Reviewer: Tracy Consumed (Firefighters #1) by J.R. Ward
Series: Firefighters #1
Also in this series: Consumed (Firefighters, #1)
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: October 2, 2018
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Pages: 417
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Series Rating:
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the popular Black Dagger Brotherhood series comes a brand-new novel about arson investigator, Anne Ashburn, who is consumed by her troubled past, her family’s scorched legacy, and her current case: chasing a deadly killer.
Anne Ashburn is a woman consumed...
By her bitter family legacy, by her scorched career as a firefighter, by her obsession with department bad-boy Danny McGuire, and by a new case that pits her against a fiery killer.
Strong-willed Anne was fearless and loved the thrill of fighting fires, pushing herself to be the best. But when one risky decision at a warehouse fire changes her life forever, Anne must reinvent not only her job, but her whole self.
Shattered and demoralized, Anne finds her new career as an arson investigator a pale substitute for the adrenaline-fueled life she left behind. She doesn't believe she will ever feel that same all-consuming passion for her job again--until she encounters a string of suspicious fires setting her beloved city ablaze.
Danny McGuire is a premiere fireman, best in the county, but in the midst of a personal meltdown. Danny is taking risks like never before and seems to have a death wish until he teams up with Anne to find the fire starter. But Danny may be more than a distraction, and as Anne narrows in on her target, the arsonist begins to target her.
From the creator of the bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood, get ready for a new band of brothers. And a firestorm.
I want to say that I loved this book but that is so far from the truth of the matter, I can’t even lie about it.
Anne Ashburn is a wreck of a woman. From page one of the book she has a chip on her shoulder about the size of Montana. She is a woman in a man’s world and she’s out to prove that she’s just as good as the others. She very well may have been, until she decided that ignoring the rules about staying in pairs and striking out on her own, in the middle of a burning building, was a good idea. Not only does her best friend almost die by trying to save her, but she loses a limb. Yeah, great idea, Anne. facepalm
So now Anne can’t be the firefighter she lived to be because she’s minus an arm. Now she’s investigating arson and hates it. She has a shitty work ethic and does whatever she damn well pleases most of the time. When she starts investigating fires that deal with warehouses, like the one she was in, she starts to discover that things aren’t as they should be. She teams up with Danny, eventually, but does she depend on him when she figures out whodunit? Of course not – she’s too much of a woman to depend on a man! Ugh. She actually goes to a remote location by herself and what happens actually proved beyond a shadow of a doubt what an idiot this woman was. Seriously, she is what Ward thought was a good heroine? Puhleease. I hope no young adult reads this and thinks Anne is someone to emulate.
Do I recommend this book? Uh, no. I did give it an extra ½ star because I read to the end, but that was more like me not being able to take my eyes off a train wreck. Just sayin’.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
I read this last November shortly after it was published. I’d burned out (ha! a pun) on the author’s Brotherhood series some time ago but decided to give this one a try. I quite enjoyed it but did find it somewhat gory. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Tracy.
I enjoyed her last series set in Kentucky, but I didn’t care for this book.
Tracy, girl, I am so with you. This book left a lot to be desired.