Reviewed by Kimberley
TITLE: Secret Fire
SERIES: Uniform Encounters (Book 5)
AUTHOR: Morticia Knight
PUBLISHER: Totally Bound
LENGTH: 203 pages
BLURB:
Mesa police officer Zach is a fun-loving guy. Now that he’s hit the big three-oh, he’s looking to stop the hook-up train and find someone he can get serious about. When a mutual friend suggests Fire Marshal Daryl, Zach assumes he must be joking. The surly marshal has given cranky a new meaning. It’s unfortunate, though, since he is one fine-looking man.
Daryl has sworn off relationships ever since he caught his ex-partner cheating. He’s always taken everything in life seriously—from jobs to relationships—and is afraid he might be alone in that regard. Certain he can’t risk love again, he panics when he sees his secret crush Zach approaching him at a police versus firemen softball game. He’s nervous, as he is socially challenged with a tendency to blurt out the wrong things. It gets worse when he realizes their shared buddy gave Zach a push. He assumes that Zach is only talking to him out of pity.
Zach has been pissed off at Daryl ever since they got into a verbal sparring match at the park.
Yet, when Daryl comes to his aid during an explosive fire, Zach wonders what secret layers Daryl has built to protect himself from the world—and love. A night of passion turns into the possibility of something more as they struggle to find their way to one another. But all of that is threatened when there is a devastating fire that causes many people to lose their lives. As they work together to uncover the truth, someone thinks they’ve asked too many questions—and plans to stop them before they can ask any more.
REVIEW:
This is the 5th book in the Uniform Encounters series that tells the stories of National Guardsmen, police officers, EMTs, and firefighters of Mesa, Arizona and surrounding areas. The great things about theses books is that even though they are part of a series, the flow and storylines allow them to be read as standalone books.
Zach is a homicide detective who is laid back and fun-loving. He has this thing for Daryl, and even though he’s tired of the meaningless hook-ups and looking to settle down with that one special man, he feels the handsome fireman is way to cranky and angry for his taste. Zach’s attempt at trying to get to know the broody Daryl ends in disaster. Daryl’s character is surly on his best day but that surliness stems from a failed past relationship. The hurt that Daryl has experienced directly affects his ability to trust and is the source of his bitterness.
I liked reading how Daryl knew that he needed to change and did so even though it was hard to trust again. Daryl basically pushes through his fears and opens himself up to the possibility of love and takes that leap of faith it takes to do so. At one point I really got tired of Daryl going on about how he was hurt in his past relationship. I understood that but it got to be too much at one point in the story. Daryl’s fears were somewhat stifling but I got it. That’s what made Daryl pushing through his fears and opening himself up that much sweeter.
I really like this series. These books aren’t too long that you lose interest in the characters and the situations that surround them. Knight incorporates characters from the other books in the series in a seamless manner. You get the back story of these surrounding characters without losing the thread of the current storyline. I also appreciate the way that they’re written. These characters are diverse in age and ethnicity. None of them hop into bed on every other page. These are grown men with relatable jobs and life situations. There is a bit of bondage in this book but this story isn’t saturated with it. This book as well as the others in this series is well written with a great pace. Although the ending was a bit predictable, I still enjoyed reading how it all played out. This series is definitely worth picking up.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Thank you Kimberley!