Hot for Fireman - Jennifer Bernard (Avon - June 2012)

Series: Bachelor Firemen (Book 2) 

If love is a battlefield, it's time to fight fire with fire.
Enter: THE BACHELOR FIREMEN OF SAN GABRIEL

Katie Dane knows better than to mix business and pleasure, but her new bartender, Ryan Blake, is simply irresistible . . . and besides, she doesn't plan on working there much longer. That's if things go according to plan. But they never do, do they?

Ryan, the sexy heartbreaker of Station One, is determined to rejoin the force. Tending bar in the meantime seems like the perfect idea, especially when it means he can spend his nights working next to his sultry new boss . . . if only the bar didn't keep catching fire.

Throw in a grizzled career criminal, a luscious-bodied barfly, a Bachelor Fireman bachelorette party, a flash-fire romance, and a million-dollar money pot, and suddenly playing with fire never seemed so much like falling in love. 

Good book.  Katie is stuck running the bar for her dad, who had a heart attack and must reduce his stress.  The bar is not doing well and Katie is having problems paying the bills.  She also has an ex-boyfriend who refuses to accept the ex part.  Ryan is on leave from firefighting and at loose ends.  So he takes a job as a bartender, enabling him to stay close to Katie.  They have been having problems with fires breaking out at the bar, and Ryan's abilities as a fireman have come in handy to stop them.  Then Ryan finds out that Katie has been behind some of the fires in an effort to get rid of the bar and get the insurance money for her parents.  After Ryan explains what a bad idea it is, he figures the bar should be safe.  He and Katie have been getting closer and he finds that she has a way of making him very happy.  I really liked Ryan.  He is a nice guy who has made some bad choices in the past but has made a good effort of getting back on track. He is a bighearted guy and you can see how much he cares for his friends at the firehouse. I loved the way he took care of Katie and tried to help her with her problems.   Katie I had a little more trouble with.  For the most part I really liked her.  She was making the best of a bad situation at the bar, trying really hard to keep it going.  My biggest problem with her was the way she thought burning down the bar was a good idea.  Even after Ryan explained things to her, she kept doing it.  Plus, the way she kept talking to her ex about it, even after she told him to stop just irritated me.  She should have told Ryan what he was doing and had done with it.  She was pretty spineless when it came to standing up to people - Doug, her parents, her sister all walked right over her.  When the final fire at the bar happened, I was glad to see the way she stood up for Ryan and let everyone have it.  I thought that the way all the issued were solved was brilliant.
 

The Fireman Who Loved Me - Jennifer Bernard (Avon - May 2012)

Series: Bachelor Firemen (Book 1) 

Fearless, smoking hot, and single: meet the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel. These firemen might be heroes, but it's their bad luck in love that makes them legendary.

News producer Melissa McGuire and Fire Captain Harry Brody couldn't be more different, though they do have one thing in common: they're both convinced they're perfectly wrong for each other. But when Melissa's matchmaking grandmother wins her a date with Brody at a Bachelor auction . . 
 Sparks fly. Passion flares. Heat rises. (You get the picture.)

Add a curse, a conniving nightly news anchor, a stunningly handsome daredevil fireman, a brave little boy, a couple of exes, and one giant fire to the mix, and Melissa and Brody's love may not be the only thing that burns. 

What a fun book.  Melissa's grandmother bought a bachelor for her at a charity auction.  Thanks to some fast talking on the part of the bachelor, Melissa ends up with his boss instead.  There is an immediate and intense attraction, but they agree they are wrong for each other and decide to move on.  Then the news anchor from Melissa's station decides she wants in on the action and finagles a way to film a Thanksgiving special at the station.  The firefighters get called out to a fire in the middle of the taping, and Melissa ends up covering part of the fire for the news, before Ella the anchor takes over and screws things up.  Melissa and Brody finally get together for some intense firefighting of their own.  Ella spends time trying to get her own way in things, while Melissa tries to keep her in line.  Melissa is also trying to do an investigation into a foster care scandal, helped by a young boy who told her about it.  Then Melissa's ex-boss comes to town trying to get her to come back to LA, Brody's ex-wife comes back to town and creates some havoc of her own.  Melissa's grandmother gets the last word in when she tries to help Melissa and Brody see how much they care for each other.

I really liked both Melissa and Brody.  He was a fantastic captain for his fire station, able to guide his firefighters without being heavyhanded about it.  I loved seeing him interact with them.  He wasn't interested in a long term commitment,  but wanted to get to know Melissa better.  Melissa was very good at her job as a producer.  I really liked seeing her do her job, and how she was able to get the best out of her crew.  I wish she had been better at dealing with Ella, but by the end of the book I could see why she was that way at the beginning.  Her personal growth was pretty awesome.  There were a lot of really great characters in the book.  I'm looking forward to seeing more of them in the next one.