It takes one little spark for enemies to ignite into lovers in a searing-hot novel by USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Blackwood.Sloane Garcia has butted heads with Reece Jenkins ever since he was a colossal jerk of epic proportions on a night she’d rather forget. So what if he’s overconfident, ultramasculine, and hard muscled? When she finds out he’s on the auction block at the annual … block at the annual firefighter’s charity event, she decides to give this cocky firefighter a dose of his own medicine. Now that she’s won the hunk, he’s on call—to do whatever Sloane wants.
Sure, Reece and Sloane had a rocky start, but he had his reasons. None of that matters now that he’s the bachelor at her beck and call, tasked with granting her four wishes in four weeks. He runs into burning buildings for a living, but nothing will be as tough as dousing the flames Sloane ignites in him. What started out as just a game might end up with Reece losing the one thing he swore he’d never give up: his heart.
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I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and I am voluntarily reviewing it.
This is the second book of the series but the first one that I have read. I really didn’t need to read the first one to enjoy this. Sloane and Reece have known each other since they were children. Sloane is Erin’s BBF (Reece’s sister). A year ago, Sloane broke up with her decade long boyfriend. She and Reece had a little to much to drink one night when she made a pass at Reece. Reece never would have taken advantage of a woman while under the influence. Unfortunately though he told Sloane that she wasn’t his type. Since then, Sloane and Reece have been enemies. To make matters worse, Reece has dated all of Sloane’s nurses friends at the hospital where she works in ER. Reece only believes in one night stands since his high school sweetheart left him while he was away at training. This story shows the journey of these two people and their journey to their HEA.
This story has a believable plot and characters. It flows smoothly and is very enjoyable. It is written in a dual POV format. That helps me as a reader to understand the character so much better.
Up in Flames in the second novel in the Flirting with Fire series, and the second book I’ve read by this author, the first one being Burning Up, the first novel in this series, and I found that I liked this novel even less than the preceding one, and am giving it 2 stars.
I’ve only recently started reading books about firefighters, a natural progression of my addiction to the TV series, Chicago Fire. I’m also a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope in general, and expect a certain degree of snarky dialogue between the hero and heroine, some degree of romance (beyond sex), and when it comes to firefighters, some suspense. Having said that, there also needs to be some originality to the plot, but having just read and reviewed Taming Fire by Leora Gonzalez, this book seemed like a bare bones, carbon copy of it. No, I’m not suggesting plagiarism, but plot-wise, we have another sexy hero firefighter (in this case, Reese) who only does one-night stands, a woman not looking for love or even dating (in this case, Sloane), a mystery arsonist (who is virtually ignored), and some degree of danger.
The problem with the enemies to lovers trope is that if you don’t like the main characters, you really don’t much care whether they get together in the end or not, and I wasn’t a fan of either Reese or Sloane. While I expected Reese to be a dominant alpha, and Sloane to push hard to also suit her dominant personality, I felt that too much of their time was spent trying to out-snark each other, and get revenge for imagined offenses–Sloane’s problem with Reese, who’s know her for years, being that one year prior to the opening of this novel, Sloane was seriously drunk at a bar and came on to Reese, who didn’t want her driving home drunk. Since he also didn’t want her to have regrets the next day, not only did he repel her advances, he made a rude noise, called her undatable, and his rejection of her was pretty harsh and humiliating, and she’s been looking for a way to take her revenge ever since. It hasn’t helped that she’s not dated anyone else in over a year, or that her best friend, Erin, who is Reese’s sister, is engaged to Reese’s best friend and fellow firefighter, Jake, repeatedly putting them in the same place at the same time, where their constant one-upsmanship in snarky remarks is wearing thin among their friends, as well as t his reader.
