Saying goodbye is never easy, but Hot In Chicago has been an excellent series and I am forever grateful for Ms. Meader for bringing these unique and engaging characters to life. ~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures
Fire Giveaway:
We are excited to do a Fire Giveaway to celebrate the third in Kate Meader’s Hot in Chicago series, Sparking the Fire. This giveaway will include Flirting with Fire (Book 1) andPlaying with Fire (Book 2). You can visit all sites on the blog tour to enter the Fire Giveaways – but keep in mind you can only win once! U.S. only. Raffflecopter at the end of this page.
HOT TIP: Kate is also offering a $25 Amazon gift card during the Sparking the Fire release tour. It will run Monday September 26 to Friday October 7. Enter here.
About Sparking the Fire, Book 3:
Heating up reading lists this Fall will be Kate Meader’s highly anticipated Sparking the Fire, the “sexy and sassy” (#1 New York Times bestselling author Jude Deveraux) steamy third novel in the Hot in Chicago series, where former lovers unexpectedly reunite for a sizzling affair that will have the director yelling, “Quiet on the set!”
AN OLD FLAME STILL SIMMERS…
Wyatt Fox, resident daredevil at Engine Company 6, needs a low key job to keep him busy while he recovers from his latest rescue stunt. Consulting on a local movie shoot should add just enough spark to his day. But then in struts Molly Cade: the woman who worked his heart over good, and then left him in the Windy City dust.
BUT WILL A NEW SHOT AT LOVE LEAVE HER BURNED?
Actor Molly Cade, America’s fallen sweetheart, finally has her shot at a Hollywood comeback with a dramatic new role as a tough-as-nails firefighter that promises to propel her back into the big time. And she’s not going to let anything stand in her way—even a certain brooding, blue-eyed firefighter she’s never quite been able to forget…Their story is straight out of a script: irrepressible, spunky heroine meets taciturn, smoldering hero. But these two refuse to be typecast, and when the embers of an old love are stoked, someone is bound to get burned…
Review copy provided for an honest review
I’m so sad to see the Hot In Chicago series end, but I felt like Kate Meader wrapped up the whole series nicely in Sparking the Fire. We got to see a lot of the “Fighting Dempsey” clan and their significant others in this book and for a very special reason and the somewhat standoffish and brooding Wyatt found love as well. I enjoyed this book a lot for the many family scenes and while I was happy that Wyatt not only made peace with his standing within the family that he found the woman he wanted to spend his life with, I will say I had a bit of a problem with the romance in this book. I just didn’t feel the emotional connection between the two main characters that I’ve come to expect in Ms. Meader’s books and at times I felt the relationship was really one sided with Wyatt giving all the time and Molly taking and taking; this bothered me on Wyatt’s behalf and I was a bit disappointed in that part of the book. Despite that, Sparking the Fire was fast paced, entertaining, fun and sexy and I would not have missed it for anything.
Recovering from an injury that has him on medical leave, Wyatt Fox is “voluntold” he will be the consult on a firefighter movie that centers around his squad and namely his sister Alex. Figuring out he can keep an eye on the vultures from Hollywood and protect his sister and his family all at the same time appeals to Wyatt, but so does the fact that Molly Cade, a blast from his past, will soon be back in his town.
After a year of heartache, embarrassment and exhaustion Molly Cade is ready to prove to the world she is more than the ex-wife of a mega star or the woman in the racy private photos that were displayed for the world to see during her divorce. Producing and starring in a movie about the kick-a$$ female Chicago firefighter that captured the heart of the city’s mayor is the perfect role, but getting the Dempsey clan to let her tell the real story is another matter until she realizes her consultant from the fire station is someone she has intimate knowledge about, but she refuses to get involved with any man at this point in time because proving her credibility is the only thing on her mind.
There was no doubting the fierce attraction or connection between Wyatt and Molly from the start, but in all honesty I felt their reasons for not being together to be a weak. Sure Molly’s life has been picked to pieces by the media, but what better way to stand up and let the world know you aren’t taking it lying down than to move on with your life, be in a healthy relationship, work hard on your next project and show them you are proud by holding your head up high? While Wyatt’s reasoning was a bit sounder, I still think it was weak because while he may be shy about the limelight his family is not, so at best he was putting a band-aid on the situation for a short time. If they had just met the situation head on, done an interview with a respectable journalist and owned it there wouldn’t have been half the turmoil.
