Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories

Book InfoebookExpected publication: July 18th 2013 by Kensington BooksSource:Netgalley EARCBook Buy LinksAMAZON>B&NBOOK SYNOPSISNot every man knows how to put out a fire. Fewer know when to keep it burning. . .He Battles The Flames. . .Nobody messes with Sam Clayton--or his territory. The big bruising ranger is the last line of defense in forest infernos and he'll go up against anyone who gets in the way of putting them out. Even the FBI tracking a terrorist through the heart of a blaze. But when Sam discovers the agent is ex-lover Olivia Albert, saving himself will be more dangerous than any fire he's faced before. . .She Lives For The Heat. . .Olivia needs Sam's help to survive the heat, but when it comes to keeping her quarry from detonating a major strike, this Bureau agent is calling the shots. Except when Sam's hard body and expert hands are reigniting a second chance that could be hot enough to burn forever. .My ThoughtsU.S. Forest Service firefighter Sam Clayton is not just some average alpha male hero he is a man whose dedication to protecting the Sequoia National Forest is matched by his singleminded devotion to the only woman to ever capture his heart Olivia Albert, and the ex-lover who walked away 10 years prior, when Olivia turns out to be the FBI agent in charge of a team tracking a terrorist in the middle of a raging inferno Sam and his team are fighting Sam knows that he has to find her at all costs before either the terrorist or the fire do so.Like all of author Anne Marsh's work read to date this one starts off with intensity and it never slows down the pace. Set in the midst of a massive forest fire one feels the heat, smells the smoke and ash and right along with Sam the tension that builds as he and Olivia find themselves caught in the heart of the fire with only a few options that may or may not see them live through the night.The rush of adrenaline that comes when Sam must battle the crazed suspect that followed he and Olivia to the rocky gorge that gave them shelter from the forest fire is almost as big of a rush as the one you get when Sam and Olivia's mutual lust blazes across the pages! The confrontation is short and turns deadly for the terrorist when he flees into the flames of the fire, it is almost a let down that one feels that the manhunt ended so abruptly but the fact that neither Sam nor Olivia perished in the same fire but instead made it out was compensation for the end of the suspense.Like all good romance stories there is conflict in this case the fact that Sam lives and breathes best in the territory he returned to once he did a short stint as a Marine, also fighting fires just on soil other than the US, and the fact that Olivia left to become part of the FBI with the intention of it being her full time career. These two have lost 10 years and when they realize that those years in between never dimmed either the blaze that one touch can ignite or the love that has only matured with time the obstacles they face become something to work around rather than something to keep them apart.Thoroughly enjoyed the novella, although it felt much too short as it went by too fast, the characters were given just enough of a fleshing out to connect with them and their back story was revealed just enough to make their rekindled romance believable as well as keeping it from feeling too rushed. So even though it would have been nice to have read a full length book as the beginning in the spin-off from the author's Smoke Jumpers series, which showcases the importance of our real life firefighters as well as gives us a glimpse into the authors characters dedication to their chosen profession, it truly read well in the short span of time that it covered. I could not put the Kindle down!Anne Marsh's firefighters are among my favorite characters and the women who win their make believe hearts are beyond lucky![EArc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review]