Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: A Hotter Fire 
SERIES: Assured Elites #3
AUTHOR: Parker Avrile
PUBLISHER: Paris April Press (Self-Published)
LENGTH: 220 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 20, 2018
BLURB:
Assured Elites pairs hot gay celebrities with their ideal match. But have they found the case that spoils their perfect record?
Pop singer Mikel loves brilliant older men. He’s having trouble meeting his celebrity crush, but he knows the matchmaking service can put the two of them together. So why do they insist he try a date with the hot doctor instead? This Curt guy is miles out of his league.
Top-flight neurosurgeon Curt can save lives, but he can’t seem to find that fabled work/life balance. There’s never time for love. His coworkers take matters into their own hands and sign him up with Assured Elites. A fun date or two with a young pop star could show Curt there’s more to life than long hours in the emergency room.
Everybody knows Curt and Mikel are made for each other. Everybody except them. A HOTTER FIRE is a steamy romance that features an age gap, a doctor with gifted hands, a million-dollar toy, and a mysterious store that can disappear in a cloud of fog at a moment’s notice.
REVIEW:
Out of the three “Assured Elites” books, this one is the most polished and the most interesting. The pairing has undeniable chemistry that comes from shared interests, patience, and a willing to learn about one another’s wants and needs. I didn’t care for some of the magical elements, but in the end, the romance is what shines brightest.
The two main characters are much more fleshed out than previous ones in this series. Curt and Mikel have better backstories, richer lives, and friends and family beyond their managers or agents. We get into their heads more and more as the story progresses. I like that there’s no “fake relationship” aspect to this story like in the first two books. I like fake dating narratives, but I don’t think they work well within the matchmaking service perimeters Avrile sets up. I also like that Curt is a surgeon rather than a celebrity. Many of the changes I hoped for after the first two books came true in this one. The plot feels more real, the conflicts more dire. It’s paced better and has a climax that works.
I haven’t been a huge fan of Parker Avrile’s erotic writing, but there’s one absolutely scorching scene in this book that is making me change my mind! Let’s just say it involves a kinky sex toy that is probably worth more than a mansion in San Francisco. I like the sexual dynamic between Curt and Mikel so much more than the dynamics between the pairings in the previous books. The sex between Drew and Traven in A Fiercer Heat and Ben and Trent in A Higher Flame seemed exploratory and almost immature, with a lot of giggly bondage and public groping, but the scenes between Curt and Mikel very much felt like lovemaking between two adult men who know what they want.
The only thing I didn’t really care for was the continued mysticism surrounding Assured Elites. I just want to know what they’re all about, darn it! I don’t think the possible magical elements do any favors, either. I would’ve rather had a conclusion rooted in reality than a silly fairy tale. Good thing it is left a little ambiguous.
As a whole, this series is intriguing but pretty uneven. There needed to be more balance among all three books when it came to information about Assured Elites—how they operate, which clients they choose, etc. The first book barely introduced them, the second hardly mentioned them, then we get a weird info-dump in the last one that barely explains their existence. I think this series needed better planning and a tighter execution. However, the idea is ultimately pretty fun and sweet, and it’s always nice reading about people finding their soul mates—even if they are the ones you least expect!
RATING: 
BUY LINK: