ARC Review – Seeing Red (Firefighter #3) by Jill Shalvis

Even though Seeing Red is a reissue it has withstood the test of time and anyone who enjoys Jill Shalvis’ work will enjoy this one. ~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures

Description:
IT ONLY TAKES A SPARK
Summer Abrams left everything behind-the warehouse fire that took her father’s life, the town where her world fell apart, and her best friend in the world, Joe Walker. All she carried with her was guilt. Now, twelve years later, another fire has devastated the same warehouse, and Summer returns to Ocean Beach to search for answers. But what she finds first is an old flame that never went out . . .

Joe Walker has become the town fire marshal-sexy, strong, and an expert at keeping people at bay. The only person he ever let into his heart broke it and left town without a word. Now that she’s back, Joe swears he won’t fall for Summer again . . . but the heat between them is irresistible. As he tries to help her heal the past, can he take a risk on building a future with Summer?

 

Review copy provided for an honest review

Sometimes reading a reissue of a book presents many challenges; times have changed, technology has changed, and we all know how much the world has changed. What I’m beginning to realize though is that if a writer is strong, if they have a well developed story, interesting characters, fun dialog, and some great superb sexiness it doesn’t matter what’s changed because you are so involved with the story you don’t care about what’s changed since the book was first released. You find yourself wrapped up in it and living it with the characters and enjoying every minute of it. That’s exactly what I did when reading the re-issue of Seeing Red by Jill Shalvis.

Joe Walker and Summer Abrams were best of friends until a fire during their high school years killed Summer’s father and left her reeling. She left town and hasn’t been back much since but now a fire in the same warehouse her mother and aunt still own has her back in town and trying to reconnect with her family and Joe. While Summer hasn’t changed all that much, Joe has gone from pudgy teenager to sculpted Fire Marshall and its throwing Summer for a loop. Most of all both Joe and Summer are dealing with an unbelievable attraction, one Joe’s always had and one that Summer would very much like to do something about.

First off, the characters…wow, in addition to Summer and Joe both of whom I really loved we have Joe’s partner, Kenny, who is a great friend and voice of reason. Then there are all of Summer’s relatives as well as the employee’s of Summer’s mother and aunt’s furnishings store. A big cast but not overwhelming and the additional cast really did add some interest and entertainment along the way. Summer was at times a little hard to read, she’s very closed off and with reason but I loved watching her icy exterior melt away the more she got involved with her mother and of course with Joe. I hate that she hurt Joe over and over but I honestly don’t even realized what she was doing. She is just so use to being on her own and not letting her emotions get in the way that she doesn’t think about other people’s emotions.

Joe is one of those guys that would give you the shirt off his back. He’s dedicated to his job (to dedicated according to his past girlfriends) but other than Kenny he doesn’t let anyone see him. It’s hard when Summer returns because she knows so much about him and his background. They both have hard time reconciling the people they were in their youth with the people they are today and that leads to some very intense moments between them.

As the fire investigation rolls along things get tense and then Summer uncovers a discrepancy in the books of the store. When she begins receiving threatening text messages, Joe becomes even more unnerved. During this time their relationship has a lot of ups and downs but we also see both Summer and Joe coming to terms with their past and breaking down the barriers they’ve both put up over time.

I very much enjoyed this story there was enough excitement to keep it interesting but it didn’t overshadow the love story. I like that Summer worked to repair her relationship with her Mom, Aunt and cousins and of course Joe. The secondary romances were somewhat of a surprise but no less entertaining. While I figured out early on who the “bad guy” was in this story, I’m not sure everyone would I just happen to be really good at solving mysteries. Even though Seeing Red is a reissue it has withstood the test of time and anyone who enjoys Jill Shalvis’ work will enjoy this one. Heck anyone who loves a good romance with hot, hunky fireman will love this one as well!