Fan the Flames - Michele Dunaway A promise to a friend becomes more than two friends imagined. Scarlett and Brad are each dealing with lost. Fulfilling his promise to Scarlett's husband and Brad's friend to look after his family should have been a no brainer. However it's proving harder to do when attraction starts to take hold. With guilt, lust, anger and pain boiling to the surface will Brad be able to keep his promise? Or will he hurt the people that are starting to mean the most to him and walk away? With Fan the Flames I already knew how the story would turn out halfway through it. A good story without any surprises. I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Taylor Krebs felt fantasy was almost always better than reality. She was working towards her Masters in Media Communications. She wants to make it as a photographer but she could always get a job teaching at the college level. She had been chosen to photograph the Sexy Public Servants of St. Louis calendar. Taylor felt Mr. September, Joe Marino, was the sexiest. He was a firefighter. Taylor prided herself in never being out of control, but with Joe, he could shatter her control with words. Taylor also worked as a waitress at Presley's. She had submitted 13 project ideas to her professor for her final in her Masters, but they were all rejected. The professor saw a picture of Joe and said Joe should be the subject for her final project. Owen was Taylor's ex from two years ago.
I found Taylor to be a very sweet and loyal person. She had a bad relationship and stayed away from involvements for a long time. She was independent and could be stubborn, but she grew through this story and reading her journey was delightful. Joe was a very strong, athletic and caring man. He really loved his family. He had scars that he needed to accept. You also love the changes Joe goes through to become who he was meant to be.
The story was well written. It was a fantastic romance and good plot. I recommend this book to any romance fan that likes more than just romance.

A little ambivalent about this one. It was a cute little story, but there were a few things that really bothered me.

The continuity was ridiculous. Joe went from 34 years old to 36 years old in a week, then referenced something that happened 20 years ago when he was 12. I have no fucking clue how old this dude is. Some other age issues, too. I feel like an editor or beta reader should have easily caught all these errors.

Taylor was painfully stubborn. Her crazy stalker ex is trying to meet up with her and she's like "Whatever, just ignoring him is best." She doesn't use any social media, she moved apartments, changed her number, got a restraining order... all to get away and protect herself from this guy. She doesn't know how he got her phone number. But is she worried? She'll tell you no, but she really is scared. Not that she's going to do anything about it. Because why should she? Ignoring psychos is always best. *smh* I honestly expected her to get kidnapped and Joe was gonna have to save her. Alas, that did not happen. Would have made the book more interesting if it had, though.

Joe... Joe was kind of a wimp. Overly sensitive and actually a bit meak, even though he's regularly beating dudes up in a boxing ring. Zero self-confidence. It was difficult to like him when I felt like I had bigger balls than him.

There's not much of a plot here. Nothing stood out to me as being all that interesting or entertaining. Taylor takes photos of stillborn babies for their parents to have some sort of memory, which was incredibly touching and really the only part of this story that moved me. I probably wouldn't bother recommending this one.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Taylor has been struggling to make ends meet with her waitressing job, trying to make it as a full time photography business, and finishing up grad school. Getting a job taking pictures of local hunks for a charity calendar not only is going to help her make rent this month but when Mr. September steps up in his fireman gear, it fuels her fantasies. Mr. September turns out to be Joe and he wants to hire Taylor to take his family photos and while Taylor can sense it isn't a completely altruistic move, she accepts. Joe is attracted to the pretty photographer and when they have a serendipitous second meet up, he witnesses a sensitivity in her that would be perfect for a side project he has in the works. Joe and Taylor both have a jam packed life and some baggage but both also can't quite let go of the other.
 
Coming in at a little more than your average novella, this was a quick lighter read. The issues that our leads deal with, Joe's guilt and shame about his scars and Taylor's stalker boyfriend are heavy topics but there was decidedly a lack of substance to this story to make the reader feel their heft. The characters flickered from one issue to the next, Taylor takes pro bono pictures for parents of stillborn babies, Joe's in this big boxing tournament, Taylor is trying to get her professor to accept her finally project, Joe working on getting a picture book of burn victims published, and Taylor is being bothered by her stalker boyfriend again. Add in Taylor and Joe trying to form a relationship and there ends up being too much and not enough as the emotional aspect got left out more than once.
 
Taylor and Joe both veered into too good to be true territory with their actions throughout the book which made them less interesting and pretty one dimensional. Together they lacked a spark and excitement that usually draws me in; their interactions were ok if not a little rushed. Ninety percent of their romantic interludes are clean, where we get the, albeit "tiny", orgasm from just kissing but then a switching of gears towards the end of the story where the door to the bedroom gets cracked open. It didn't completely feel like a smooth transition as the tone already had me locked in for a more subdued story.
 
Secondary characters play a stronger part in this story as they push our leads together and while some were nice additions, others made moves that were annoying in their obvious attempt to push angst onto our couple. Taylor's mom gives information to her daughter's stalker ex-boyfriend and doesn't tell her, Taylor's friend contacts Joe regarding an issue she doesn't have the full details about, and Joe's sister shares personal information about him to Taylor. Each character claims they are doing the right thing, even if our leads wouldn't agree and I had a couple "with friends like these I wouldn't needn't enemies" moments. This brings me to an action and decision Taylor did towards the end of the book that I thought was a complete breach of Joe's trust and was smoothed over way too quickly. If my heroine and hero don't respect each other's feelings or thoughts, it pretty much kills the romance for me.
 
The cover and blurb for this book had me thinking it would be a sexy fun romp but it was more of a bland, at times felt forced, and cleaner (there are two bedroom scenes at the end) story. If you don't mind the issues I listed and want a non-taxing quick read about a fireman, then checking out if this author's style is for you could be an option.

2 stars

 

Coming in at a little more than your average novella, this was a quick lighter read. The issues that our leads deal with, Joe's guilt and shame about his scars and Taylor's stalker boyfriend are heavy topics but there was decidedly a lack of substance to this story to make the reader feel their heft. Taylor and Joe both veered into too good to be true territory with their actions throughout the book which made them less interesting and pretty one dimensional. Together they lacked a spark and excitement that usually draws me in; their interactions were ok if not a little rushed. The cover and blurb for this book had me thinking it would be a sexy fun romp but it was more of a bland, at times felt forced, and cleaner (there are two bedroom scenes at the end) story.

Full review to be post (April 2nd) closer to publication.