Burn Zone

This is a new-to-me author and, let me tell you, I’m very happy to find she has a decent size library for me to delve into. I loved this book and want to read more, more, more. There were butterflies and heat, I felt angst and joy. Everything I want from my romance books I got.

Although Lincoln is 10 years older than Jacob, there’s a definite feeling that Jacob is older in the ways of the world. Linc had a rough childhood. Once he found people that were kind and giving he kept himself in that bubble. Sure, when he grew up he struck out on his own and traveled to different places to hone his firefighting and lifesaving skills. But he didn’t bring that life into his life in Painter’s Ridge, and vice versa. Linc didn’t venture outside of the community of firefighters, regardless of where he traveled. While Jacob is one of those guys who’s never met a stranger. He is the life of the party, kind to all, and open and honest about who he is. That puts Jacob at an advantage when it comes to being true to himself and his heart. Linc just isn’t quite there yet.

Watching the back and forth between these two is (forgive the pun) fire. They heat up the pages of this book in an amazing way. Jacob worries about proving himself to Linc and the other firefighters, while Linc does all he can to be what he thinks those around him want to be. Yet when they’re together, all of that falls away. They calm each other and in ways nobody else can.

I’m beyond curious as to how Linc’s best friend (Jacob’s brother) Wyatt is viewed by others. It’s obvious his parents adored him and it seems possibly even put him on a bit of a pedestal, but we don’t hear from the other siblings or his wife very much. I understand, to a certain extent, why Linc stayed loyal to Wyatt even though it seems Wyatt would not have done the same for Linc as they got older. But what about his wife? Did she only get the kind side of Wyatt? Did she ever speak out about his beliefs and actions toward Jacob and Linc? I don’t know that any of these questions will be answered in this series, I doubt they will be since the series is about the firefighters and not Jacob’s family. Just thing that had me curious I wanted to express.

I’m a huge fan of firefighter stories. I’ve read some disappointments in the past that seemed to skew what these men and women do to a ridiculous extent. Since I hadn’t read this author before I wasn’t sure what to expect. Now, I’m no fire jumper expert so I may be way off base here, but I felt she handled the firefighting aspect of this story beautifully. It wasn’t too detail laden to be boring, but I got details that were interesting and helped me to see what the day to day is for these characters.

Now that I’ve found a great new-to-me author, I can’t wait for the next story in this series. This book is amazing.

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**

I couldn’t put this book down! The slow burn between Linc and Jacob became a sizzling heat that rival the fires they put out.

Linc and Wyatt have been friends for years and worked together as smoke jumpers but there was one thing that had come between them, Wyatt was always warning Linc away from Jacob, his younger brother. Jacob was ten years younger then Linc and came out to his family nineteen and his brother wasn’t to happy about it. This twist to the story was nicely done there was no gay bashing or drunken bar fights, Annabeth Albert shows readers a different side of things that not many people see, how families react to finding out someone is gay when they are on the homophobic side of things whether its because of religion or upbringing or personal insecurities.

Linc’s promise to Wyatt about staying away from Jacob is what has Linc fighting with himself for the majority of the book but sometimes promises are made to the wrong people and they shouldn’t cost you your happiness. The chemistry between Jacob and Linc is something that is worth fighting for, even if you’re fighting a ghost.

If you enjoyed the OUT OF UNIFORM Series by Annabeth Albert this series is for you. I would also recommend this book to readers that enjoy the Best Friends Sibling Trope or the Hurt/Comfort Trope.

Happy Reading!!!

MM Romance Set In The World Of Granite Mountain/ My Lost Brothers. This is book 1 of a new series that takes a fairly bold and atypical approach – it sets a MM romance in the hyper masculine world of hotshots and smokejumpers – paramilitary firefighter specialists seemingly primarily employed in the western part of the US. (Having spent my life in the southeastern corner of the US, I’ve never heard of these groups outside of this book, Smokejumper by Jason Ramos – which I still need to actually read – and Granite Mountain/ My Lost Brothers by Brendan McDonough / Only the Brave, the movie based on that book.)

And Albert does an excellent job of combining the genre expectations of MM romance, where the sex seemingly plays as big a role as the actual romance a lot of times, with the real world implications of such a romance in such a world. At least based on my reading of Granite Mountain – my only view into that world before reading this book – the details provided seem accurate, from the way the teams work and effectively live together to the dangers they face both in training and in actual firefighting missions. And even in the larger world, with how uncommon anything beyond “normal” MF romance is within that community and thus the resistance a “non-standard” couple could/ likely would face there with family and friends.