When Sloane buys Reese at a charity auction, she’s supposed to give him four tasks to complete in four weeks, and, as it turns out, Reese is on the outs with the new fire chief, who expects a full report from Sloane on Reese’s performance of those tasks. Admittedly, there’s a bit of humor when the first task is that Sloane forces Reese to foster a quirky little dog that chooses it’s own frilly wardrobe for the day, and is terrified of pictures of country singer, Blake Shelton, but that joke gets old after a while. Actually, I felt that Reese’s growing acceptance of the weird little dog was going better than any kind of romantic involvement with Sloane. There’s lots of physical attraction–both characters, who’ve known each other for years, have both been burned in previous relationships, but a developing romance? Not so much. Somehow, I just couldn’t buy into their move from open animosity to love over the course of several weeks. Beyond their basic horniness, they really had little in common other than attending the same school and sharing memories of those early days.
Then there’s my main issue with this novel, and it’s the same issue I had with Taming Fire–what about the arsonist? Both Reese and another firefighter are called in to fight suspicious fires, they find women with head injuries inside, they rescue the women, and are also injured themselves by a masked mystery villain, but none of the other firefighters seem to notice a masked man leaving the scene, nor to the firefighters ever check up on the women they’ve rescued. I wasn’t too surprised the first time it happened, but by the second call in just a few days, you’d think they’d be smart enough to keep an eye out for the arsonist fleeing the scene, but they don’t. Is anyone trying to piece together the arsonist’s pattern or motive? Nope. He fades into the background, and since this is billed as book 2 of 2, will we ever find out who he is or why he’s setting the fires–I don’t think so, and even if there is another another book coming in this series, frankly, since I wasn’t terribly fond of Reese, Sloane or how shallow both of them seemed to be, I probably won’t be reading it.
In short, I prefer some romance and suspense in a romantic suspense novel, I want to like at least one of the main characters, and I want to see some character development, some backstory, and some growth in their romantic relationship beyond the hot sex, and sadly, in my opinion, that just wasn’t the case with this novel.
I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.
Reece Jenkins had always crushed on his sisters best friend Sloane Garcia, but he had never pursued anything and one fateful night he ended up hurting Sloane trying to do the right thing and Sloane has yet to forgive him. There is a part of Reece that enjoys getting Sloane riled up but there are times that he doesn’t want to be around her waspish tongue. When Reece is on the auction block for a fundraiser, the last person he expects to bid on him is Sloane. Now Sloane has Reece for the next four weeks and in that time they find themselves fighting the attraction between them. Will they both be willing to give what they have a try?
Very fun read. You feel like you are part of the story as everything unfolds. I liked Reece and enjoyed the fact that he was not perfect, he had flaws and so did Sloane. Highly entertaining and one to put your feet up to and read over a weekend.
Reese is a big bear of a man who takes his physical fitness seriously and though he’s dedicated to his job as a firefighter he sometimes gets himself into trouble because he doesn’t always follow regulations. He’s a good guy to his friends, enjoys volunteering at the local soup kitchen and he’s always ready with a willing ear when his younger sister needs advice. Unfortunately, he’s also a one and done with the women he “dates” and though he’s honest and up front about not wanting to be in a relationship he’s left a lot of ticked off women in his wake, including his sister’s best friend Sloane. When Erin and Sloane come up with a hair-brained scheme to put Reece in his place they have no idea that what they set in motion is going to get so out of hand. I read a complimentary copy of this book provided by Montlake Romance through NetGalley and all opinions expressed in my voluntary review are completely my own.
I really liked this one! The writing flowed well from the start, and I knew from the first book that Reece and Sloane’s fighting was really just their way of dealing with their feelings for each other. I think Reece got a bad rap for his “womanizing ways”. If you tell the other person up front that you don’t want anything more than a hook up, and they proceed to catch feelings, how is that your fault? Woman or man? Sloane held his past against him up until like 90% of the story. That was a little too long for my tastes. Reece had his issues too. He was still holding himself back because he was afraid of getting hurt again. I really did like them together though. It was nice getting updates on Erin and Jake from the first story. Although if you haven’t read it, you won’t feel left out. I can’t wait to find out what happens with Madison!
I voluntarliy reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.
Funny and flirty
Book 2 in the Flirting with Fire series, you don’t need to have read the first book to enjoy this one.
