One Fiery Night (Firehouse 5, #1)

by Em Petrova

[Cocktails and Books]

Luke Puckett's job as a fire fighter is the reason he never gets involved with women, at least that's what he tells himself. He lost his brother, also a fireman, in a fire and his brother left behind a wife and children that were devastated by the loss. Luke doesn't want to do that to anyone, so he is happy to play the field and as a fire fighter he generally has his pick. Nicknamed Lucifer because of his unwillingness to wear gloves and his job to go into rescue people trapped in unstable structures, Luke is the person searching the old Victorian house that has a woman and her daughter trapped.

Josie Springer dated Luke all through college and thought they would get married afterward, until he dumped her one day out of the blue. She married and has since divorced, when she found her husband, Tony, had been doing the pretty red head at work. She did end up with one good thing from her marrage, her beautiful little girl, Maggie. While she and Maggie are being rescued from their burning home she has no idea that it is Luke doing the rescuing. It isn't until after when she has been given the all clear by the paramedics and she wants to thank her rescuer that she finds out it is her old love Luke.

Josie and Luke had a smoking hot love affair in college that ended when Luke was convinced that Josie was hitting on his brother at a family gathering, not that he ever explained that to her. Now reunited by the tragic loss of her home, car and all her possessions, Josie finds that she never really stopped loving Luke. Josie is really wary of trusting him again after he just walked away with out explanation the last time. Luke refuses to be in love, love means people get hurt and are abandoned. Luke can't let himself love Josie, he isn't sure he can trust her after her hitting on his brother and not only that but she has a little girl what will happen if he lets himself love them and then something happens to him.

It's a good thing this is about a fire fighter because it is smokin' hot! Josie and Luke fall right back into the steamy sex they had in their relationship before. The sex happens often and is erotic enough that you will be wringing your panties out after your done with this novella. Its fun story, with lots of steamy sex and sexy firemen. Because it's a novella things happen on a much more condensed timeline than they would in a full length novel, I think this was handled well by the author as well. Having the main characters be old love interests makes the idea that they fall right into bed with each other far more believable. There is enough of a back story that you understand where both Luke and Josie are coming from. I would love to see full length novels of the characters that Ms. Petrova has created in Firehouse 5. This however is a good length for a car ride, a day by the pool or an afternoon of office visits.

Reviewed by Carin for Cocktails and Books.