Truly an outstanding effort in the field, I very much appreciate the author being willing to take risks and go into atypical areas. Very much recommended.

Burn Zone takes us into the world of smokejumpers, and while I don’t pretend to know a lot about them other than the fact that they have dangerous jobs, that didn’t prevent me from thoroughly enjoying this book. As the start of a series, it gives us the ins and outs of training and the lives these guys live, but primarily the book is about Linc and Jacob and their romance. I’m a sucker for an age gap romance anyway, so that combined with a touch of the forbidden and two sexy smokejumpers, and there was no way I was gonna miss this one. Linc was a hard nut to crack, and I struggled with him in the beginning while Jacob had me from the word go. Linc’s problems with the relationship are understandable, and these guys do have great chemistry, so I ended up liking them together and rooting for their happy ever after. The story is maybe a little more angsty and drawn out than I cared for, but it still kept my attention, and there are certainly some exciting and danger-filled moments along with some steamy goodness along the way. All in all, this one’s a good start to a promising series, and I’ll be interested to see what’s next.

While known best – at least by me – for her Out of Uniform series, Albert takes readers into the world of smokejumpers. I had the opportunity to visit the Smokejumper Training Center in Montana several times so I may have taken some liberties with Albert’s scene description and subbed in familiar bays and forest. Sorry, Central Oregon.

Character-wise, I adored Jacob! The dear man had so many layers and best of all seemed to be a complicated mix of youthful zest for life and a pulled-together professional. Throw in his major attraction to his big brother’s bestie and I was grabbing for popcorn. Linc, the older of this duo, has so many issues tangled into a giant mess of emotions and strange loyalties to what I consider a toxic friendship. Watching Jacob and Linc navigate their professional lives while attempting to keep personal beefs and longing under wraps was definitely enjoyable.

I did struggle a bit with the pacing in some places. In particular, I found myself frustrated with Linc, and his self-flagellation really slowed the book for me. I loved the happy, relaxed scenes with the couple. Jacob made the relationship work, which kudos to him but also, come on Linc. It felt forced rather than overcoming obstacles. It’s a shame because some of those intimate scenes were scorching!

Overall, I don’t think this is Albert’s best but I thoroughly enjoyed Jacob and the glimpse into the intense and often risky career of fighting forest fires. I’m a reader that struggles with some types of angst though so my inability to connect with Linc may just be related to that quirk.

**I voluntarily read and reviewed a review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5/4:
Linc Reid is an experienced hot shot who has suffered the loss of his best friend and fellow firefighter. Linc promised his friend before he died that he would not respond to his little brother’s crush. But Jacob is his own man and does not care what Linc promised his brother. Sure he has has been attracted to Linc for years even though there is an age difference. They even shared a moment in the past. But Linc is only partially out, guarded, and very private. He feels guilty, is resistant, and still considers Jacob off-limits.

Jacob is a flirt, persistent, energetic, and now is a rookie on Linc’s team. So they are in close contact and the sexual tension is mounting. They are being put in tense and dangerous situations, and Linc is finally starting to cave in.

When Jacob suggests sexing each other out of their system it seems like it could work so they could move on. But is that really going to work?

I really liked how different these two were. Linc tries to be in control, but Jacob just pushes his buttons. Their chemistry is off the charts, but they also connect on a deeper level due to their history. But Linc often feels he is too old or not good enough for Jacob. And he fears how Jacob’s close-knit family would respond to any whisper of them together. So then Jacob often feels that he is not enough or not worth fighting for due to Linc’s resistance.

I felt for them while they struggled with going back and forth and at times was just as frustrated as they were. Sometimes I seriously wanted to shake Linc because he was so self-deprecating and so focused on things that were external to the possible relationship. But I also had to have faith that their connection would pull them through and that eventually Linc would put his needs first over old promises.

This is about priorities, overcoming fears, being vulnerable, and fighting for happiness. The camaraderie with their team and the family dynamics added depth to the story. Although I thought some of the issues just seemed too dramatic for the situation. The smoke jumper adventures added more intensity and danger. I am really interested in Garrick’s book after the events in this one.

