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delitealex's review against another edition
3.0
Heather Sampson has been trying to keep her marriage together not believing she deserved better than what her abusive husband gave her. She had been very unhappy for a long time but memories of her parents marriage had her thinking that the emotional abuse she dealt with was normal in a relationship.
Kevin Jensen is a fire investigator and widower with two kids. Kevin and Heather have been friends and neighbors for years helping each other cope with things. He has been having trouble finding a balance between work and being there for his kids often causing trouble for him at work. Unfortunately someone begins starting fire around town making thing even harder for Kevin.
The book started off at a real low point for for me with how Heather was being treated by her husband and also making excuses for him about his behavior. The mystery of who was starting the fires did keep my attention and kept me wanting to continue reading. It took a while for Heather to finally start to understand that she deserved better.
Overall I liked the book more for the suspense than the romance.
I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.
bookloverchelle's review against another edition
2.0
Kevin works hard as the local arson investigator but with limited to no support from the fire department or the city he is having a hard time convincing anyone that there is a serial arsonist attacking the city. On top of that, being a single parent makes everything that much harder. He does get some assistance in child care from his next door neighbor, Heather, but he has to fight his attraction whenever he's around her. Heather is at the beginning of a bitter divorce and as much as she wants to find happiness with Kevin, she still holds back. But can she find happiness before her ex takes everything from her? I did not like the heroine of this story, she made choices that did not endear her at all. Maybe if the story was a little longer so her choices could have played out a little better but in the end I could not like her.
scoutmomskf's review against another edition
4.0
I was a bit conflicted about this book. The setup was a little strange and for the first part of the book I wasn't sure if I even liked the main characters. The book opens with the arsonist about to set fire to Heather's house while she's sleeping in it. In his mind, he's looking at her as a martyr who will bring attention to bad marriages. Then the book cuts to several days before this takes place, to explain what is happening.
Heather finds a note from her husband telling her he's leaving. She's mad, but she's also convinced that it's all her fault, because it's always all her fault. She can't do anything right in his eyes anymore. All she can think about is that he has to come back. She is the classic victim of an abusive marriage. Then there's a knock at the door, where the single dad next door is asking for Heather's help watching his daughter because he's been called into work. Suddenly she's getting all hot and bothered looking at him. Hello - you're MARRIED! The marriage may not be the best, but you claim you love your husband, so why are you fantasizing about Kevin? This bugged me.
Kevin is a widower, raising his daughter and teenage son on his own. He is also a fire inspector for the city fire department, a job with often irregular hours. Work took over his life after his wife's death and his family life is paying the price, especially his relationship with his son. While his job is an important one, he has yet to find the balance he needs to make it work. I really didn't like the way that he was more willing to work than to make time for his family. To top it all off, there is a serial arsonist setting fires, and his boss is doing everything he can to make it difficult for Kevin to do his job. Kevin finds himself calling on Heather more often to bail him out of trouble. He's also very attracted to her, but tries to suppress the attraction because she's married.
Things got a bit interesting when Heather and her husband were at a neighborhood barbecue together. He was being a real jerk and Heather drank too much as a result. When she got sick in the car on the way home, he kicked her out of the car on the side of the road and drove off. Not wanting to go home, she went to Kevin's instead, and proceeded to make drunk advances to him. Even though he was tempted, Kevin was actually a gentleman and resisted. When Heather went home the next morning David made accusations and tried to force her to sign the divorce papers he had ready for her. This is where things got a little better because she actually began to stand up to him.
The development of the relationship between Kevin and Heather began to grow as his protectiveness came to the front. He had seen that all wasn't well in the marriage, and began to suspect that it was worse than he thought. I liked the way that he gave her a safe place to stay and tried to boost her confidence. I liked how Heather was there to help Kevin out with his kids, especially since he was having so much trouble. He is struggling with a lot of guilt because he feels that he is letting his kids down the same way he thinks he let his wife down. She tries to show him that things aren't as bad as he thinks. The sparks between them continue to burn hot, and they do give in to them, something else that bothered me because she was actually still married. I thought that things were going pretty well, until David made another attempt to reel her back in. I liked seeing Heather and Kevin get their happy ending, but they did have to work for it.
