Book 1,098: Burn Zone (Hotshots #1) – Annabeth Albert

Oof—this book took about a week to read, which is not the normal for a MM romance or for an Annabeth Albert romance. That isn’t saying the book was bad, it was very well written, it was just too much angst for me after reading two of Albert’s low-angst holiday romances (Deck the Palms and On Dancer).

Burn Zone is the first novel in Albert’s Hotshots series and features Linc, the older experienced pansexual smokejumper and his best friend’s younger brother, Jacob, the outspoken out and proud brash go-getter who has proven himself and has finally joined the smoke-jumping crew.

This one might’ve been the right book at the wrong time for me, because even though it was well written, it took WAY too long to read because I couldn’t keep up the momentum. Albert always writes characters that draw you in and keep you in, but for some reason I just kept being pulled out of this story. This is one of the only ones published by a major publisher (Harlequin imprint Carina Press/Adores) and maybe that says something about the type of stories that publishers want from Albert versus the type of stories I truly enjoy reading by Albert.

He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life with a pointless crush, but at the same time, he wasn’t quite ready to give up all hope. (Loc. 1,037)

Unlike, On Dancer, this age gap annoyed me to no end. There were a lot of similarities, young unrequited crushes and finally coming together as adults. Most of the irksomeness, for me, was due to the circumstances and the older brother drama and pressure. There’s the pressure of don’t you dare sleep with my little brother and the pressure of living up to expectations being the little brother. So the “will they? won’t they?” was overshadowed by all of the expectations and pressures of family. Once they got together, the family pressure and isolation of Linc, who was basically a brother/son of the family was expected, but also unnecessary angst to add to the overall oppression of the novel.

‘Linc.’ Jacob collapsed against him, still shaking, even as he laughed. ‘What the fuck even was that?’
Linc’s body shuddered in wordless response. It knew what it was, knew the right words to describe what had happened, what simmered between them. But it didn’t matter what truths his body knew—there were some words he simply couldn’t afford to ever give voice to. Instead, he forced himself to laugh and press a kiss to Jacob’s sweaty forehead. (Loc. 2,443)

However, once they did, Albert went all in. She always writes really good sex scenes, but these were next level. There were the rushed ones when they were still on the down low, but then after they agreed to get it out of their systems and they started to take their time full on pearl clutch, blushing and giggling while reading was the norm.

Linc and Jacob did get their happily ever after and I’m looking forward to seeing them in the background of the next three novels in the series and if they’re not there I’m going to be SOOO mad.

Recommendation: This wasn’t my favorite Albert novel, but it’s still well written and the characters are well developed. It just wasn’t the right book for me when I went to read it. I keep chasing the high of Albert’s Out of Uniform series and this one falls short and comes in behind Shore Leave (Sailor Proof and Sink or Swim) as well, at least based on the first book.

Opening Line: “‘Fucking wind.’ Linc had been shit out of luck plenty of times in all his years fighting wildfires, but being quite literally up a tree, dangling like a puppet, never got any easier to stomach.”

Closing Line: “Promising forever seemed like a bargain if it meant keeping Jacob by his side, keeping that happiness he’d found. He was worth it. They both were.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)