What does it take to keep your cool in Magnolia?
•Don’t watch over loose ladies, especially if she’s your sister in-law’s wayward basset hound.
•Do take cream with your coffee at the diner because it’s as hot as the waitress who serves it.
•Don’t bet on love unless you’re prepared to risk it all.
Firefighter Raphe Nash has been in some hot situations, but none as scorching as the five-alarm fire … five-alarm fire that almost took his life. As the new captain of the Magnolia fire department, Raphe is determined to overcome his job-related pressures and keep a cool head. Easier said than done when he meets the hot new waitress at The Cupcake Diner and Dive.
Social worker Nina Salas cares about helping people, especially children, but after a fire claims the life of her ex-fiancé and destroys everything she owns, Nina crashes and burns. Staying with her cousin in Magnolia and working at the local diner is about all she can handle as she figures out her next move. Nina wants marriage and kids, but she refuses to fall for another guy who isn’t fit to commit. But when Nina meets Raphe, a firefighter with a bad-boy reputation and a sculpted body to ignite her fantasies, she teeters between taking a chance on love or walking away before her life goes up in flames…again.
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In book one of the Magnolia series, Cupcakes & Kisses, Minette Lauren presents a comedic love story that, from the first page to the last word, kept me smiling. In Five-Alarm Kisses, she delivers and even more engaging love story. The series continues with superstar chef Riley Nash’s brother Raphe’s attraction to feisty Nina Salas, who’s working at the Cupcake Diner and Dive. Nina is running from a tragedy that she blames herself for. Her fiancé died in a fire, and after losing everything, she’s fled Houston for Magnolia to escape her demons and to try and make a new start. The last thing she has on her mind is falling head-over-heels for a womanizing fireman.
Captain Raphe Nash is muy caliente and has a Romeo reputation to boot. He’s too hot to handle and a magnet to the opposite sex. Up until now, this has suited him just fine. But for some reason, the mouthy, Latina Nina, has him spinning in circles, and Raphe can’t seem to make any headway with her. In this charming love story, Raphe becomes more determined with her every rebuff to seduce Nina, which leads to scene after scene of hysterically funny confrontations until… Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out if Raphe can win his damsel in distress.
In the meantime, prepare yourself to fall in love with Lulu, his sister-in-law’s basset hound. And prepare for a whole lot of laugh-out-loud moments as Raphe tries to keep Lulu, the “Lolita” of basset hounds out of trouble. This femme fatale is a doe-eyed bundle of trouble who’s determined to get herself knocked-up and add to the puppy population of Magnolia.
Will Raphe and Nina fizzle out like a firecracker or is it true love in the making? Will Lulu get herself with pups? You’ll have to read Five-Alarm Kisses to find out.
FIVE ALARM KISSES – Every once in a while a book comes along that puts a smile on your face and Five Alarm Kisses is that kind of book. It was romantic, sexy, funny, realistic and a cast of characters you want to call friends.
Brilliant author!
Raphe Nash, a devilishly handsome fire fighter, has never been able to commit to one woman. Has he met his match in Nina Salas, a gorgeous fiery Latina who doesn’t fall into his lap? As Nina battles to overcome a recent tragedy, she’s not sure if she wants to risk ending up in another disastrous relationship. Meanwhile her friend Bonnie has no idea how stunningly beautiful she is despite her ugly reading glasses. Will she find love in the vibrant town of Magnolia Texas?
I thoroughly enjoyed Minette’s writing style and her ability to pull the reader into the story. As the pages few by I laughed out loud at the antics of Bonnie’s geriatric aunt Rosie, we never know what she will get up to next. I’m not sure who is more risqué, Rosie or the basset hound Lulu.
Wonderful character development and a solid storyline with some great surprises and twists. Can’t wait for the next book in the series!