16 November 2012

Review: Incendiary


Happy Friday! Today, I'm reviewing Incendiary by Chris Redding . Enjoy!

Blurb:


What if your past comes back to haunt you?

Chelsea James, captain of the Biggin Hill First Aid Squad, has had ten years to mend a broken heart and forget about the man who'd left her hurt and bewildered. Ten years to get her life on track. But fate has other plans.

Fire Inspector Jake Campbell, back in town after a decade, investigates a string of arsons, only to discover they are connected to the same arsons he'd been accused of long ago. Now his past has come back to haunt him, and Chelsea is part of that past.

Together, Chelsea and Jake must join forces to defeat their mutual enemy. Only then can they hope to rekindle the flames of passion. But before they can do that, Chelsea must learn to trust again. Their lives could depend on it.


Review:

From the first page, Incendiary captured my attention.

This story follows Chelsea, the daughter of a wealthy and influential man and owner of his non-profit ambulance service. Brad, her brother, is the fire chief. Jake, the new fire inspector, is also her former lover.

I found Chelsea to be a strong character, and definitely not a wallflower. She has some issues she's trying to work through, and seems to carry a lot of baggage regarding her mother and pride. The relationship with her brother is tense, at best, but they rally around each other in times of hardship. As a fire erupts in their small town, and it's determined to have been pre-set, they find themselves entangled in a devious plot to take down everything they've built since their parents deaths.

The villain was pretty predictable, but that didn't detract from the story itself. Besides a few formatting issues and a couple of scenes with confusing flow, this story was an easy read and I got through it quickly. It's suspenseful and a page turner, and I recommend it.

Excerpt:


The electricity of an impending storm raised the hair on Chelsea James's arms. Barefoot, she stood on the wide front porch and watched the trees blow almost in half.

Her dead sister's voice played in her mind.

"It's like nature has to violently clean up," Morgan would say as they stood in this very spot.

They both loved storms. The power of nature impressed Chelsea. Morgan concentrated on the aftermath. Odd that she never thought of the aftermath of her own actions.

"How so?" Chelsea would ask her older-by-a-few-minutes sister.

Morgan's eyes would be wide. "Because a storm gives the trees a haircut, gets rid of the ones that are weak. And on top of that, the rain helps the ones that do survive."

Chelsea would nod.

But this storm didn't bring with it the same renewal. Somewhere deep inside her, Chelsea knew this storm was different. This storm could bring destruction— or worse—this storm might not bring the wanted rain for those trees that survived.

She sighed. Right now she missed her sister more than anything.

Chelsea's firehouse pager went off. "Unit 37, you have a fully involved structure fire on Briar Lane."

As Captain of Biggin Hill First Aid Squad, she had certain duties. But she was also a firefighter and sometimes that took precedence. The shakiness of the dispatcher's voice told her this fire could be big.

So tonight she'd be a firefighter.

About The Author:

Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her one husband, two kids, one dog, and three rabbits. When she isn't writing she's chauffeuring her two boys to activities and working per diem in her local hospital.

Website/Blog: http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/chrisreddingauthor

2 comments:

Goddess Fish Promotions said...

Thank you for hosting today.

Chris Redding said...

Thank you for reviewing this today. cmr