Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Fire
SERIES: Love in O’Leary
AUTHOR: May Archer
NARRATORS: Michael Pauley
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 9 hours and 36 minutes
RELEASE DATE: October 15, 2019
BLURB:
Jamie
Parker Hoffstraeder is gorgeous, cocky, and totally irrational. He also broke my heart when he left town 11 years, four months, and 28 days ago.
Not that I’m counting.
I don’t mind admitting it: I was young. I got burned. I learned my lesson.
But the guy swaggers back into O’Leary like he owns the damn place, and suddenly, I’m expected to welcome him to my town…to my life – like nothing’s changed?
Yeah, that I mind.
It’s only a matter of time until he’s gone again. And there’s no way I’ll give him a chance to take another piece of me when he goes.
Parker
Jameson Burke is the most arrogant, infuriating human on the planet. He’s also taller, broader, and impossibly hotter than he was before I left town.
But, whatever. It’s fine. I can handle it.
Coming back to O’Leary was supposed to be like coming home. I hadn’t realized that there’s no statute of limitations on how long your first love and former best friend is allowed to hate your guts or how much bad luck can befall a person in a short time.
But, I can handle that, too…or at least, pretend to.
When Jamie and I are thrown together in a blizzard, though, everything changes in the space of one single, scorching night. Suddenly, I’m dreaming of a future I can’t have, and he’s stuck in a past he can’t let go.
It feels like we’re playing with fire, and this time, I’m the one who’s gonna burn.
REVIEW:
Note: As this is the fourth book in the series, this book contains spoilers for the previous books in the series. It still works as a stand alone, but really is best read in order with the series.
Parker and Jamie probably have had the toughest road so far in this series. This story takes place immediately after the fire that occurs at the end of Book 2. Parker’s bar burns and the insurance adjuster is in town to determine whether or not they should pay out the claim, despite the Fire Marshal’s ruling of inconclusive given the renovations that were going on at the time. So Parker’s stuck in a holding pattern – and then he’s losing his temporary quarters as well!
There is a lot of family drama and loss in Jamie’s past. His way of dealing with it is basically not to deal with it. Things haven’t changed for him in years. But Parker is now dealing with the loss of his business, his livelihood, his savings, his home and any possibility of a reconciliation with Jamie. So yeah – he’s a bit overwhelmed. When serendipity throws them together, the spark always under the surface ignites and they can’t keep their hands off each other. So while Parker’s waiting around to figure out his next steps, they decide to enjoy the benefits 😉
Jamie is trying to protect himself and of course he’s still not happy about Parker leaving town to go to college. Despite his encouraging Parker to do so, he also resents him. Parker can’t figure what it is that he’s done to deserve Jamie’s scorn and bad behavior. To say that their communication isn’t good is an understatement. Neither of them can speak plainly about what it is they want or need or how they feel about the past, present or future. Parker’s stunned by the fact that Jamie hasn’t moved on from a lot of things. Jamie’s stunned that Parker ever returned to O’Leary and he’s just waiting for the other shoe to drop and Parker to leave town again – this time for good. They are definitely not on the same page.
Things do come to a head after others in town comment on their “relationship” – which they try to contend they aren’t in. But when Jamie gets crazy jealous and Parker has to admit that maybe there really is more between them than they are willing to acknowledge, they make a breakthrough. Of course that can only to be followed by more drama and miscommunication and snap decisions. But luckily there are plenty of busybodies and interested O’Learians who decide to butt in and “help” Parker and Jamie wise up and realize they have always belonged together.
I was a bit disappointed to see that the previous narrator duo of Iggy Toma and Alexander Cendese had been replaced by a single narrator. I have to say, I felt like something was lost in that. I really enjoyed the dual voices in the previous books. Unfortunately, for me, the narration didn’t live up to the story on this one. I love this series and this was one of my absolute favorite discoveries from 2019. I loved Parker in the previous books and felt bad for Jamie given everything he’s gone through. He’s had a hard time processing a lot of what’s happened and he does keep wondering what will be next. This story brings back all of our favorite O’Learians in some shape or fashion, so it’s nice to see the Rosses and Cal and Ash and Silas and Everett and even Everett’s grandpa 🙂 I’m looking forward to reading the next Love in O’Leary story.
RATING: 
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