Review: Crave the Heat (The Smokejumpers #2) by Marnee Blake

 Fan the flames of desire . . .            

Smokejumper Dak Parrish has come home to Oregon to fight fires—and to mend fences with his family. He left the Warm Springs Tribal Reservation after feuding with his father. Now, with tribal lands threatened by an arsonist, Dak gets a chance to make amends by acting as a liaison between the reservation and the forest service criminal investigator—a woman who sparks a surprising and hungry flame in him.
 
After a trauma on the east coast, Heidi Sinclair left DC to start fresh as a criminal investigator in Oregon. But her first serious investigation provides one stubborn obstacle after another—including an arrogant firefighter she suspects knows more than he's saying. Though she tries to battle her attraction to Dak, it’s too late. As they track down the arsonist, someone will do whatever it takes to keep old secrets buried, even if it turns everything Heidi and Dak have fought for to ashes . . .

Kindle Edition, 183 pages

Expected publication: January 15th 2019 by Lyrical Liaison

Terri's Thoughts

**I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a an honest review.  Thank you!**

I had enjoyed the first book in this series so I was happy to see the second one come out.  I would say that if you were to stumble upon this book without reading the first it would be fine to read as a stand alone.  Some characters from the first book make an appearance however it does not influence the plot.

This story starts out kind of slow however when it starts to pick up, it does so at a crazy pace.

Let me talk about Dak for a minute.  I have been guilty in the past of saying that the male lead is an example of the perfect guy, this time I really mean it!  Let's start with the obvious.  Dax was physically as hot as can be, and elite firefighter (let all the fantasies begin).  To add tot hat, he is a complete gentleman.  Although he had made it clear to Heidi that he was interested, he did not apply any pressure or make her feel uncomfortable when she said she wasn't ready.  He waited and took all queues from her.  How refreshing that a guy can be so respectful without aggressively chasing after her.  He must be in my top five book boyfriend list.

When discussing the plot, I would say that it is a little bit out there but not so far as to lose my interest.  To add tot hat the storyline touches on mental health issues and in this day and age it is important to recognize this as a real and serious (and common) issue.

I hope that there are more to come in this series.  I will be patiently keeping an eye out.

About the Author

Award-winning author and RITA® finalist Marnee Blake used to teach high school students but these days she only has to wrangle her own children. Originally from a small town in western Pennsylvania, she now battles traffic in southern New Jersey where she lives with her hero husband and their happily-ever-after: two very energetic boys. When she isn't writing, she can be found refereeing disputes between her children, cooking up something sweet, or hiding from encroaching dust bunnies with a book.

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