27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Romance hotter than a 4-alarm fire!!, August 5, 2008
This review is from: Trial By Fire: The Firefighters of Station Five (Mass Market Paperback)
Kat McKenna literally fell into the sexy firefighter's arms the moment she met him. Of course, smoke inhalation will do that to a girl! Not that Lieutenant Howard "Six-Pack" Paxton's considerable assets would not be swoon-inspiring all on their own...
Howard doesn't quite understand the intense attraction he feels for the pretty little blonde the moment he lays eyes on her. Sure, she's beautiful, but that doesn't explain the sudden possessiveness he feels for her before he even learns her name! Still, he is determined to go with the flow and see exactly where this attraction takes them.
But a murdering arsonist has other plans for them, and when it becomes clear that the villain has targeted Howard, he'll do anything to keep Kat safe.
When an ARC of TRIAL BY FIRE landed in my mailbox for review, I had not yet heard of this book nor its author, Jo Davis, but I was immediately intrigued by the synopsis of the story. Who doesn't love a hot (forgive the pun) firefighter as a romance hero? No woman I know, that's for sure!
I began reading it late one Saturday evening, thinking I would read just a few chapters before going to sleep. I didn't stop until I turned the last page at 4:00 AM! I literally could not put this book down.
I'll admit it right up front - I fell for Howard immediately. This man is such a wonderful combination of sweet vulnerability and dominant lover, that he won my heart from the start. I had no problem understanding why Kat would be drawn to him. His childhood trauma made me weep for him, and the strength he has used to become the man he is now despite that troubled past made me admire him. No matter what he has been through, this is still a man who would go into a burning building to save an elderly woman's cat.
I'd be jealous of Kat if I didn't like her so darn much. This schoolteacher is exactly the kind of woman Howard needs, showing him understanding without pity, and bringing a joy and lightness to his life that he has been missing for far too long.
As is wont to happen when a couple has faced a life or death situation, they move quickly through their courtship, not wanting to waste a moment, which affords us readers some rather delicious love scenes without too much delay. And I can tell you this, the love scenes are as smoking hot as the house fires that Howard's stationhouse deals with.
But that isn't all that this story is about. Through it all, Jo Davis weaves an intricate, multi-layered suspense plot. The author lays the puzzle pieces logically throughout the story, and those who are good with a mystery are likely to deduce the end before the big reveal finally happens (I did!) However, the answers aren't too obvious, so there is still some uncertainty as to whether or not the readers' hypothesis will be correct until the author spills all at the end. Whether you guess the twists or not, they are still riveting.
I am happy to report that TRIAL BY FIRE is only the first book in a brand new series by Jo Davis, aptly titled THE FIREFIGHTERS OF STATION FIVE. Of course, this means we are introduced to some very intriguing supporting characters that I am aching to see the sequels for!
For a poignant and steamy romance with a great dose of suspense, be sure to pick up a copy of TRIAL BY FIRE: THE FIREFIGHTERS OF STATION FIVE, BOOK 1 as soon as it hits the bookstores!
**Courtesy of Wild on Books**
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
So many issues, January 4, 2010
This review is from: Trial By Fire: The Firefighters of Station Five (Mass Market Paperback)
I'm not sure what book everybody else was reading, but I didn't find a lot to love here.
I read four or five books a week, in just about every fiction genre, and - it's the holidays, after all - I thought I'd give some `easy' romance a try. In the space of three days I read Bella Andre's very enjoyable first two Hot Shots novels, and then read Jo Davis' Trial By Fire.
Having read three books featuring fire-fighter heroes in such quick succession, Davis' book fell well short.
One major problem I had - and I can see from other reviews that I'm not the only one - was that I figured out both what happened in Howard's childhood, and who the bad guy was, almost right off the bat. I wish Ms Davis had worked harder to surprise.
Now, I'm all for tortured heroes, but there are only so many nightmares our hero can wake up from in one book, and only so many times he can wind up in hospital. For such a `big hunky hero' he doesn't really even get to save the day - a major plotting mistake. In fact, no character of note does anything much in the book's climax. As has been said elsewhere, both Kat and Howard spend the entire novel running scared. A hero has to take charge of the situation at some point (and I had serious issues with the break-up, when, after being so concerned for Kat's safety one minute, he simply drives her back home and leaves her alone the next).
And don't get me started on the cheating! In my book, being `exposed' (naked) and kissing not once, but twice - and in two different locations - in one night constitutes cheating for me. It was kind of hard to love the hero after that!
I simply cannot stand it when an author feels the need to remind us about a curvy heroine's size at least once every scene, and that certainly happens here. Kat's dialogue often comes off as rather childish, annoying when I suppose the author was going for cute.
And what's with the poor editing - one minute we're hearing about how Kat has chosen to be `bare down there', and the next she isn't?!
Romance novels generally include sex, which is great. But often in this book I felt as if I was reading an erotica author's attempt to write a mainstream novel. The sex scenes seemed to belong in one book and the rest of the story in another. The characters' personalities changed completely, and so it was hard to feel anything much about what was happening.
Additionally, the pacing was really off. I really believe there's a much better novel hiding in there somewhere, and it's a pity more attention wasn't given to structure in the editing process.
If you're on the lookout for a fun romance based around a fire department, go for Bella Andre's far more satisfying Hot Shots series.
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