REVIEWED BY CINDY
TITLE: Fire Inside
AUTHOR: Dawn Douglas
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 114 Pages
Blurb:
After ten years as an active duty Marine, Captain Eric Ramos is rejoining civilian life. His first job is chauffeuring, assisting, and generally keeping track of NBA young gun Tyler Haley. Tyler’s had a rough few months, and his team owner is convinced he needs some hand-holding if he’s going to keep delivering wins for the St. Louis Fire Foxes.
Instead of the arrogant, over-privileged athlete Eric expected, Tyler is a big, blond, lonely twenty-three-year-old who needs more than just an employee to keep him in line. While taking care of Tyler, Eric changes from employee to friend, to something more. And when Eric realizes that something is burning the kid up from the inside out, he’s determined to find a way to help him before Tyler’s carefully constructed façade turns to ash.
Review:
This story caught my attention because I adore military men in my books and in real life. They’re always so gruff and all about the rules until they’re not. Eric Ramos is no different. He walks into a situation thinking things are going to be one way only to have the rug pulled out from underneath him and go somewhere totally different.
Tyler Haley is a sweet, innocent young man who stole my heart from the start. I have a soft spot for needy, broken men who need someone to love them for who they are and help them find their way and Tyler fits the bill perfectly.
It’s always a delicate situation when it is employer and employee getting involved and author Dawn Douglas takes us on a wonderful dance around this touchy subject.
These two men who are so different from each other are the perfect example of opposites attracting. They both need the other to help them find the happiness they both deserve.
Watching them find their way to each other was a joy and I loved their little private interludes where they were learning about each other. Tyler strips away Eric’s tough guy façade little by little while Eric peels away the different layers that make up Tyler’s complicated mind.
The only complaint I have about this book is that women in general don’t fair very well in this story. I would have liked to have seen one sympathetic female character instead of them all being bitches and sluts, out to get what they could from Tyler any way they could.
All in all, though, this story is smart, well written and compelling. I cheered for Eric and Tyler from the beginning and smiled my way through the ending.
I have also had the pleasure of reading One Day at a Time by the same author and I can see that the quality of that story remains alive in this one.
Rating: 
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