Book Review | Burning Up – Jennifer Blackwood (Flirting With Fire Series, Book One)

Burning Up
By: Jennifer Blackwood

Series: Flirting With Fire
Book # in Series: 1 of 2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Publication Date: May 8th, 2018
My Rating: ✮✮✮
My Reading Format: kindleunlimited

Synopsis:

Unemployed schoolteacher Erin Jenkins is back in Portland, the town she hasn’t called home for more than a decade. It’s not the way she wants to spend her last days of summer: in between jobs and avoiding her mother’s snooping by escaping to the ice-cream aisle. But when the opportunity arises for her to accompany her brother’s best friend—her lifetime crush—to a wedding, summer gets a whole lot more interesting.

Firefighter and single dad Jake Bennett has built a nice, safe wall around his heart—no romance, no getting burned. That doesn’t mean he’s ruling out a fling. Considering Erin’s visit is temporary, they’re the perfect fit for a scorching no-strings one-night stand. Or two. Or five. Until the worst thing happens: Erin and Jake are feeling more. Damn that four-letter word.

Now their hearts are on the line, and when their smoldering summer comes to a close, it’s going to be harder than ever to put out the fire.

honey-script.light

Burning Up is the first novel in the Flirting With Fire series by Jennifer Blackwood. This novel revolves around a free spirited woman and one grounded firefighter who also happens to be a single father. This is also the first novel I have read by Jennifer Blackwood. As you all may know, I love finding and experiencing new-to-me authors! It’s like christmas morning, you never know what you’re going to get when you first dive into it.

Erin Jenkins is a free spirit with dreams of getting out of the small town life she calls home, so that’s what she does after high school. She hightails it out of there. Now she’s back home after getting cut from her teaching job.

Jake Bennett doesn’t need anything in his life but his daughter, his family and friends, and his job. So when a blast from fantasy’s past comes blowing back in town, Jake does everything he can to dampen down the rising emotion. He’s always been attracted to Erin but given the fact that she’s his best friend’s younger sister, he knows not to screw around with Bro Code….. or does he.

My Thoughts:

Okay, let’s start off on an honestly note…. I liked Erin and Jake’s story but I felt the chemistry and overall relationship could have been stronger. When I started Burning Up, I was grinning from ear to ear. I’m a new fan to the ‘firefighter’ trope, and one thing I love about this trope is the majority of these men are strong alpha studs. They get shit done, and aren’t about to let anything like a little fire and heat stop them. There were moments in this novel where I saw Jake’s alpha vibe shine bright, and I freaking loved those moments. I loved when he thought Erin was hurt and moved heaven and hell to get to her, only to discover the emergency call wasn’t her. Those moments I saw truth and emotion. I saw a man caring and doing everything in his power to rescue the woman he ‘unknowingly’ loves.

There were also moments where I squealed due to Jake’s dad roles. I loved the fact that he cared so deeply for his little girl and pushed his life to the backburner in order to play the role of both mother and father.

But then there were moments where I was annoyed….and those moments….revolved around Erin and Jake’s actual relationship. It was to the point where I was seriously, mentally and emotionally, frustrated with the back and forth. Jake needed to make up his damn mind. Either you want to bonk each other or you don’t…I felt sorry for Erin and the back and forth signals Jake was sending her way. Burning Up brings a whole new meaning to the phrase SLOW BURN.

Now the question of if I recommend this book or not???

If you are into Slow Burn romances where the slow is extremely slow and the buildup is basically ancient, then you would probably love this novel. But if you are like me and think there is an exception to the term slow burn and if the couple doesn’t at least engage in a little romp time by the forty percent mark, chances are you probably won’t care to much for this one. The choice is in your hands. It’s a cute novel, I was just expecting a little more from this one due to the blurb.

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