The final installment of Annabeth Albert’s Hotshots fireman series might be better named fizzled in smoke. It wasn’t bad per say, it just kind of fell flat for me.
There was nothing wrong with the main characters. On one hand you’ve got Brandt, an independent smoke jumper who has lived his whole life for himself and focused on his wants and needs not out of selfishness, but out of stubborn independence; and on the other hand you’ve got Shane, the free spirited musician overlooked by his family, forced into structure and responsibility after his sister has a one night stand with Brandt and then abandons their daughter, Jewel, with him. He takes her to Brandt and they try to figure things out.
On the surface, this would be a novel I would 100% enjoy, but for some reason it just wouldn’t click for me. Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely moments that got to me—that final scene when Brandt and Jewel show up to surprise Shane and basically confess their going to be together forever, swoon; or even the conversation between Shane and his sister at the custody hearing—but for the most part the book was kind of forgettable.
Does it matter if it has a label? I like what I like, and I’m not here to defend it to anyone. Life’s too damn short to worry about what others might think. (Loc. 1,396)
I’m not sure if it was Albert trying to do too much in the novel. There was smoke jumping, a custody hearing, shows for Shane, house repairs, visiting with friends, neither character wanted to narrow their sexuality or feelings, it just felt so overwhelmingly too much and disconnected. I think if she would’ve streamlined it similar to the two previous novels it might’ve been less meh for me. That being said, I feel like my biggest critique of High Heat was that it was too narrow in setting and characters. So, maybe it was a me problem.
Going back to my review of Burn Zone and my thoughts on whether the overall meh factor of the series is from the fact that it’s not one of her independently published novels, but instead under the Carina Adores imprint. That imprint is part of Harlequin and would need to meet certain publishing criteria, and I’m wondering if that muted what I like most about Albert and it just sort of shifted it enough to make it less exciting for me. Who knows?! And 100% don’t get me wrong, the books are well written, the sex scenes are steamy or sweet when called for and Albert does excellent character-driven stories. These just didn’t quite feel like the Albert that I know and love and when you look at her other uniformed series, Out of Uniform and Sailor Proof (which were previously published by Harlequin too!?!?), these fell flat for me.
Recommendation: This book was just okay. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with it and it brought a new trope to the series, but it was mostly forgettable and fell a little flat for me after Feel the Fire. Shane and Brandt were great characters, but the overall story felt underdeveloped or maybe even overdeveloped with how much happened.
Opening Line: “‘I have a bad feeling about this.’ Shane wasn’t kidding.”
Closing Line: “He’d hold tight to this, to their family, to this man who was everything Brandt had never known he needed, but now was the one thing Brandt wanted to hold on to forever.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)
