
2.5 Stars

I have read quite a few of Andrew Greys previous books and loved every one, Heat Under Fire is unfortunately not one of them. The premise was great, Fire Fighters, EMT’s and Cops... just my kind of book but this was sadly lacking and as hard as I tried I just could not connect with our two MC’s Justin and Rock!
When a school bus crashes into the side of a bridge precariously balancing over the edge… Justin jumps into the fray with very little time to save the children before the bus tumbles over the edge, and the first EMT to attend the scene is non other than Rockwell Sparks, who just so happens to be the man of Justin’s dreams and fantasies and also the man that leaves him tongue tied, nervous and stumbling for his words. But it’s not only Rock that makes him uncomfortable in his own skin… it’s every man he has ever taken a liking to, which obviously plays havoc with his sex life… or lack of!
Justin seems to spend most of his time analysing his own reactions to situations rather than taking action… but Rock is gentle with Justin, easing his fears and anxieties, recognising his lack of experience with gentle assurances and gestures.
Justin has an interfering, manipulative and very overbearing Mother that should have been put in her place a long time ago, add to that three sisters, two of which are clones of his mother and the poor guy didn’t stand a chance growing up, especially when all his Mothers love was poured out to his sisters leaving him starved of affection!
So, this is where we have to suspend our disbeliefs as these two men are constantly running into trouble, first we have the bus, then toxic fumes from a burning building and then at lunch it’s carbon monoxide poisoning they have to deal with… and this is a novella!?! Then we discover the real reason why Justin is unable to have any kind of relationship and that was it, my eyes were rolling... beyond ridiculous! I am a very forgiving reader and most of the time I can just go with the flow if the characters and plot engage me… but for the most part, even though we have the incidents the rest was mundane and I was getting bored with Justin’s daily traffic duties and writing up speeding tickets, his life was dull! …which is probably the reason for spicing up the action with the unbelievable plot lines, and for me there was zilch in the emotional factor, with the only spike being the mother who just had my blood boiling! The ending was too contrived with no emotion and the “I love you” at the end was just all wrong and that’s coming from someone who doesn't usually mind the whole insta love thing!
So sadly this was not a book for me… It may just be me and maybe I was not in the right frame of mind, who knows, but it will not deter me from reading Andrew Grey as I really have enjoyed his previous novels... and this one I will put down to just a blip as I am only too aware of Mr. Greys talent as a writer.
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