mandycandy7118's review against another edition
3.0
I did like this book. However, I felt like there was too much happening all at once. Way too many plot turns made it sort of a mess. It was definitely follow-able, but made me shake my head more than once. I also checked a few times to make sure this was, in fact, book 1. The other characters (the brothers of this books hero) seemed to have "stories" of their own, but as they're already paired up, I guess the author doesn't plan to tell those stories. It just seemed odd, though, since most authors would take 3 brothers and start a series with them. In this case it seems like the next book is just about another random person. I guess I just don't get why the author wouldn't just use what she's got - we've already been introduced to these guys and their family - wouldn't it make sense to continue from there? Anyway, maybe she thought that was too played out for her, but it made the introduction of this whole family seem really odd. Overall, I guess it was a quick fun read, but I have absolutely no interest in reading any more of the series.
(ETA: Apparently this is book 1 of When SEALs Come Home but book 3 of Smoke Jumpers which explains a lot. I wish the author hadn't done that, as it made it really confusing to start in the middle of a series because it was listed as book 1...)
(ETA: Apparently this is book 1 of When SEALs Come Home but book 3 of Smoke Jumpers which explains a lot. I wish the author hadn't done that, as it made it really confusing to start in the middle of a series because it was listed as book 1...)
sch91086's review against another edition
2.0
I. Have. No. Words.
The style of this book was extremely reminiscent of Fifty Shades. It wasn't as bad. In a way it wasn't as good because I wasn't laughing as hard.
I have no one to blame but myself for the time I wasted reading this. I knew it was probably self published (seeing as it was a free download). I knew there would probably be some typos, bad grammar, etc. Things I can forgive in a self-published book.
But for the life of me I don't know why I keep hoping these free romance novels I download will be better than they are. I read mostly two genres of books- horror/paranormal and romance. It's not on my good reads list but I've read the vast majority of Laurell K. Hamilton's work. I'm not holding her up as a shining example of what a novel should look like- I have issues with some aspects of her work too. (Seriously- I love 90% of Anita Blake's world but the huge orgies every other chapter have got to stop.)
Yet I go on downloading these free e-books and suffering through them because I'm holding out hope that someone will prove me wrong.
Okay- on to the book. Rio wasn't a bad character and he was pretty lovable in a puppy dog kind of way. He was a little over the top. An ex- SEAL, firefighting, parachuting "bad boy". I use the term bad boy loosely because Rio never does anything to show he is one. The second chapter in the book has Rio line dancing in a bar that seems to have a country style and because the author had failed to really describe how he looks all I could picture was a six foot tall, shaved head under a ten gallon hat, in tight, faded jeans topped off with a giant belt buckle and button down shirt. That image didn't go away for a LONG time.
Gia- I liked her sometimes and hated her at others. I started out liking her. Then she had to tell campfire stories and made up some story about how she moonlighted as a stripper. This is in front of a bunch of men. Two paragraphs prior to this the author was saying Gia is trying to earn the respect of said men and be treated like one of the boys. My train of thought is- making up a story about being a stripper isn't at all how I gain the respect of men. Later in the book Gia experiences like 50 pages of demanding that Rio stop giving her orders. Even though she took orders fine in the beginning of the book. This didn't make sense to me and was annoying to read.
The author often references how extraordinary the love is between Rio's brothers and their fiancées. I kept thinking this was some plugged reference to other books she wrote (which I also would have been okay with- kind of helps to build the world they live in). However, I tried to find them as subjects of other books and didn't find any mention of Jack or Evan so it just felt odd and out of place.
At one point the mother, Nonna/Mary Ellen, refers to Rio as sensual and Alpha, and a few other off color sexy type descriptors. It just felt so wrong.
The story is told from multiple view points in third person, but it often felt like it was flip flopping between paragraphs. Which made it very confusing to read. This confusion is laid over other confusions. One chapter ends with Rio jerking off to the scent of Gia in his bed, the next they are in a high speed car chase in different cars. It never even explains why they were in the car or where they were going or why a bunch of smoke jumpers are packing heat. Isn't Gia supposed to be resting her ankle? Why is she in a car with Joey and not Rio? Why is the DEA following them? Was this a set up to bait out the drug growers? I still don't fucking know. I re-read it several times.