The suspense of the story was pretty good. There were sections that were done from the arsonist's point of view, giving us a glimpse of just how off he really was. Kevin had his work cut out for him, especially since his boss wasn't very helpful. I liked Kevin's determination to stop him before there was loss of life as well as property. There were several possible suspects, one of whom I thought had a good chance to be the culprit. It wasn't until the end that I thought I had a real handle on who it was. The final confrontation was intense, but I felt it wrapped up just a little too neatly.
I liked the epilogue and Kevin's big moment. I thought the cheesecake was a pretty sweet touch.
Heather finds a note from her husband telling her he's leaving. She's mad, but she's also convinced that it's all her fault, because it's always all her fault. She can't do anything right in his eyes anymore. All she can think about is that he has to come back. She is the classic victim of an abusive marriage. Then there's a knock at the door, where the single dad next door is asking for Heather's help watching his daughter because he's been called into work. Suddenly she's getting all hot and bothered looking at him. Hello - you're MARRIED! The marriage may not be the best, but you claim you love your husband, so why are you fantasizing about Kevin? This bugged me.
Kevin is a widower, raising his daughter and teenage son on his own. He is also a fire inspector for the city fire department, a job with often irregular hours. Work took over his life after his wife's death and his family life is paying the price, especially his relationship with his son. While his job is an important one, he has yet to find the balance he needs to make it work. I really didn't like the way that he was more willing to work than to make time for his family. To top it all off, there is a serial arsonist setting fires, and his boss is doing everything he can to make it difficult for Kevin to do his job. Kevin finds himself calling on Heather more often to bail him out of trouble. He's also very attracted to her, but tries to suppress the attraction because she's married.
Things got a bit interesting when Heather and her husband were at a neighborhood barbecue together. He was being a real jerk and Heather drank too much as a result. When she got sick in the car on the way home, he kicked her out of the car on the side of the road and drove off. Not wanting to go home, she went to Kevin's instead, and proceeded to make drunk advances to him. Even though he was tempted, Kevin was actually a gentleman and resisted. When Heather went home the next morning David made accusations and tried to force her to sign the divorce papers he had ready for her. This is where things got a little better because she actually began to stand up to him.
The development of the relationship between Kevin and Heather began to grow as his protectiveness came to the front. He had seen that all wasn't well in the marriage, and began to suspect that it was worse than he thought. I liked the way that he gave her a safe place to stay and tried to boost her confidence. I liked how Heather was there to help Kevin out with his kids, especially since he was having so much trouble. He is struggling with a lot of guilt because he feels that he is letting his kids down the same way he thinks he let his wife down. She tries to show him that things aren't as bad as he thinks. The sparks between them continue to burn hot, and they do give in to them, something else that bothered me because she was actually still married. I thought that things were going pretty well, until David made another attempt to reel her back in. I liked seeing Heather and Kevin get their happy ending, but they did have to work for it.
The suspense of the story was pretty good. There were sections that were done from the arsonist's point of view, giving us a glimpse of just how off he really was. Kevin had his work cut out for him, especially since his boss wasn't very helpful. I liked Kevin's determination to stop him before there was loss of life as well as property. There were several possible suspects, one of whom I thought had a good chance to be the culprit. It wasn't until the end that I thought I had a real handle on who it was. The final confrontation was intense, but I felt it wrapped up just a little too neatly.
I liked the epilogue and Kevin's big moment. I thought the cheesecake was a pretty sweet touch.
thebookdisciple's review against another edition
Meh. I found the characters a bit difficult to really like. They weren't bad, but I didn't really care too much about them either.
nadenetotallyaddictedtoreading's review against another edition
2.0
The story grabbed my attention from the moment I began reading. I was eager to find out what was going to happen next. The prologue raised my expectations for this story. However, as I delved further into the story I was disappointed with how the events unfolded.