An enemy to lovers story (one of my favorite tropes), I really liked the setup here, and as a dog lover, I particularly enjoyed the Peaches subplot, which added a lot of humor to the story. There were plenty of interesting characters and there were some nice touches of action/suspense to keep the plot moving.
I have to admit, i liked the first book in the series better, in part because I didn’t relate to either Sloane or Reece as much as I had to Jake and Erin. In addition, while not a cliffhanger, there were a couple of subplot lines that didn’t get completed within this book. While I have no problem with threads carrying over from book to book, I would have liked to have seen a little more development of those threads within this story.
Funny and flirty, this was still an enjoyable read. 4 stars
B2B Kelly
From the moment Sloane Garcia met Reece she fell hard for his sexy smirk and knee weakening one liners, but she was younger, and his sister’s best friend, so he kept a safe distance, and she developed an unshakable crush. One night after a few too many she finally works up the nerve to make her move, thinking maybe he finally would feel the same, but he shuts her down, and it hurts something fierce. And that is when her deep hatred for the man starts, every time he is around she tries to find a reason to vacate the premises, and if he dares talking to her, she gives him nothing but icy stares.
Then her friend mentions the firefighter auction, and it’s as if a miracle of sorts just pops into her lap, it’s the perfect way to exact a little revenge, and pay him back for the hurt he caused her that night. She is more than ready to make him pay, but once the game has begun she realizes she may have bitten off more than she can chew!
As soon as I cracked the cover on this one, and these two started to dish out the banter I couldn’t help but want to get comfortable, and see how it all played out… and wow what a spicy little game of revenge it turned out to be! These two were made for one another, they had chemistry for days, and their heated little exchanges did not disappoint, they brought on the heat, angst, and emotion, and had me feeling every ounce of it. There is even a little mystery happening in the background that keeps you wondering how that is going to play out later in the series, I can’t wait to see what happens with that. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, it was steamy, dramatic, and riddled with the feels, and of course came with a irresistible firefighter who knows just the right words to have you swooning throughout! Highly recommend!
I requested an advanced copy of this title, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.
When seasoned firefighter, Reece, is shot at the scene of a fire, the nurse practitioner who stitches him up is the one woman who hates him – his sister’s best friend, Sloane. And when I say hate, I mean HATE. Why does she hate him so? She propositioned him previously during a night when she was already feeling low thanks to her douchey ex, and he turned her down in really the cruelest way possible, then proceeded to bed all the nurses in her department. Yeah…ouch!
But Erin, Sloane’s friend and Reece’s sister, tells her she knows a way Sloane can get a little even, Sloane takes her up on it and bids and wins him at a fundraising auction. Now Reece is hers to make do what she wants. Does Reece dare back out? Not if he wants to keep his job, ordered to do so by his boss, the chief who has always had it out for him.
As the two spend time together, some of Sloane’s anger seems to abate, and the two start thinking of indulging in their MUTUAL attraction. But, Sloane’s still not sure if she can trust Reece, considering the harsh way he rejected her before and that he is a player at heart, and Reece is still so damaged by his ex’s betrayal that he can’t even think of defining whatever it is the two of them are starting to develop. Will they ever be on the same page?
I wanted to love Up in Flames, unfortunately I just never connected with Reece and Sloan. They were kind of boring I guess you could say. Not to mention that although their banter was sometimes witty and fun, a lot of the times, it veered into the mean and vicious territory. Enemies to lovers can be a hard trope to balance, to do right, and I’m afraid the author didn’t quite find the right balance here between the enemies and the lovers. Too much enemies and not enough lovers. Still, I see potential in the writing, and in this series, so I’ll probably read more of this series.
Up in Flames is the 2nd book in the Flirting with Fire Series. It’s a stand alone issue that doesn’t have to be read in order, is multi-genre, hilarious, has interconnecting characters and a HEA. The characters are great, it’s so well written, the dialogue makes you laugh out loud and the ending came on quickly but didn’t disappoint. This is Reese and Sloane’s story and I was so glad that “love and leave’em” Reese finally met his match in Sloane. They have history together and she doesn’t fall for his charm. The tug of war between these two are addictive. Great job Jennifer Blackwood, another 5 star book!!!
