Sandy M’s review of Flashpoint (American Heroes: The Firefighters, Book1) by Jill Shalvis
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Blaze 1 Jul 08

Going up in flames.  Burning up.  Light your fire.  Sizzling.  Hot, hot, hot.   Jill Shalvis makes you feel every one of these and then some with her American Heroes series, The Firefighters.  Of course, a lot of great adjectives can also be used to described these books.  Sexy, sensual, lusty, handsome.  You get the idea.

The hero and heroine in this book are two lonely souls who have different ways of dealing with their loneliness.  Brooke still moves around from town to town, job to job, continuing what her mother started after Brooke’s father passed away  She couldn’t seem to settle anywhere once she was on her own, so she carted young Brooke all over kingdom come while dealing with her dissatisfaction in life.  Once Brooks breaks away from her mother to live on her own, she follows the same path, can’t stick around long enough to make new friends no matter where she is, keeps everyone at a distance, and definitely keeps love at bay.

But when she takes a temporary EMT position in Santa Rey, a small, quaint beach town in California, her outlook begins to change.  She starts to feel she’s part of something with those she interacts with at the firehouse. Especially Zach Thomas.  She feels a zing, a spark with every little touch and she can’t keep her eyes off the man whenever she’s near him.  Her excuse for holding him off, though, is she’s only in town for six weeks, long enough to sell her grandmother’s house for a nice nest egg to get her to next destination. But that doesn’t keep the feelings and emotions from growing, making her want more than she’s ever wanted before.

Since he lost his parents in a fire years ago, Zach hasn’t allowed himself to love, really love, anyone.  His brother took off when Zach turned 18, done with his responsibility of raising Zach.  So why get all mushy and emotional when people only leave you?  His closest friends are his brothers at the station and that’s all he needs.  Until he meets Brooke.  But he still fights the feelings he has for her.  Even after making love to the woman, he can’t make himself give her more.

On top of all of this, Zach’s job is on the line because he can’t let go of several fires that have occurred lately, fires he knows are arson, and the investigator in charge refuses to listen to reason.  That leads Zach to doing some investigating on his own, which makes the powers that be very unhappy with him.  The only person to believe him and believe in him is Brooke, the one he wants but the one he can’t have.

I really enjoyed these two.  Zach teases Brooke about being uptight, that she needs to let loose.  She eventually takes him at his word and, boy, when she decides to let loose, she goes all out.  The ensuing love scene between them is hot and sizzling and all those words I threw at you earlier.

I also liked the secondary characters at the fire station.  The camaraderie among the firefighters and medical person is fun and teasing, but they all take their jobs seriously and back each other up, both professionally and as friends. Zach’s relationship with the elderly Phyllis is quite special, showing us a softer, sensitive side of the man.  The developing mystery that leads to Zach’s hunt for the arsonist is done well and adds a nice flavor to the story.  And although we find out the answer to that mystery, we’re left with a whole new one at the end of the book so you’re sure to pick up the next one in the series!

Grade: A

Summary:

Zach Thomas risks his life battling flames every day. But since sexy EMT Brooke O’Brian joined the crew, he can’t resist playing with fire. Brooke is feisty, a little uptight…and sexy as hell. And as Zach soon discovers, she’s definitely hot stuff between the sheets. Still, every firefighter knows that the hotter the blaze, the faster the action’s over….

After the whirlwind ride Zach’s been taking her on, Brooke is ready to do anything for this man-in and out of bed! But she knows footloose and fancy-free Zach doesn’t do commitment. So she plans to build up a five-alarm fire between them. The kind he won’t ever want to put out…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: