Gwen’s review of Where There’s Fire by Maureen McKade
Contemporary romantic suspense released by Berkley 7 Oct 08

I have enjoyed McKade’s historical romances, but I had never read her contemporaries.  I’ve been a little overrun lately with the paranormal (you’ll see those reviews eventually), so it was nice to have a change of pace.  Clean the palate, so to speak.  And was I ever glad to be able to do it with this gem. 

This was just a terrifically fun read with a great romance, three-dimensional characters, exciting suspense, and lots of action.  It was perhaps not as steamy as most of the books I read.  I mean, there’s romance and passion, just not as much detail or time spent there as many novels.

The premise of the book – hero with amnesia and heroine with mommy issues – is not exactly new ground, but McKade does a fine job of keeping it fresh.  In fact, both “conditions” are dealt with deftly and woven into the plot with nary a trope-like moment to be found.  I never rolled my eyes at the hero and was able to squelch my urge to pummel the heroine.  Both pluses in my book, considering the potential to overuse the plot devices.  In fact, I was very sympathetic to both characters for their predicaments.

In addition to the personal demons chasing our main characters, there’s real-life bad guys after one or both of them.  I think perhaps more time could have been spent in the heads of the baddies, to give us a more rounded view of the plot, but that doesn’t detract too much from the book.  That’s just a personal preference of mine – I like to know what motivates all the characters and want that 360-degree view of the world I’m reading about.  This one was a little light on the motivations and “evil”.

The story arc evolves nicely and the romance develops mostly without romantic formulas, with the exception of the electric-charge-the-first-moment-they-touch thing (while he’s a rather scruffy homeless guy and she’s a cop?  hmmm…).  Once both characters were largely cleaned up, I enjoyed the development of their relationship.  I liked how they fell into a good rhythm and friendship – something we all strive for.

I also liked the ending – very much.  McKade lets her heroine be who she is, even until the last few pages.  And McKade lets the hero not so much as save the heroine as they both save each other.  They’re both very emotionally damaged people who manage to find each other and hang on for dear life.  This story of salvation is very real and quite nice to read.

This was a very good romantic suspense.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a change of pace, and fans of the genre and the writer.  It’s time spent with a couple of terrific characters in a very taut plot with a great ending.

Grade: B+

Summary:

McKade’s most scorching novel yet.

Shattered by her mother’s death-and the fact that the killer got off scot-free-Detective Shon Alexander is prepared to take the law into her own hands. Nothing will get in her way. Not her badge, not her big arson investigation, and definitely not the mysterious witness who seems to see right through her.

No excerpt found.