Up In Flames by Jennifer Blackwood is the second book in her Flirting With Fire series. Told in dual POV between Sloane Garcia and Reece Jenkins this book CAN standalone but it is better to have read the series in order starting with Burning Up. Romantic, funny, slightly suspenseful, this is a enemies to lovers story and was well-written and well-paced.
Sloane has known Reece forever but has only hated him passionately for the past 12 months or so. When he cuttingly shot her down one drunken night post-breakup the passionate hatred began and hasn’t been doused yet. But when Reece shows up in the ER she works in as a patient this time instead of bringing in a patient she realizes she cares about him more than she ever realized.
Reece didn’t mean to shoot Sloane down as harshly as he did but he’s always liked her and with her being his sister’s best-friend, he didn’t want to ruin anything – especially when she was three sheets to the wind and probably would’ve regretted it IF she even remembered it. But when it backfires and he suffers her loathing over the next year – he begins to regret it even more. His apology was never accepted but when his job lands him in the ER as her patient things change between them. Is it enough for him to salvage a friendship and maybe start something even more complex?
Loved this – can’t wait for book 3 in the series. Enjoy!
This fireman sure has a way with the ladies.
Except the nursing staff at the local hospital…it seems they aren’t fans.
What a shame too since he is very…gifted.
I’d say he’s just misunderstood but he earned some of his infamy.
Now, he’s about to be at the mercy of his biggest frenemy. Hold your hoses and cross your fingers because this is going to get bumpy.
This was a fun book to read. Second in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone. This was my first book by the author. It’s full of fast paced witty banter and grown ups still figuring themselves out!
Sloan and Reece have butted heads for years. What seemingly started out as the annoying brother to sister’s best friend relationship grew into a mutual loathing. But fate steps in to turn the two from enemies to something else entirely. Along the way, both grow as people and take the reader on a fun journey.
Reece starts out as every stereotype of a book firefighter…hot, muscled, cocky, outspoken, loyal, horny, and not looking for a relationship. He’s also the brother of Sloane’s best friend. So they’ve known each other for a long time. Sloane is a great nurse, with blue dyed hair, funky sense of style, bad track record with men, and has thought Reece is hot for too many years. Their story arc was fun to watch…a bit like watching a “Gilmore Girls” episode; full of witty banter and innuendos and missed connections
Sloane has wanted Reece for years, and after throwing herself at him in the past and getting turned down, she tries to be over it. But she drunkenly misunderstood being turned down. So she doesn’t know it, but the wanting goes both ways, it’s just their words and actions stopping their relationship. The years of banter and mistrust, but their desire for each other ends up overpowering those factors. And Reece keeps the hunky firefighter stereotype alive and well with his prowess and mastery with Sloane.
It took me a bit to get sucked into the book. The premise was great. The dialogue was witty and characters fun. But it seemed to take awhile to set up their backstory. Once it got going, it was fantastic. Though the whole time I just wanted to bash Reece’s Chief and wonder why he was in charge. (Management, I mean really!)
I loved how the author created a great book family for Reece and Sloane. Since this is book two, I’m interested in going back to book one to get to know Reece’s sister; as well as looking forward to future books about the rest of the hunky men at his fire station! This may not have been my favorite book ever, but it was an entertaining read.
Favorite Quotes:
“You didn’t actually kill my brother and then hide his body, did you? Because that might be a breach of the friendship code.”
“You deserve to be worshipped.”
“Seriously, look what you do to me. How is it one minute you can be so sweet, and the next I want to throttle you?”
“Oh, she liked that smile. It promised hair-pulling, panting, using-the-Lord’s-name-in-vain things.”
“She liked this. That he alreadly knew her drink of choice. In some ways, there was no guesswork.”
Star Ratings:
Plot = 4/5 Characters = 4/5 Heat = 4/5 Writing Style = 4/5 Overall Rating = 4/5