fire in the heart audio coverStory Rating: 4.5 stars
Audio Rating: 4.5 stars

Narrator: Greg Boudreaux
Length: 2 hours, 37 minutes

Audiobook Buy Links: Amazon/Audible | iBooks
Book Buy Links:  Amazon | iBooks


Now that Alexei Dvorkin and Sean Delaney are no longer on active duty with the Metahuman Defense Force, they can finally concentrate on getting married. Their wedding and accompanying festivities are everything the men could want, and they are surrounded by their family and close friends. Once the ceremony is over, Sean and Alexei head off to an exclusive island resort in France, courtesy of Jamie Callahan. The resort has every luxury the men could want and more, but before they can really settle in for their honeymoon, they learn that one of the MDF’s most high profile targets may be on the island. While the men are given the option to stay out of the fray, neither one is willing to lose this chance at capturing the target. Now, Sean and Alexei find themselves caught in the midst of intrigue and danger as they attempt to stop the bad guy before it is too late. And hopefully, once it is all over, they can find themselves back in each other’s arms to enjoy the rest of their honeymoon.

Fire in the Heart is the third novella in the Metahuman Files: Classified series, a set of discrete stories that add on to Turner’s larger Metahuman Files series. This story fits in the timeline after the events of New Horizons and before In the Solace. I absolutely adore everything about this series and this world Turner has created, and I have been very much enjoying these additional stories. I am listening to the audio in the order they were produced, not in which the stories were written, so we do hear about these events in the later book and I was really eager to find out just what happened on Sean and Alexei’s honeymoon.

I think this was my favorite of the three novellas and Turner really showcases how to write a tight, fully developed story in a smaller number of pages. Fire in the Heart has everything that I love about this series, including romance, great camaraderie and banter, and thrilling suspense. I loved watching the wedding and seeing Alexei and Sean celebrating their love with their friends and family. It is always fun to reunite with Alpha Team and we get to see the whole gang here. I also liked seeing the connection both men have made with each other’s families and just the chance to really enjoy that hard won happiness. The story is romantic and super sexy (let’s just say the men get to indulge in Alexei’s mirror kink). I love Alexei’s swagger and smirk, and the two make such a great couple.

On the suspense side, I’m being kind of vague here, but there is a big threat that will be familiar to readers of the larger series. Sean and Alexei also reconnect with some other series allies, which is fun to see and leads nicely into the next book. This is a shorter story, so the suspense end isn’t as in depth as in the longer books, but there is lots of excitement and thrills, as well as a nice connection with the central series arc.

Greg Boudreaux once again is a wonderful narrator for this series. After so many books, I feel like I have run out of great things to say about his narration, but he is without a doubt the voice of the series for me. Just hearing these characters start to speak brings out all my emotion. Boudreaux keeps great consistency throughout the series and everyone is easily identifiable. I am such a fan of Boudreaux’s work (including by his alternate pen name Greg Tremblay) and have listened to so many of his audiobooks. But this series will always remain a standout for me, and if you are considering these stories, I highly recommend checking out the audio.

With this last novella, that wraps up the Metahuman Files series for me (unless Turner is somehow persuaded to bring these guys back another time!). It is bittersweet, as I loved every minute of these books, and it is hard to see them end. This series has wonderful romance, thrilling suspense, entertaining characters, and an intense storyline that carries over all the books. I can’t recommend this series highly enough.

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