I really liked getting to know Wyatt and admire him even more after getting his back story. Trying to erase the damage done by his biological father and live up to the expectations of his deceased big brother and the foster father that saved him made him the man he is, but my heart broke for him as for his reasoning of why he kept himself somewhat apart from his brothers and sister. I understood his reasoning for keeping the secret that comes out during this book, but I also think it made him realize that in doing so he hurt those that love him unconditionally. I loved watching him realize how much his family means to him and that without them life wouldn’t be worth living. His fierce protection of Molly and the obvious feelings he had for her just made him all the more attractive in my book.
Molly was one of those heroines I just had a hard time with; at times I would see flashes of someone I liked and could be friends with, but at other times she drove me crazy with her almost obsessive need to not allow anyone else in her life. I get that she was hurt, but I hate when people shut others out for the sins of another person. I felt like she was jerking Wyatt around for a lot of this book; he was good enough to have sex with, but not good enough for her to admit to a relationship with him. While she claimed not to be a diva, she had some pretty diva-like tendencies and for someone who did not want to be involved with Wyatt I felt she often stuck her nose in his business when it did not concern her.
The scenes where the whole Dempsey clan and their significant others were present were some of the best in this book. They gave us the closure we needed with all of these beloved characters and let us see that their lives are good, their relationships healthy and together they will always support each other.
Saying goodbye is never easy, but Hot In Chicago has been an excellent series and I am forever grateful for Ms. Meader for bringing these unique and engaging characters to life.
Purchase from
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Praise for Sparking the Fire, Book 3:
“The tale of hot firefighters and the women—and one man—who love them has come to an end. Meader ends this series with role playing, fierce family loyalty and multiple orgasms. The male protagonist goes through a transformation that showcases his vulnerability, insecurities, possessiveness and protectiveness. The many instances of a family sticking together through it all are more than enough to tug on the heart strings, but the steamy sex and sentimental pillow talk make this book a must-read.”
—RT Book Reviews Four Star Review, Scorcher
“Can a firefighter and a movie star really make it work? Meader (Rekindle the Flame, 2015) immerses you in Wyatt’s tight-knit family of foster siblings that she’s built throughout the Hot in Chicago series, and readers will feel like part of the family in no time. Her descriptions of Chicago will leave fans wanting to travel to the Windy City and fall in love with their own firefighters.”
—Booklist
About the Author:
Kate Meader was raised on romance. An Irish girl, she started with Catherine Cookson and Jilly Cooper novels, and spiced it up with some Mills & Boon. Now based in Chicago, she writes romances of her own, where sexy contemporary alpha heroes and strong heroines match each other quip for quip. When not immersed in tales of brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, Kate lives on the web at katemeader.com.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Blog Tour:
September 14:
RT Book Reviews – Excerpt
September 20:
Heroes and Heartbreakers – Excerpt
September 23:
USA Today’s Happy Ever After – Excerpt
September 26:
Harlequin Junkie – Interview
Under the Covers – Interview
Mrs. Leif’s Two Fangs About It
September 27:
Collector of Book Boyfriends
Straight Shootin’ Book Reviews
September 28:
Four Chicks Flipping Pages
September 29:
Abigail Books Addiction
September 30:
Lush Book Reviews
Jack of All Trades, Master of None
October 3:
The Romance Dish
October 4:
About That Story
Books Are My Friends, Come See Why
October 5:
Cocktails and Books
October 6:
Bea’s Book Nook
I’m A Sweet And Sassy Book Whore
The Librarian – Blog Talk Radio Author’s on the Air – Interview Only – Listen Live at 7:30 pm ET!
October 7:
Once Upon a Page
Sparking the Fire buy links:
IBOOKSTORE (ebook)
KINDLE (ebook)
NOOK (ebook)
GOOGLE PLAY (ebook)
Nice review! Thanks!
Sounds very intriguing!
Sounds really good. Thanks Slick for the review
Thanks for the review. I’m looking forward to reading he book!