Then there is the whole completely unbelievable pregnancy. The completely unbelievable "I love you" after the couple's first date (I guess it's okay because you know they'd already slept together all of twice).
The nail in the coffin though, was when a 4 months pregnant Gia jumps out of a plane with her doctor's blessing....
I just don't believe it. I don't care how much of an expert you are. This is just.... No.
There's several other plot points that bothered me, but I won't keep naming them. I do think there is a good book to be made here which is why I gave it 2 stars instead of one, but it needs several beta-readers and the proverbial red pen first.
The style of this book was extremely reminiscent of Fifty Shades. It wasn't as bad. In a way it wasn't as good because I wasn't laughing as hard.
I have no one to blame but myself for the time I wasted reading this. I knew it was probably self published (seeing as it was a free download). I knew there would probably be some typos, bad grammar, etc. Things I can forgive in a self-published book.
But for the life of me I don't know why I keep hoping these free romance novels I download will be better than they are. I read mostly two genres of books- horror/paranormal and romance. It's not on my good reads list but I've read the vast majority of Laurell K. Hamilton's work. I'm not holding her up as a shining example of what a novel should look like- I have issues with some aspects of her work too. (Seriously- I love 90% of Anita Blake's world but the huge orgies every other chapter have got to stop.)
Yet I go on downloading these free e-books and suffering through them because I'm holding out hope that someone will prove me wrong.
Okay- on to the book. Rio wasn't a bad character and he was pretty lovable in a puppy dog kind of way. He was a little over the top. An ex- SEAL, firefighting, parachuting "bad boy". I use the term bad boy loosely because Rio never does anything to show he is one. The second chapter in the book has Rio line dancing in a bar that seems to have a country style and because the author had failed to really describe how he looks all I could picture was a six foot tall, shaved head under a ten gallon hat, in tight, faded jeans topped off with a giant belt buckle and button down shirt. That image didn't go away for a LONG time.
Gia- I liked her sometimes and hated her at others. I started out liking her. Then she had to tell campfire stories and made up some story about how she moonlighted as a stripper. This is in front of a bunch of men. Two paragraphs prior to this the author was saying Gia is trying to earn the respect of said men and be treated like one of the boys. My train of thought is- making up a story about being a stripper isn't at all how I gain the respect of men. Later in the book Gia experiences like 50 pages of demanding that Rio stop giving her orders. Even though she took orders fine in the beginning of the book. This didn't make sense to me and was annoying to read.
The author often references how extraordinary the love is between Rio's brothers and their fiancées. I kept thinking this was some plugged reference to other books she wrote (which I also would have been okay with- kind of helps to build the world they live in). However, I tried to find them as subjects of other books and didn't find any mention of Jack or Evan so it just felt odd and out of place.
At one point the mother, Nonna/Mary Ellen, refers to Rio as sensual and Alpha, and a few other off color sexy type descriptors. It just felt so wrong.
The story is told from multiple view points in third person, but it often felt like it was flip flopping between paragraphs. Which made it very confusing to read. This confusion is laid over other confusions. One chapter ends with Rio jerking off to the scent of Gia in his bed, the next they are in a high speed car chase in different cars. It never even explains why they were in the car or where they were going or why a bunch of smoke jumpers are packing heat. Isn't Gia supposed to be resting her ankle? Why is she in a car with Joey and not Rio? Why is the DEA following them? Was this a set up to bait out the drug growers? I still don't fucking know. I re-read it several times.
Then there is the whole completely unbelievable pregnancy. The completely unbelievable "I love you" after the couple's first date (I guess it's okay because you know they'd already slept together all of twice).
The nail in the coffin though, was when a 4 months pregnant Gia jumps out of a plane with her doctor's blessing....
I just don't believe it. I don't care how much of an expert you are. This is just.... No.
