Casee‘s review of Line of Fire (Firefighters of Station Five, Book 4) by Jo Davis.
To the other men of the A-shift, Tommy’s a lucky guy who has it all. But deep inside, the golden boy of Station Five hides a private pain. He was once a star quarterback on the fast track, until tragedy derailed his dream. Ever since then, he’s struggled with the choices he’s made—including his decision to become a firefighter.His one ray of light shines in beautiful nurse Shea Ford. And when a dangerous rescue lands Tommy in the ER, what better opportunity to win her over? As Shea gives in to her feelings for him, they reach the heights of passion. But when a sinister conspiracy culminates in deadly arson, Tommy will lose more than he ever imagined. A ruthless enemy is closing in, threatening to destroy the couple’s love—and their lives.
Jo Davis continually catches me off guard. As I read Line of Fire, I started wondering how Davis was going to fill the last 150 pages. The hero and heroine were together and happy. What in the world could be written about? This has happened in the last several books. It’s like when you ask yourself if things could get worse. They can ALWAYS get worse.
Tommy Skyler is a twenty three year old that is at the top of his game. He has a job he loves, friends he loves, and family to visit. The only thing he doesn’t have is the girl. Tommy knows exactly who he wants the girl to be, he just can’t get her to take him seriously. As with so many people that Tommy meet, they take one look at him and think “kid”. Tommy is far from a kid and he’s still trying to figure out how to show Shea Ford how un-kidlike he is.
What most people don’t see about Tommy is that underneath his sunny façade, he is in constant pain. Three years ago, he lost his brother in Iraq and the course of his life changed. Before his brother was killed, Tommy was going to be a professional football player. After his brother died, he felt that football was too trivial of a profession and went on to become a firefighter. Lately Tommy has been questioning his career decision and has been contemplating going into arson investigation.
After Tommy is hurt on the scene of a fire, Shea is forced to admit that she does have feelings for the young firefighter. Shea has gone through her fair share of heartbreak and the last thing she wants to do is get involved with a guy that seems as young and carefree as Tommy. Everything changes after that. Shea agrees to go out with Tommy and see where it goes.
Eventually, I forgot that Tommy was only twenty three b/c he stopped acting like he was twenty three. Life experience has forced Tommy to grow up and be more responsible than he would normally have been at that age. I found myself admiring Tommy and what he went through to get where he was. When Shea finally gives Tommy a chance, he doesn’t think life could get any better. Shea helps him realize that he doesn’t have to be a firefighter to be successful. For the first time in his life, he doesn’t feel like he’s doing what’s best for someone else.
Of course it would be too easy if it ended there. Tommy is seriously hurt in a fire and the aftermath is too much for him to handle. What seemed so great only the week before is too much for Tommy to bear. He pushes everyone away so he can wallow in peace. The only problem is that his friends don’t let him wallow. Nor do his parents. The only one that has stayed away is Shea, which makes Tommy question her feelings for him. There were many heartbreaking moments in this book.
As usual, Davis came through.
4 out of 5.
This book is available from Signet. You can buy it here.
The series:
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