Hot FlashRating: 1.5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novella


Chase is having a bad day. His apartment building was on fire and he narrowly escaped with just his laptop and his parrot. The fire department got there just in time and firefighter Dylan was instrumental in his rescue. Chase has lost everything, but since he’s safe, he’s good to go.

Chase is currently staying with his best friend, Ariana, and she suggests the best way to thank the gorgeous firefighter would be for Chase to bring him his latest novel, as he’s a full time author. Dylan is certainly appreciative and contacts Chase a few days later to invite him out. Chase has no idea what Dylan could possibly see in him, but if Chase can’t get past the scars of his last relationship, his chance with Dylan may be over way too soon.

There are many places I could start with this review and none of them are good. Sometimes you just never know what you are going to get until you start a book. I purposely chose this story because it was shorter in length and it sounded like it could be an entertaining read with a firefighter and an insecure author.

While there was a firefighter and an author, what was delivered was dialogue that was stilted and not conversational in tone, with awkward phrasing and repetitive transitional words. This carried through as the style for the entire book, and at first, it was entertaining for all the wrong reasons, and then I would have rather spent my time elsewhere.

The book opens with Chase’s parrot alerting him that that there is a fire. The parrot was slightly entertaining for the first scene and then maybe tried to become a cute plot device, but didn’t work for me. The spark or attraction between Chase and Dylan never did come off the page. We also don’t learn anything about either of them besides their occupations and that Chase has an alcoholic ex.

So much of the book came off as not having a current feel. When Chase first gives Dylan his book, his email address is there so that’s how they communicate at first, which was fine. But then even after they are intimate for the first time, they continue to communicate through formal emails. There were no phone calls, no texting, and not even any messaging even though Chase did have his laptop. Also, the only person Chase appeared to get email from was his agent and the building manager, so when a new email came in he immediately knew it was from Dylan.

So the dialogue was cringe-worthy all the way through. It’s the entire book, but I’ll offer one short scene of one of their first kisses:

 Our mouths made love with one another, dancing in wanton lust as our tongues slid between one another’s lips, testing teeth and gums and flesh all the same. During this time, I wrapped my legs around his waist….

The terms “during this time” and its mate “during which time” were completely overused and just made for awkward transitions.

There is also a story line of Chase’s alcoholic ex and he’s the reason Chase is hesitant about getting involved with anyone. Well, that’s what he says, but that’s not what he does and his physical relationship with Dylan moves quickly. The ex shows up on page in a stereotypical fashion and some of Chase’s comments about their relationship just had me squinting at the page due to the logic that was lacking.

When Chase moves to a new apartment, he is flirting with the new neighbor and it then became completely unclear if Chase and Dylan were going to actually wind up together or if Chase was really into Dylan at all. He then discusses with the neighbor that Dylan isn’t his boyfriend because Chase hasn’t asked him to go “steady” yet. Seriously? These guys are 25 and 30, present day, and they discuss going steady and being real boyfriends. And the neighbor? It was never made clear why he was even on page.

The ending was abrupt and while the actual story this book was telling was fine on paper, the execution was…not good. The book consists of one firefighter, one author, a fire, a parrot, throw in an abusive ex, and a sexually confused neighbor all swirling around in poorly constructed dialogue with a few typos and there you have it. Or not. I recommend not.

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