got traded to New York) made it very believable that May’s family would think he was perfect for her – it would be like dating a prince!

May has a lot of insecurities, but they are not crippling.  She becomes more and more self aware throughout the book and shakes herself out of behaviors that are driven by her insecurities.  That was really wonderful to read!  Ben was also an interesting character.  He’d been so angry for so long, he really had to put forth an effort to behave in a civil manner.  He and May really help each other, but the changes they make are for themselves, not to try to impress each other.

May and Ben each have some issues with their parents, and those relationships were very well written.  No one was made out to be just a villain.  Most importantly to me, while progress was made in these relationships, nothing was neat and tied up with a bow.  It was about May and Ben changing to meet the challenges in their lives, not magical improvement for every character in the book.

I really enjoyed May’s sister and their relationship.  I see on Goodreads that there will be another story coming out in 2015, and I really hope it’s about May’s sister!  I wouldn’t say no to a story about Dan, either, though!

This was originally published as a serial on Wattpad, an app I downloaded on my iPad just to read this book.  But then I never read it.  I’m not crazy about serials, and in this case I’m really glad I waited until I had the whole thing.  I highly recommend this story to anyone who likes contemporary romance.  It was a great read!  Let me know if you can recommend another romance with a character from Wisconsin!