Smoke and Ashes is classified as a romantic suspense, however, it was woefully lacking in both the romance and suspense aspects. Based on how the story began I was expecting to be wowed, but it never delivered. It took a nosedive after a couple of chapters and it never regained its momentum. It had the potential to be a great story, however, it was riddled with a lot of issues.
The pacing was slow and I did not get that edge of your seat vibe that one would expect from the romantic suspense genre. Discovering who the villain was came as no surprise. In addition, the motive for starting the fires did not make much sense to me. I didn’t, particularly like the characters. My initial impression of Heather Sampson, the female protagonist, was that she was weak, easily manipulated and not very smart. That impression did not change much even after the story ended. It is obvious that she is in a relationship where she has been verbally and emotionally abused. Her husband made her feel inadequate and worthless and such I found it strange that she would beg him to stay when he asked her for a divorce. She is always making excuses for his actions. During all of this, she is daydreaming about her hunky next door neighbour. Her actions were confusing and there were times when I wished I could knock some sense into her. I could not believe that one could be so clueless.
Kevin is a fire inspector and a single father. He has the task of juggling his job and raising two children, which he is not handling that well. The emotional well-being of his children took a back seat to his job. It was not intentional, but it was obvious that he could not manage. In addition to that, he is fantasizing about his married next door neighbor.
It would have been good to know how Heather reacted when she discovered her ‘best friend’s’ betrayal. The author failed to expand on that aspect of the story, but knowing Heather she would probably blame herself for her ‘friend’s’ actions. Also, it would have been nice to find out how her husband reacted when it came out that the very thing he was accusing his wife of doing, he was guilty of.
The good thing about this story was the capture of the arsonist and the fact that Heather grew a little backbone and stood up to her pompous jerk of a husband.
Verdict: Smoke and Ashes did not work for me. It left me with a bad taste. I like when the heroine is strong and smart and Heather was sorely lacking in these areas.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.
Smoke and Ashes is classified as a romantic suspense, however, it was woefully lacking in both the romance and suspense aspects. Based on how the story began I was expecting to be wowed, but it never delivered. It took a nosedive after a couple of chapters and it never regained its momentum. It had the potential to be a great story, however, it was riddled with a lot of issues.
The pacing was slow and I did not get that edge of your seat vibe that one would expect from the romantic suspense genre. Discovering who the villain was came as no surprise. In addition, the motive for starting the fires did not make much sense to me. I didn’t, particularly like the characters. My initial impression of Heather Sampson, the female protagonist, was that she was weak, easily manipulated and not very smart. That impression did not change much even after the story ended. It is obvious that she is in a relationship where she has been verbally and emotionally abused. Her husband made her feel inadequate and worthless and such I found it strange that she would beg him to stay when he asked her for a divorce. She is always making excuses for his actions. During all of this, she is daydreaming about her hunky next door neighbour. Her actions were confusing and there were times when I wished I could knock some sense into her. I could not believe that one could be so clueless.
Kevin is a fire inspector and a single father. He has the task of juggling his job and raising two children, which he is not handling that well. The emotional well-being of his children took a back seat to his job. It was not intentional, but it was obvious that he could not manage. In addition to that, he is fantasizing about his married next door neighbor.
It would have been good to know how Heather reacted when she discovered her ‘best friend’s’ betrayal. The author failed to expand on that aspect of the story, but knowing Heather she would probably blame herself for her ‘friend’s’ actions. Also, it would have been nice to find out how her husband reacted when it came out that the very thing he was accusing his wife of doing, he was guilty of.
The good thing about this story was the capture of the arsonist and the fact that Heather grew a little backbone and stood up to her pompous jerk of a husband.
Verdict: Smoke and Ashes did not work for me. It left me with a bad taste. I like when the heroine is strong and smart and Heather was sorely lacking in these areas.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.
nadenetotallyaddictedtoreading's review
2.0
The story grabbed my attention from the moment I began reading. I was eager to find out what was going to happen next. The prologue raised my expectations for this story. However, as I delved further into the story I was disappointed with how the events unfolded.
