5 SMOOCHES
Synopsis
The first installment in Hot in Chicago, a brand-new, sizzling series from Kate Meader that follows a group of firefighting foster siblings and their blazing hot love interests!
Savvy PR guru Kinsey Taylor has always defined herself by her career, not her gender. That is, until she moved from San Francisco to Chicago to be with her fiancé who thought she wasn’t taking her “job” of supporting him in his high-powered career seriously enough—and promptly dumped her for a more supportive and “feminine” nurse. Now, as the new assistant press secretary to Chicago’s dynamic mayor, she’s determined to keep her eye on the prize: no time to feel inferior because she’s a strong, kick-ass woman, and certainly no time for men.
But that all changes when she meets Luke Almeida, a firefighter as searingly sexy as he is quick-tempered. He’s also the second oldest of the Firefightin’ Dempseys, a family of foster siblings who have committed their lives to the service—if Luke’s antics don’t get him fired first. When Luke goes one step too far and gets into a bar brawl with the Chicago Police Department, Kinsey marches into Luke’s firehouse and lays down the law on orders from the mayor. But at Engine Co. 6, Luke Almeida is the law. And he’s not about to let Kinsey make the rules.
Review
“Then again, the whole picture was one of a genetically engineered firefighting machine. Or fighting machine, considering his fondness for hitting first and to hell with the consequences.”
I first discovered Kate Meader and the Dempsey boys in the Baby, It’s Cold Outside Anthology, where she was the unknown author (to me at least) amongst some big names like Jennifer Probst, Melody Anne, Kristen Proby and Emma Chase and while I loved all their stories something about Kate’s struck a chord with me and I needed to know more. I immediately jumped on Goodreads and was excited to find out that Rekindle The Flame (her novella) was an intro to a brand new series coming soon. I knew then that I needed to read that. The Demspey family was incredibly appealing to me and Kate’s writing was impossible to put down. I hunted Kate down on facebooks and somehow weaseled my way onto this tour. The day the book arrived at my door in all it’s hot firefighter hotness I knew it would be one I would read again and again.
“He was always primed for a woman after a fire — and the appearance of Miss Hot in Heels was like introducing oxygen into a non vented room.”
The Hot In Chicago series is about a group of foster kids raised by the Dempsey’s who all grew up to follow the patriarch’s lead and become firefighters themselves. This first full-length book in the series revolves around Luke, who wile not the oldest is clearly the one everyone goes to for help and has personally taken upon himself to lead the family once their dad and brother passed away. While he is an amazing brother and firefighter he can at times let his emotions overpower him and run a bit hot headed. This is where our story starts. Kinsey works for the publicity department with the mayor’s office and after a recent bar brawl between Luke and a member of the police department it is Kinsey’s job to resurrect the fire department’s image and this it turns out means working very closely with too hot for words Luke Almeida.
“When the clock strikes eight tomorrow morning, you will come straight to me. Do not shower. Do not pass go. The only thing you will be doing is me, Luke. I want to be the one who takes the edge off. And you better be able to handle it.”
Kinsey moved to Chicago to follow her longtime boyfriend only to find herself abandoned and dumped. She is in no place to get into a relationship but when it is clear that her and Luke have the kind of chemistry you can’t ignore she decides a fun fling would not be a bad idea. Things get difficult when feelings get involved and neither wants to own up to how they truly affect each other. I loved Luke so much, for as macho and alpha that he was he also had an incredibly vulnerable and sensitive side. He was scarred from his past and doesn’t feel worthy of someone like Kinsey. He knows she only wants him for what he can physically do for her and is scared to speak up about wanting anything more, willing to take what she will give him because he knows that it is better than not having any part of her at all.
“Do not tell me you don’t want me because your body says different. It’s begging for my touch, for my greedy mouth. I could make you feel so fucking good, Brady. Best you ever had.”
There is a surprising and remarkable sub-story in that of Gage, a Dempsey brother who is openly gay and a bit of a playboy, and Brady, a closed off former military man turned chef at an exclusive restaurant. These two while not being the main focus of the book almost stole the show for me. Brady has so many walls up that I cannot wait to see torn down. With a pretty sever case of PTSD and an attitude to match he makes Gage question everything and leaves him wondering if giving up his wild ways is worth it all. I cannot wait to see how their story continues to play out and am desperate to get more soon.
“Then he kissed her until she forgot why she had ever done anything else her entire life except kiss him back.”
Flirting with Fire was an extremely sexy and fun book about an alpha firefighter and the woman who brought him to his knees. Luke is steaming hot and Kinsey knows just how to handle him. While they are both thrown some curveballs and stuggle though some tough choices it is clear from the moment you meet them that they belong together and watching them strive for their HEA is scrumptiously fun and exciting.
“She might be the death of him, but what a way to go.”
Flirting With Fire has cemented Kate Meader as an author to watch and I am excited to bundle down with her backlog to hold me over until the next Hot In Chicago novel comes out.
~miranda
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