Customer Reviews

Where There's Smoke: Holiday Hearts (Silhouette Special Edition No. 1720)

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Where There's Smoke by Kristin Hardy is an emotional, touching book.

Inventor Sloane Hillyard has vowed to save firefighter lives with her Orienteer System. Her brother died in a fire and Sloane doesn't want another loved one to suffer such pain. She has her work cut out for her in convincing firefighter Nick Trask to test her product.

Captain Nick Trask has been through the promises of new, better and safer equipment before. Once the elections are over the budget is cut and no new equipment can be bought. So he is not very open to Sloane and her invention. But after a few test runs he sees its value. He also sees something in Sloane.

Sloane and Nick start a temporary affair but it turns deeper for them both. But Sloane isn't sure she can afford to lose another loved one to a fire.

Where There's Smoke is a sensational book. You feel like you are there right in the middle of the fires. Sloane and Nick are a compelling couple and you find yourself routing for them to succeed.

Kristen Hardy's Holiday Hearts series touched me in a very special way. This trilogy is based around the Trask brothers of Vermont. Their father passed away suddenly and the family faces the painful year of firsts. The Trask maple sugar farm has been in the family for five generations. A tremendous legacy and the anchor that pulls the family together.

Where There's Smoke by Kristin Hardy
Silhouette Special Edition # 1720 - November 2005

Nick is a Captain in a Boston firehouse. Sloan has invented a device that will help prevent firefighters from getting lost or dead ended in burning buildings. Nick's none to pleased when he's ordered to help Sloan in the final testing of her equipment. Nothing is going to stand in Sloan's way to getting this equipment approved and onto every firefighters gear. Lives are at stake, and Sloan can't bear the thought of losing another firefighter because they can't see the way out. This is personal.

Nick and Sloan are very well developed characters. Both are struggling with personal issues that make this a very well rounded story. Ms. Hardy has a talent of creating believable characters that make you care about what happens to them. It was a pleasure reading about Nick and Sloan.

Under the Mistletoe by Kristin Hardy
Silhouette Special Edition # 1725 - December 2005

Gabe has been a part of the Hotel Mt. Jefferson since his teens, working himself up to Manager. It's a grand old world hotel in need of lots of attention. Hadley's father has just inherited the hotel. She's been given the mission of bringing the Hotel's bottom line on par with her father's other corporations; no matter what cuts she has to make in order to do that. Gabe has to appeal to Hadley's romantic side before the Hotel loses all it's charm.

Hadley's struggle to do what she knows in her heart to be the right thing, is heart warming. She's faced with disobeying and disappointing her very demanding father or with stripping an historic landmark to bare bones. Gabe is the perfect hero to show her what true loyalty is.

Vermont Valentine by Kristin Hardy
Silhouette Special Edition # 1739 - February 2006

Jacob's the oldest son. He's the rock that continues to anchor the generations to the family farm. The maple trees are everything to him. Celie has a tough job with the US Forest Service. Time is running out and she has to identify and destroy all the trees that have been infested with a very aggressive beetle that threatens entire sugar maple forests. When she finds some infested trees on Jacob's farm, she has to make some heartbreaking decisions on how many trees must be destroyed.

This is an emotional story for both Celie and Jacob. Jacob has such a strong sense of responsibility, a love for the land, and a fear of letting down his family. Celie has an instinct when it comes to Jacob. She completes him.

Mr. Hardy has written three wonderful stories here. All about coming to terms with our losses and appreciating family and home. Growing up on a farm, I can relate to the Trask brothers. I understand the feelings of Nick, not wanting to be tied to the land that tied his father. I understand Jacob and the pride he feels in past family accomplishment and the passing on to future generations. When I read this trilogy I had just past the first anniversary of my own father's death, and the feelings shared among the Trask family over their approaching anniversary were very close to those I was experiencing.

Ms. Hardy is a very talented story teller. She has created wonderful characters that reach out and let you be a part of their lives. I appreciate the time Ms. Hardy has taken to research for her stories and the efforts to get things right. Her talent was rewarded with a Rita nomination, one I feel was very well deserved.

I've been in a romance mood lately - and as usual, harlequin/silhouette has been my target.

This story is that of Sloan, an engineer who has developed a product designed to save fire-fighters' lives. Her own brother was killed in a fire, and she hopes to make that situation not occur again.

She is an emotional isolationist. She's so afraid to be hurt again (she's also an orphan) that she won't let her emotions get involved with anyone. Throughout this book, and her affair with Nick, the hero, it's obvious that she doesn't look farther than her tragedy in living her life.

I didn't find her revelation to be believable. A person turned so inwardly on her own pain is not going to change that quickly. I also don't think Nick would wait around so patiently for her - she has done nothing really to make his love for her grow. So, in reality, he's probably one of those who wants to save a girl.

If this were real life, their relationship would fall apart as soon as she started to heal herself.

In fact, her own attitude kinda torqued me. I don't have patience with people who can't get themselves out of an emotional rut. So, I didn't really enjoy this story.

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