HOT AS BLAZES

HOT AS BLAZES                                           DANI JACE
Posted:  June 16, 2015

When the Heat Gets Started

JoAnn Mercer was on the verge of surfer stardom when her career took a nosedive thanks to a backstabbing ex. Now she’s back home in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, staying clear of men, desperately in need of a job. Joining the local firefighting squad seems like the perfect solution, until she realizes one of her coworkers is an old crush…

It Will Never Stop

Ray Andrews never runs away from a fight. He served his country in Iraq, and he’s battled more fires than he can count. But what he can’t fight is the desire burning between him and JoAnn Mercer. He’s wanted Jo for as long as he can remember, but a promise made years ago has kept them apart. Finally free of obligations, Ray is ready to prove he’s the only man for Jo. But after the trauma of her past, can he convince her to love again? 

MY REVIEW:

     We allow fear to tie our hands and our hearts in so many areas of our lives.  We sometimes engulf those we love in our madness too.  That was surely the case with Cappy Mercer.  The beloved Fire Captain of the fire house for Nags Head, OBX.

     You see his wife ran out on him leaving a note and their two children Bobby who is now a lieutenant with the police department and JoAnn (Jo) who was his protected baby girl.  He knew Bobby could take care of himself but Jo being without a mama, it was going to be rough.   He may not have had success in helping her to be girly but she was a damn good surfer.  With that she earned a full ride scholarship for Surfer College in California.  For a North Carolina girl that was big.

     The thing was her dad and Bobby were excited she and her brother’s best friend, adopted second son, and Jo’s surf buddy, Ray Andrews were not happy at all.  Cappy, who Ray loved like a father and looked up to as a father even more than his own, asked him not to tell Jo that he was in love with her.  His thought was that she needed to follow her dream of making The World famous surfing team.  That way if she ever came home she would have no regrets.  Like her mother did.  So, out of love he said nothing.

     For Jo she was heartbroken to have to be have to be leaving home.  Everything and everyone she loved was here at home.  Especially, Ray who she had loved since Jr. High.  She was crushed when he didn’t ask her not to leave.  So, she goes and is gone for 5 years.  They are all miserable.  Her dad dies during that time and a guy she dates plays her like a country bumpkin causing her to lose her position on the team.  Making her come home with her tail between her legs feeling like a failure.

     See how Jo tries to rebuild her life that had burned to ashes as she saw it.  Find out if Ray felt the same intenseness she did in her heart.  See if her legal troubles are truly resolved or will she have to keep looking over her shoulder?  Are the new friends she is making who they seem to be or are they plants in a larger game being played against her for revenge? 

     You will come across erotica, shoot outs, arson, car chases and so much more.  This was a surprise book that was good and fast too.

     I give this 5 stars.  Provided by Net Galley.

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