Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: The Arsonist’s Apprentice
SERIES: Some Like it Hot
AUTHOR: India Harper
PUBLISHER: Liquid Silver Books
LENGTH: 75 Pages
BLURB:
Fighting fires runs in Josh Brooks’ blood. Setting fires used to be Dylan Anderson’s claim to fame. Now the two men must work together to unravel a string of arsons before one of them gets burned. For sizzling passion and suspense, you won’t go wrong with The Arsonist’s Apprentice by India Harper, the latest addition to the Some Like It Hot Collection.
For Josh Brooks, firefighting is in his blood. Unfortunately for him, Dylan Anderson was working the other side of the fire, having served eight years in prison for arson. The two are thrown together against everyone’s better judgment when Josh’s role in the Philadelphia Fire Department’s Fire Investigation Unit and Dylan’s role as an insurance investigator bring them together to investigate a string of suspicious fires.
Despite Josh’s reservations and the long-held belief that firemen and arsonists shouldn’t mix, he can’t seem to keep out of Dylan’s bed. But just when Josh starts to overcome his preconceptions, he becomes Dylan’s prime suspect. Losing Dylan and his career are the least of Josh’s worries. If he can’t find the real culprit, he’ll be following in Dylan’s footsteps.
REVIEW:
This book hooked me right from the first page, which is obviously important when the whole story is only 75 pages long. There’s no time for long winded, intricate back stories as the two main characters dance around getting to know each other and I think that’s something these authors handled well. While there’s enough of each man’s history included to give us the best understanding of their actions, it’s sprinkled throughout the pages and doesn’t interrupt the flow of the story.
I have a weakness for characters who are reformed criminals and I loved that while Dylan no longer lit fires he still reacted to them so strongly. Actually, so did Josh. Both men, firefighter and ex-arsonist alike, get aroused watching the fires consume the buildings and to be honest at some points I felt like I was reading a taboo kink. I’ve never read another firefighter story like it. I’m not saying the story is pro-arson, it’s not, but the way the two main characters reacted with excitement to the fires made me feel as though I should feel bad for enjoying their excitement. Well, that was all a bit convoluted wasn’t it, but hopefully you got my meaning!
The banter between the characters was amusing and interesting but I’ll confess that at times I think I got a little lost in it. Both characters had very similar voices and I know that people talk about taking out the “he said/ she said” but in quite a few instances I wasn’t sure who said what. And while I enjoyed the banter I must admit that when it came to sex I just really wanted the two men to shut up! There was great chemistry between Josh and Dylan but I kept getting distracted from that by all their bedroom chatter.
This is one of those short stories that leaves you cursing its brief length and bemoaning how much more satisfying it would have been as a full length novel. I think that everything was wrapped up too swiftly and easily, and do not even get me started on how quickly Josh forgave Dylan and his boss, Charlie for believing he was an arsonist. The ending was really the only let down as far as I’m concerned. If it had all been drawn out a little more, if there had been some danger thrown in perhaps, it would have easily been a 4 star read, if not higher. Or even just an epilogue would have been appreciated to find out what happens to Josh’s career after being falsely labeled an arsonist.
But having said that, I really did enjoy this book. For all those firefighter book lovers out there I think you should give this story a read. It’s different from the other firemen books. One, because these men aren’t firefighters but fire investigators and two, because the fascination they have with the fires is, well, fascinating.
RATING: 
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