With a man like him, every mission becomes personal. . .Ever since FBI agent Keira O’Shay started tracking a young boy named Mateo, she’s felt a connection even her empathic abilities can’t explain. She needs to save Mateo from the cult leader holding him hostage. Nothing can interfere with that–not even the reappearance of Luke Ransom, the hot-as-hell fire captain she’s regretted walking out … regretted walking out on for three long years.
Losing Keira left Luke vulnerable–in every way. When they were together, the powers each possesses were mysteriously enhanced. But it’s the sexy, surprising woman beneath the tough exterior that Luke’s really missed. Even if she betrayed him utterly. And even if agreeing to help her uncover a government conspiracy means watching his life and his heart go up in flames again. . .
Praise for Joan Swan and Fever
“Swan’s gutsy, jaw-dropping style will have readers talking!” —New York Times bestselling author Larissa Ione
“Smart, emotional and unputdownable.” —New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Tyler
more
Holy cow. From the first sentence the reader is thrown into an FBI operation and the action continues until the last page. For the action lover there are car chases, buildings blowing up and gun fights galore. For the intrigue lovers, there are conspiracy theories, corrupt politicians and the mystery behind the character’s “paranormal” abilities. And for the romance lovers, there is the love story of Luke and Keira. This book just has it all!
This is the second book in the Phoenix Rising series. Now, while reading Fever, book one, isn’t necessary, a lot of back plot was set up and characters introduced in that book and it would definitely help the reader keep up with all that is going on. The premise behind the series is that a group of firefighters went to a warehouse fire and things went terribly wrong and all of them ended up with weird paranormal abilities. I keep thinking “X-Men” kind of abilities. At any rate, the government is covering up the incident and actually there is more than meets the eye, which was really starting to be uncovered in Blaze.
I found Blaze to be a step up from Fever, which I liked. But Blaze was a bit more complex and I really enjoyed the roller coaster ride that I was taken on. The bad guys are deliciously devious which just made me route for Luke and Keira even more. And even though it has paranormal elements, it has enough believability that something like this could happen. And that “what if” factor, just had me turning the pages.
While the paranormal bits were mostly hinted at in Fever, they were utilized to the full in Blaze. Luke has gained an immunity of sort to fire as well as the ability to harden his skin… at least when he’s near Keira. Keira, on the other hand, has a bit of telepathy as well as this ability to well, see things when touching photos and such. Both of them are working with different government agencies and end up at the same operation.
The two of them were lovers, but broke up when Luke started talking about starting a family and Keira freaked out. They get thrown together again. Obviously it’s a romance, so we’re going to have a happy ending, but the journey there is not rough as there is a lot for them to overcome. But oh, what a journey it is.
In this book, the reader is introduced to more of this firefighter family and I can’t wait to see who is featured in the next book in the series. Bravo, Ms Swan for taking me on quite a ride.
My review originally posted at Romancing the Book.
Keira O’Shay is a former firefighter who is now one of the best shooters the FBI has. For at least a year now, Keira has been trying to rescue a little boy that she can’t explain why she’s so drawn to. Rescuing Mateo is Keira’s top priority.
When Keira’s former lover is assigned to help her on the mission, though neither new the other was there, things get a little tense. Luke still loves Keira but is hurt by her decision to leave him. What hurts Luke even more is Keira’s love for the child she knows nothing about, especially when the idea of having children was one of the things that drove a wedge between her and Luke. But Keira’s childhood defined who she is today, and it’s something she’s not shared with Luke.
Blaze (Phoenix Rising book 2) is actually the first book by Joan Swan that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. I really enjoyed the story. There seemed to be a lot of attention to detail in terms of the military actions, medical stuff, and the storytelling itself. And I felt that the romance aspect was well done. Of course, being the romance junkie that I am, I got a bit frustrated with Keira at times. I won’t say why, of course! For the most part, I did understand the reasoning behind her actions.
This book is rather action packed and suspenseful with a nice slice of sexual tension between Luke and Keira. There is even a bit of mystery thrown in, which I imagine will lead nicely into the next book in the Phoenix Rising series. I was fascinated by the special abilities that Luke, Keira and their former firefighting team have because of a prior exposure to chemicals at a warehouse explosion. Their abilities help them greatly at times and gave the story its paranormal aspect. And although Mateo can only speak Greek, I loved his interaction with Keira and Luke. He’s such a sweetheart. 🙂
Now, as I am no expert on proper sentence structure and such, I can’t be sure that what I felt was wrong is in fact wrong, but one thing that seemed incorrect to me as I was reading was how it seemed as though there were incomplete sentences at times. For me, in those instances, it disrupted the flow of the story. If I would go back and combine what I thought was the incomplete sentence with the one before it, it flowed better. But seriously, other than that, I loved reading Blaze. I’m definitely going to have to get Fever so that I can get caught up with this series.
**Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.**