Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Firehouse Heat
SERIES: Cattle Valley #16
AUTHOR: Carol Lynne
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 91 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 12, 2010
BLURB:
Despite the eighteen year age difference, Sammy Lee wants his new boss, Assistant Fire Chief, Leo Burkowski. Living and working side by side at the firehouse several days a week is wearing on Lee’s control. When Leo asks for his help with a special project, Sammy can’t take it anymore and makes his move.
Although Sammy is playing for keeps, Leo refuses to think of the relationship as anything more than a passing affair. Age has been an issue in the past, and although Leo’s attracted to the younger man, he’s learned the hard way to keep his heart out of it.
Will the heat generated between the two men be enough to melt Leo’s resolve, or will Sammy’s hopes go down in a blaze of disappointment?
REVIEW:
Leo and Sammy work together at the Firehouse and despite the fact that he wants the other man, Leo is fairly determined to keep his distance. Past experiences with an unfaithful partner and an eroded self esteem in regards to his age and looks have done a number on Leo and its just better, and safer, if he keeps his distance. Sammy knows there’s a difference of almost two decades in age between him and his boss but he couldn’t care less; being younger doesn’t mean he’s a kid and he’s certainly old enough to know what he wants. When the opportunity presents itself for him to make a move, Sammy grabs it with both hands but now that he’s got the man he wants, he needs to convince Leo to let Sammy keep him.
After reading so many books in this series, I think its safe to say that I know what I like and what I don’t in regards to the storylines and the characters, respectively. I don’t usually read a great many May/December pairing books, not because they’re bad or anything, but because the stories themselves don’t always appeal to me. Luckily, I enjoyed this one quite a bit and found it to be an overall nice read. Sammy was no snot nosed kid looking for someone he could call daddy, he’s a thirty year old man that knows exactly what he wants and has no problems in going to get it and I liked that about him. What kind of surprised me was that Leo was such a hard sell; don’t mistake me, the story was full of near insta-love and feel good feelings, but Leo just couldn’t understand why Sammy would want some one as ‘old’ as him. There were quite a few insecurities he and Sammy had to work through due to Leo’s ex, and I understood that, but I will admit that it got a little old after a while.
Like most of the series, this book was fairly low on the angst scale and what was there was pretty much focused on other people and the set ups for future books so if you enjoy your books on the lighter side of things, this would be a good fit. Overall I enjoyed the story, adored Sammy, and will probably read this one again in the future. Like the rest of the series, its recommended you read the books in order but you could probably read this as a standalone without too much issue.
RATING: 
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