Smoke and Ashes is classified as a romantic suspense, however, it was woefully lacking in both the romance and suspense aspects. Based on how the story began I was expecting to be wowed, but it never delivered. It took a nosedive after a couple of chapters and it never regained its momentum. It had the potential to be a great story, however, it was riddled with a lot of issues.
The pacing was slow and I did not get that edge of your seat vibe that one would expect from the romantic suspense genre. Discovering who the villain was came as no surprise. In addition, the motive for starting the fires did not make much sense to me. I didn’t, particularly like the characters. My initial impression of Heather Sampson, the female protagonist, was that she was weak, easily manipulated and not very smart. That impression did not change much even after the story ended. It is obvious that she is in a relationship where she has been verbally and emotionally abused. Her husband made her feel inadequate and worthless and such I found it strange that she would beg him to stay when he asked her for a divorce. She is always making excuses for his actions. During all of this, she is daydreaming about her hunky next door neighbour. Her actions were confusing and there were times when I wished I could knock some sense into her. I could not believe that one could be so clueless.
Kevin is a fire inspector and a single father. He has the task of juggling his job and raising two children, which he is not handling that well. The emotional well-being of his children took a back seat to his job. It was not intentional, but it was obvious that he could not manage. In addition to that, he is fantasizing about his married next door neighbor.
It would have been good to know how Heather reacted when she discovered her ‘best friend’s’ betrayal. The author failed to expand on that aspect of the story, but knowing Heather she would probably blame herself for her ‘friend’s’ actions. Also, it would have been nice to find out how her husband reacted when it came out that the very thing he was accusing his wife of doing, he was guilty of.
The good thing about this story was the capture of the arsonist and the fact that Heather grew a little backbone and stood up to her pompous jerk of a husband.
Verdict: Smoke and Ashes did not work for me. It left me with a bad taste. I like when the heroine is strong and smart and Heather was sorely lacking in these areas.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.
Smoke and Ashes is classified as a romantic suspense, however, it was woefully lacking in both the romance and suspense aspects. Based on how the story began I was expecting to be wowed, but it never delivered. It took a nosedive after a couple of chapters and it never regained its momentum. It had the potential to be a great story, however, it was riddled with a lot of issues.
The pacing was slow and I did not get that edge of your seat vibe that one would expect from the romantic suspense genre. Discovering who the villain was came as no surprise. In addition, the motive for starting the fires did not make much sense to me. I didn’t, particularly like the characters. My initial impression of Heather Sampson, the female protagonist, was that she was weak, easily manipulated and not very smart. That impression did not change much even after the story ended. It is obvious that she is in a relationship where she has been verbally and emotionally abused. Her husband made her feel inadequate and worthless and such I found it strange that she would beg him to stay when he asked her for a divorce. She is always making excuses for his actions. During all of this, she is daydreaming about her hunky next door neighbour. Her actions were confusing and there were times when I wished I could knock some sense into her. I could not believe that one could be so clueless.
Kevin is a fire inspector and a single father. He has the task of juggling his job and raising two children, which he is not handling that well. The emotional well-being of his children took a back seat to his job. It was not intentional, but it was obvious that he could not manage. In addition to that, he is fantasizing about his married next door neighbor.
It would have been good to know how Heather reacted when she discovered her ‘best friend’s’ betrayal. The author failed to expand on that aspect of the story, but knowing Heather she would probably blame herself for her ‘friend’s’ actions. Also, it would have been nice to find out how her husband reacted when it came out that the very thing he was accusing his wife of doing, he was guilty of.
The good thing about this story was the capture of the arsonist and the fact that Heather grew a little backbone and stood up to her pompous jerk of a husband.
Verdict: Smoke and Ashes did not work for me. It left me with a bad taste. I like when the heroine is strong and smart and Heather was sorely lacking in these areas.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.
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