REVIEW: In Love with the Firefighter by Amie Denman
He’s definitely a hero…
But is he the right hero for her?
Moving to Cape Pursuit, Virginia, gives Nicole Wheeler the fresh start she desperately needs. But there’s a catch: Kevin Ruggles, the handsome firefighter who welcomes her to town. Kevin is brave, ambitious and committed to the same career that killed her brother. Nicole can’t go down that path again…no matter how much her heart protests.
Dear Ms. Denman,
I don’t let covers with dogs lure me anymore but cats? No, I have no willpower. Must. Read. Books. with. Cats. On. the. Cover. Especially a cover with a firefighter and a cat. Sure I just spent way too much time on youtube watching variations of “firefighters save/revive cats.” Yes, I have a Pet Alert Sticker on my front door which I hope will never be needed.
Nicole’s first day in town doesn’t go well when a Cape Pursuit ambulance on route to a call whacks the open door off of her illegally double parked car. Kevin tried, he really did try, to avoid doing that but it was either the car door or the 3 teens on bikes and he had no time to stop while responding to a toddler who wasn’t breathing. Lives over property as his uncle the fire chief always says. The next meeting between Kevin + his squad buddies as they rib him about the incident and Nicole + her best friend as they listen to the jokes in the local watering hole doesn’t go much better. Nicole firmly shoots Kevin down in front of them but he is smitten.
Since her friend Jane knows all the local rescue and first responders, Nicole realizes that she and Kevin are going to meet again but his initiative in seeking her out to apologize impresses her. Still she isn’t going to go all googly over him no matter how nice, well mannered or cute he is. She’s still raw with grief over the loss of her younger brother a year ago when he was volunteering to fight forest fires and she has no interest in having her heart potentially ripped out again.
Trouble is, it’s a small town, Kevin knows The One for him once he’s met her and he’s just so perfect in every other way. He even rescues cats. Jane is something of a maniac to show up at almost any first responder call – her father was a fire chief himself so she knows the drill and genuinely tries to help instead of just being a lookie-loo – so Nicole keeps seeing Kevin being brave but also risking his life. Every time he seems to be making progress in gently getting to know her, Nicole gets spooked. It’s tearing her apart as she realizes she’s falling hard yet is unwilling to ask him to give up a career he loves. Can they work this out, along with Jane and her own troublesome relationship with another fireman, or is it hopeless?
I’m impressed by the fact that no one acts like an idiot in this book. Okay, no one after Nicole leaves her door open on a busy street. Nicole doesn’t ever rush into danger to try and save Kevin and he always acts professionally. Everyone is fairly level headed all around. The conflicts – there is the main romance plus another between Jane and Charlie – are real and not “five minute conversation” ones. Nicole and Kevin and Jane and Charlie (sounds like a movie title, right?) have to work out how they feel about what is keeping their relationship in limbo and glory be, the story allows them time to do this so that I don’t feel that anything is a rushed decision.
Nicole gets to see everyday Kevin not being a firefighting hero too so I know she’s not being seduced by the whole “firefighters are sexy in their turnout gear as they save kittens and put out fires” cliché either. I’m also not usually one to go gushy over scenes with kids but Kevin’s two nieces are adorable and also a bit more than plot moppets. And they don’t lisp!
I did wonder at Jane who cheerfully shows up on (it seems like) every response loaded down with thermoses of coffee and blankets and who shoots questions at a fire chief as he runs a response scene. Pushy a little? Hmmmm. I also wonder if there will be any follow up on Nicole’s sister who appears briefly here. Perhaps another book is in the works?
But boo-yah for intelligent characters with realistic problems who get the time and space to work out thorny relationship issues and convince me that they’ve done so before committing to each other. And who save cats. B+
~Jayne
Need a Pet Alert decal? Pet Alert Fire Rescue Sticker – 5″x 4″ Double Sided (2 Pack) – Save Our Pets Emergency Pets Inside Decal – Danger Pet In House – Protect Dogs Cats Birds – Apply Either Outside or Inside Facing Out.
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THAT KITTEN FACE!!!
@LauraD: I know, right! I was helpless, unable to keep from requesting the book. Sigh – the kitties.
Yeah, that kitten is pretty cute and sucked me in as well.