There's several other plot points that bothered me, but I won't keep naming them. I do think there is a good book to be made here which is why I gave it 2 stars instead of one, but it needs several beta-readers and the proverbial red pen first.
labraden's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good conclusion to the Donovan brothers' storyline. Both characters are smoke jumpers, but are unable to deny their attraction to one another. When they are stuck in a fire trying to survive as well as outrun drug growers, they get closer. Overall a good read.
cheryls's review against another edition
5.0
Let me start off by saying WOW! This is the first time I've read about smoke jumpers and Anne Marsh made it memorable for me. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and had a difficult time putting it down. Rio Donovan is delicious! I could not have imagined a better match for Rio than Gia Jackson. The chemistry between them was off the charts! The smoke jumping was exhilarating! The
adrenaline rush from the excitement and danger was amazing. Pair all that with a great story line and you get an awesome 5-Star review from this very happy reader. I can't wait to read more about these amazing, sexy smoke jumpers! Thank you Anne Marsh for introducing me to a whole other kind of man in a uniform. Awesome!
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.
adrenaline rush from the excitement and danger was amazing. Pair all that with a great story line and you get an awesome 5-Star review from this very happy reader. I can't wait to read more about these amazing, sexy smoke jumpers! Thank you Anne Marsh for introducing me to a whole other kind of man in a uniform. Awesome!
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.
sch91086's review against another edition
2.0
I. Have. No. Words.
The style of this book was extremely reminiscent of Fifty Shades. It wasn't as bad. In a way it wasn't as good because I wasn't laughing as hard.
I have no one to blame but myself for the time I wasted reading this. I knew it was probably self published (seeing as it was a free download). I knew there would probably be some typos, bad grammar, etc. Things I can forgive in a self-published book.
But for the life of me I don't know why I keep hoping these free romance novels I download will be better than they are. I read mostly two genres of books- horror/paranormal and romance. It's not on my good reads list but I've read the vast majority of Laurell K. Hamilton's work. I'm not holding her up as a shining example of what a novel should look like- I have issues with some aspects of her work too. (Seriously- I love 90% of Anita Blake's world but the huge orgies every other chapter have got to stop.)
Yet I go on downloading these free e-books and suffering through them because I'm holding out hope that someone will prove me wrong.
Okay- on to the book. Rio wasn't a bad character and he was pretty lovable in a puppy dog kind of way. He was a little over the top. An ex- SEAL, firefighting, parachuting "bad boy". I use the term bad boy loosely because Rio never does anything to show he is one. The second chapter in the book has Rio line dancing in a bar that seems to have a country style and because the author had failed to really describe how he looks all I could picture was a six foot tall, shaved head under a ten gallon hat, in tight, faded jeans topped off with a giant belt buckle and button down shirt. That image didn't go away for a LONG time.
Gia- I liked her sometimes and hated her at others. I started out liking her. Then she had to tell campfire stories and made up some story about how she moonlighted as a stripper. This is in front of a bunch of men. Two paragraphs prior to this the author was saying Gia is trying to earn the respect of said men and be treated like one of the boys. My train of thought is- making up a story about being a stripper isn't at all how I gain the respect of men. Later in the book Gia experiences like 50 pages of demanding that Rio stop giving her orders. Even though she took orders fine in the beginning of the book. This didn't make sense to me and was annoying to read.
The author often references how extraordinary the love is between Rio's brothers and their fiancées. I kept thinking this was some plugged reference to other books she wrote (which I also would have been okay with- kind of helps to build the world they live in). However, I tried to find them as subjects of other books and didn't find any mention of Jack or Evan so it just felt odd and out of place.
At one point the mother, Nonna/Mary Ellen, refers to Rio as sensual and Alpha, and a few other off color sexy type descriptors. It just felt so wrong.
The story is told from multiple view points in third person, but it often felt like it was flip flopping between paragraphs. Which made it very confusing to read. This confusion is laid over other confusions. One chapter ends with Rio jerking off to the scent of Gia in his bed, the next they are in a high speed car chase in different cars. It never even explains why they were in the car or where they were going or why a bunch of smoke jumpers are packing heat. Isn't Gia supposed to be resting her ankle? Why is she in a car with Joey and not Rio? Why is the DEA following them? Was this a set up to bait out the drug growers? I still don't fucking know. I re-read it several times.