Original review: https://myshelfbooks.wordpress.com/2020/04/04/review-burn-zone-by-annabeth-albert/

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Some stories need an adrenaline shot. Or some stimulant. A sugar rush to imbue some life into the pages. No matter if it wears off fast and leaves you tired. At least it would be a hill in the road after a looooong straight journey. An event that wakes you up and makes you focus again in the road. For a reader, a journey without any variation of altitude is simple and comfortable, but ultimately forgettable. That is more or less my feelings about this book. It was nice, but next week I will barely remember it. Let’s hit the road to see what we have ahead of us!

Through these pages we meet Linc, a smoke jumper (kind of a firefighter) who leads a simple life hiding himself from the world and holding the memory of his best friend as a shield. The youngest brother of that friend is not other than Jacob, an adventurous guy who wants to follow the steps of his brother and become a smoke jumper himself. As it was pretty obvious, the rookie ends in the same team as Linc and their sexual tension gets hotter than a fire during summer. Too bad the more experienced smoke jumper made a promise to never touch the guy. Will he be able to hold it? If you bet against it, you should read more Romance…

As i have mentioned in my weird introduction, this book is plain. Too plain. It doesn’t happen anything and it feels like an unending loop of the same scenes over and over again. I guess that could be the main reason why there are so many sex scenes in the story. They work as kind of a shortcut to avoid developing a dynamic between the two characters that didn’t have a lot of margin. Of all the books by Annabeth Albert I have read, I could bet this is the one with more naugthy scenes and possibly the most boring one due to that. It is not a short book, but, for some reason, the romantic part is already highly developed in the first pages. So, when we are in the 5% of the book we are almost at the 85% of the development. Before starting, the main characters already knew each other, already were attracted to each other and even they had had some kind of interaction to regard that attraction.

What else is to tell in the 300 pages or so that we have left? The drama, obviously. Is it good? Not at all. It’s repetitive, annoying and a perfect sleep inducer. All the drama spins around the promise that Linc made to Wyatt, Jacob’s deceased brother. All of it. It gets stale pretty fast and the book becomes just one monotone rutine that I couldn’t wait to get rid of. I kept going in the hopes of a change of direction, but nothing really happens. In this genre a lack of a exciting story can be compensated with a good romance. Something that makes us feel the sparks, the flames, the sweetness and the pain. It is important for the reader to connect emotionally with the characters to really enjoy the genre. This time I couldn’t feel more disconnected from them, which made the sex scenes feel like swimming through mud. A bit agonizing.

I won’t bother commenting anything about the characters as I usually like to do. I have nothing at all to say about them and that speaks volumes about the immense plainness I have found inside these pages. Annabeth Albert can do much, much better than this. The only comment I’ll make about them is a detail that has truly made me very angry: Wyatt. He is an homophobic bastard who can be barely called friend. I do not like at all the times where his hurtful behaviour is belittle and forigven. That guy practically ruined Linc’s life and he keeps defending him. Totally unhealthy and not really compatible with the character.

I was expecting much more after having read and loved the Out of Uniform books. Fingers crossed for something better in the following stories!

Linc Reid has always tried to stay in the closet and not make waves. When his best friend Wyatt tells him to stay away form his out and proud brother Jacob, Linc makes a promise. Left with survivor’s guilt when Wyatt is killed in the line of duty, Linc promises to watch over Jacob as he trains to be a fire jumper. What happens when the two have more sparks than the fires they are trained to put out? Will Linc finally admit to his feelings for Jacob and come out in the relationship? In true Annabeth Albert style this series is going to be hot!! With wonderful primary characters and loads of others that the reader is dying to learn more about this is going to be another series her fans will not be able to put down. I cannot wait for more.

Jacob has been in love with Lincoln for a while. They have had to live apart, since Lincoln would not give them a chance and hurt his best friend. Jacob being his best friends little brother put a kink in the works.

Lincoln is not sure what to do when Jacob not only comes back to town, but works with him as a smoke jumper as well. He has paid his dues. The only issue now is can Lincoln let Jacob run in danger and not blow his cover? His feelings have been hidden and now they may come to light.

This story was so HOT! I mean that in both the figurative & literal ways. I loved that this was a second chance story. The job is dangerous, but so is loving someone forbidden. These characters made losing sleep worth my while, as I could not put this one down until I finished the whole thing. Lots of sparks a flyin’!

***This ARC copy was given by Netgalley & its publishers in exchange for an honest review.