Customer Reviews

Into the Fire

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I normally don't rate a book with 5 stars, but what more can I say, this book was beyond good, it was excellent. Not to much sex but the right amount, and not too much suspense, but the right amount to keep you on the edge of your seat. Sable and J.D. having sex on a parade float, now that's a new one on me. How they got away with that, I don't know. My favorite character has to be Terri, her no-nonsense-attitude and tough-cop-demeanor, along with her humor, had me laughing until I cried. Especially during her love scene with Cort, "You want me to stop?" Pulling her spare gun out of the nightstand drawer and pointing at his face. "You want to die?" That part in particular had me in the floor laughing. For a book that was only 291 pages it sure did pack a huge romantic-suspense punch. I can't wait for Cort and Terri's story to be released.

Ms. Hall has penned an amazingly engrossing read that fans of romantic suspense won't want to miss. The storyline is amazing combining not only a great mystery that transcends a decade, but also has great characters that readers will relate too and care about. The ending (without giving any thing away) truly surprised me and I'm an avid fan of this sub-genre and normally pretty good about "guessing" who the baddie is.

Lt. J.D. Gamble has had his past catch up with him in the most unlikely of locations. A burned out building with only one survivor. Sable Duchensne was his first and only love and she is currently getting looked over by the EMT when he shows up. She is the only witness to a murder and arson investigation. He has to put his own personal feelings on ice but it won't be easy. Than again nothing with Sable ever was.

Sable has a secret. She's from the bayou and when she was in college she thought to step ahead of her station in life and love Jean Delano Gamble. After a very bad incident she runs back home and away from her hearts desire. Ten years later their paths cross and the one person to keep her safe is the one person she can't trust with her heart. Or can she. While on the run hiding from a person that wants her dead, she and D.J. come to realize that the still love each other very much and that they are not going to make the same mistake they made earlier.

This was a very fast paced read set in sultry Louisiana. Plot, characters, and chemistry move the story along and will firmly engage the reader until the final pages. If you are a fan of the romantic suspense genre Ms. Hall is an author that you need add to your "must read" list.

Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com

This is my first Jessica Hall book. It was very good and I will be on the lookout for her next one.

Sable and J.D. had been lovers at college, but no one wanted them together, She is Cajun and He is Creole. Big deal you say!
Well it seems to be to his high class family and friends. (Personally, I think his mother got away with murder. They forgave her to easily.)

Anyway, ten years later he finds her at the center of the murder of a governatorial candidate. He gives up everything to protect her, she is the only witness.

This could have been just another same old same thing. However, it is not, no cliches here. The author took an old plot and made it new. I liked it alot.

I especially like novels set in New Orleans. I don't want to give any secrets away. But this book is one hot, thrilling, ride. Another one to read in one sitting.

Social worker Isabel "Sable" Duchesne meets a wealthy businessman at one of his vacant buildings that he has agreed to loan her for her community project. When she arrives to find him dead, she herself is hit over the head and left for dead. New Orleans police detective JD Gamble arrives on scene with his partner Terri as Sable is being checked by the paramedics, when he realizes that she is the college lover that left him and forever changed his life.

The two are still in love with each other, but neither is willing to admit it to the other. Still standing between them is what prompted her to "attack" his friends after a college prank at her expense, the full details which he never knew about. When it looks like the arsonist who left her for dead is still trying to kill her, JD goes into protection mode and takes her into hiding. As his partner Terri works the case with his hotheaded fire marshal brother Cort, the two engage in a torrid one night stand, while Sable and JD re-ignite their own passion finally admitting their love for each other.

Hall does a tremendous job weaving an intricate mystery. We know who the arsonist is right off the bat, but the shadowy character in the background pulling the strings is a real surprise. The aftermath of Cort and Terri's notorious one night stand takes center stage in Hall's follow up, "Heat of the Moment."

This story was action packed and full of likable characters. My only complaint is that through a lack of conversations between the leads, I never got a true indication of their current feelings for each other.

Through a past misunderstanding, they were both angry with one another but still very much attracted to each other. And it's mentioned several times how much they loved each other before, but I guess I wanted more. It's as if it's just a given that their getting back together so let's get on with the story. Where was the heart to heart? I wasn't so much annoyed by this that it ruined the book for me, thus the 4 stars.

Reading S.L. Viehls' books (I believe this is a pseudonym)- another one I could not even get through.

WOW! WOW! WOW! this book is really great! you shouldnt even think twice, if you want a great story, great characters and great writer, you should totally get this book! its amazing

This is a new author for me. I'll be buying her back-list books ASAP, whoo, whoo! I was immediately engaged by the plot and characters, reading it from cover to cover in one sitting... a happy but very rare event.

Happily, this talented author's smooth writing style kept things flowing. I am sure I am not the only fan hoping she does a book about the partner and brother. *fingers crossed*

I liked this book so much I read it, then turned right around and read it again! Ms. Hall has a new book coming out in October and I can't wait! Please, please let it be Cort and Terri's story!

The only thing that didn't ring true was the whole mud-slinging attack. We're talking about one small woman against a dozen people, half of whom were jocks? The numbers alone should have told JD that Sable didn't arbitrarily attack anyone. He should have had more faith in her. And I won't even get into his mother!

This was a great plot and the story about Sable's mother and father was heart-breaking. I liked the fact that JD was determined not to let Sable go this time, no matter what had happened in the past. And the scene on the parade float was hotter than any Cajun hot sauce!

The frontrunner for Governor of Louisiana, Creole Marc LeClare donates an empty warehouse in New Orleans to Isabel "Sable" Duchesne to open a community center. At the warehouse, Sable finds Marc dead and someone trying to kill her, but she escapes. Police Lieutenant Jean-Delano "J.D." Gamble leads the investigation. When J.D. sees the eye witness, he behaves like a man possessed. Ten years ago, J.D. and Sable fell in love at Tulane, but he thinks she deserted him while she feels her he used his Creole friends to dump the Cajun in the swamp.

Though he plans to keep her safe, J.D. thinks Sable knows something about Marc's death. He cannot believe they were having a tryst, but wonders what their connection was. He also needs to know why she left him a decade ago.

Sable wants to mourn the loss of Marc in private, but she is the latest media candy frenzy. She wants to stay away from J.D. who is marrying an equal and not a half Cajun like her. However, he refuses to let her vanish again especially with a killer wanting her dead.

Sable hiding the identity of the killer from the police seems dumb as she is the target, but romantic suspense fans will enjoy this terse thriller built off of a previous generation's Romeo and Juliet love. The taut story line keeps tensions high with the police investigation and the sexual stress caused by love between the lead couple. Jessica Hall owes the audience sequels starring his brother and partner in one and his former fiancé in another for these three strong supporting characters deserve stardom.

Harriet Klausner