Sparking the Fire by Kate Meader Series: Hot in Chicago #3
Series Rating:
Published by Pocket Books on November 1st, 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 400
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
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Kate Meader’s blazing Hot in Chicago firefighter series has “everything you want in a romance” (RT Book Reviews, Top Pick)! The flames of desire burn out of control in this sexy third novel when ex-lovers unexpectedly reunite for a sizzling affair that will have the director yelling, “Quiet on the set!”
Actor Molly Cade, America’s fallen sweetheart, finally has her shot at a Hollywood comeback with a dramatic new role as a tough-as-nails firefighter that promises to propel her back to the big time and restore her self-respect.
Wyatt Fox, resident daredevil at Engine Co. 6, needs a low-key job to keep him busy while he recovers from his latest rescue stunt. Consulting on a local movie shoot should add just enough spark to his day. Especially when in struts Molly Cade: the woman who worked his heart over good, and then left him in the Windy City dust.
Their story is straight out of a script: irrepressible, spunky heroine meets taciturn, smoldering hero. But these two refuse to be typecast, and when the embers of an old love are stoked, someone is bound to get burned…
I loved this book. Looooved it. It opened hot and stayed that way. Wyatt and Molly had a connection from the moment they met, five years before this book opens. It was a one-week, no-strings, no-names affair, then they went their separate ways. Wyatt watched as the woman whose name he hadn’t known become one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood, though he never contacted her or told anyone about their hookup. Molly knew of the existence of a man named Wyatt Fox because of the widespread appeal of Alexandra’s story, but he’s very good at keeping his picture out of any of his family’s press, so she had no idea that the man she spent the best week of her life with was the same man.
Molly is on top of the world, reigning as one of Hollywood’s sweethearts, when private nude pictures of her are released online and everything goes to shit. We all know how this plays out. She does her best to rise above it and move on, but the media won’t let her. She finally has the opportunity to bring her dream project to life, a movie loosely based on Alexandra’s life (see book 2 in the series, Playing With Fire), but because it’s Hollywood and she’s a woman, it has to be the best movie that’s ever been made, or she’ll be blacklisted. She and the other actors on the movie set need to train as firefighters, and who better to help her out than the firefighters Alexandra works with every day? Specifically Alex’s big brother Wyatt, who’s not on active duty right now due to an injury.
These two…. These two were one of those rare couples, even in romance, where every bit of them just makes sense. They just worked together. They had a lot to work through; Wyatt is stoic, quiet, and intensely private, which is completely opposite everything Molly’s life is. The two of them have no idea how they’re going to reconcile their vastly different lives, or how they’re going to make any of it work, but they’re dedicated to figuring it out.
Quiet, stoic heroes are my favorite kind of hero. Add in a lovely full beard, and I’m a goner. But Wyatt did suffer from the same issue most heroes of this type – he refused to talk to anyone. About anything. There’s a pretty big family revelation in this book, and the fact that he kept this secret from the rest of his family, and continued to try to be the only one in charge of it once it was revealed (much earlier than he’d wanted) was frustrating to read. I know that he thought he was doing the right thing, but I am never ok with “I think this is the right thing for you, so I’m going to do whatever I want without consulting you”. It doesn’t matter if that attitude is toward a partner, family member, or friend. Just.. just don’t.
But that was really my only quibble. Wyatt keeps his emotions locked down because he’s had a lot of crap and a lot of loss in his life, and he’s deeply scared of losing anything else. Living his whole life in the spotlight, where everyone knows everything and nothing is considered off-limits, is his worse nightmare. He’s smart enough to realize that if he wants to be with Molly (and he really, really wants to be with Molly), then he’s going to have to figure out a way to work that out. Molly recognizes that her entire life is the complete antithesis to Wyatt’s, but she doesn’t know another way to live. Watching these two figure it out, watching them fall in love and learn to accept that love and bask in it, was beautiful. Like I said at the beginning, I LOOOOOOVED this book. It’s definitely going onto the keeper shelf.
About Kate Meader
Originally from Ireland, Kate cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Mills & Boon thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemporary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.