Then there is the whole completely unbelievable pregnancy. The completely unbelievable "I love you" after the couple's first date (I guess it's okay because you know they'd already slept together all of twice).
The nail in the coffin though, was when a 4 months pregnant Gia jumps out of a plane with her doctor's blessing....
I just don't believe it. I don't care how much of an expert you are. This is just.... No.
There's several other plot points that bothered me, but I won't keep naming them. I do think there is a good book to be made here which is why I gave it 2 stars instead of one, but it needs several beta-readers and the proverbial red pen first.
The style of this book was extremely reminiscent of Fifty Shades. It wasn't as bad. In a way it wasn't as good because I wasn't laughing as hard.
I have no one to blame but myself for the time I wasted reading this. I knew it was probably self published (seeing as it was a free download). I knew there would probably be some typos, bad grammar, etc. Things I can forgive in a self-published book.
But for the life of me I don't know why I keep hoping these free romance novels I download will be better than they are. I read mostly two genres of books- horror/paranormal and romance. It's not on my good reads list but I've read the vast majority of Laurell K. Hamilton's work. I'm not holding her up as a shining example of what a novel should look like- I have issues with some aspects of her work too. (Seriously- I love 90% of Anita Blake's world but the huge orgies every other chapter have got to stop.)
Yet I go on downloading these free e-books and suffering through them because I'm holding out hope that someone will prove me wrong.
Okay- on to the book. Rio wasn't a bad character and he was pretty lovable in a puppy dog kind of way. He was a little over the top. An ex- SEAL, firefighting, parachuting "bad boy". I use the term bad boy loosely because Rio never does anything to show he is one. The second chapter in the book has Rio line dancing in a bar that seems to have a country style and because the author had failed to really describe how he looks all I could picture was a six foot tall, shaved head under a ten gallon hat, in tight, faded jeans topped off with a giant belt buckle and button down shirt. That image didn't go away for a LONG time.
Gia- I liked her sometimes and hated her at others. I started out liking her. Then she had to tell campfire stories and made up some story about how she moonlighted as a stripper. This is in front of a bunch of men. Two paragraphs prior to this the author was saying Gia is trying to earn the respect of said men and be treated like one of the boys. My train of thought is- making up a story about being a stripper isn't at all how I gain the respect of men. Later in the book Gia experiences like 50 pages of demanding that Rio stop giving her orders. Even though she took orders fine in the beginning of the book. This didn't make sense to me and was annoying to read.
The author often references how extraordinary the love is between Rio's brothers and their fiancées. I kept thinking this was some plugged reference to other books she wrote (which I also would have been okay with- kind of helps to build the world they live in). However, I tried to find them as subjects of other books and didn't find any mention of Jack or Evan so it just felt odd and out of place.
At one point the mother, Nonna/Mary Ellen, refers to Rio as sensual and Alpha, and a few other off color sexy type descriptors. It just felt so wrong.
The story is told from multiple view points in third person, but it often felt like it was flip flopping between paragraphs. Which made it very confusing to read. This confusion is laid over other confusions. One chapter ends with Rio jerking off to the scent of Gia in his bed, the next they are in a high speed car chase in different cars. It never even explains why they were in the car or where they were going or why a bunch of smoke jumpers are packing heat. Isn't Gia supposed to be resting her ankle? Why is she in a car with Joey and not Rio? Why is the DEA following them? Was this a set up to bait out the drug growers? I still don't fucking know. I re-read it several times.
Then there is the whole completely unbelievable pregnancy. The completely unbelievable "I love you" after the couple's first date (I guess it's okay because you know they'd already slept together all of twice).
The nail in the coffin though, was when a 4 months pregnant Gia jumps out of a plane with her doctor's blessing....
I just don't believe it. I don't care how much of an expert you are. This is just.... No.
There's several other plot points that bothered me, but I won't keep naming them. I do think there is a good book to be made here which is why I gave it 2 stars instead of one, but it needs several beta-readers and the proverbial red pen first.
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