Meet Zack Knight, firefighter and paramedic—the handsome genius of Station Five. He can take on any blaze, but needs a certain kind of woman.
Zack fights fires and saves lives, yet his own thirst for life has run dry—-until he comes to the rescue of the hardheaded, sharp-tongued exotic dancer named Corrine Shannon who sparks a carnal appetite that has the normally shy hero burning out of control.
But just as they are consumed by the flames of passion, they find themselves under fire from two relentless enemies with fifty million reasons to succeed. Dangerous men who will stop at nothing to get what they want, even if it means putting a permanent end to their love—and their lives. Can they withstand the heat-—or will their newfound romance be extinguished as fast as it began?
Zack is on his way to work one morning when he rear ends the SUV in front of him. Out of the SUV pops the most beautiful woman Zack has ever seen. Corrine Shannon takes one look at Zack and says:
“Don’t they stop at red lights where you’re from, Forrest Gump?”
Hilarious. Well, not for Zack. He’s late for work and gets a chewing out from his Captain when he gets to the fire station. No sooner has he been ripped a new one that they get a call. A car has gone off of a bridge. Station 5 is on the run. But when they get to the bridge Zack realizes that the car that has gone off the edge of the bridge is the SUV he had rear ended that morning and it holds Corinne. Zack comes to her rescue but puts his own life in danger.
Cori is moved by Zack sacrifices for her during the rescue and feels a strange protectiveness towards Zack. She is by his side while he is hospitalized and when he is released she takes him home. Unfortunately when they get there they find that Zack has been evicted.
You see Zack’s father had a huge gambling debt and when his dad had a stroke and was unable to pay the debt back the owner of the casino came after Zack for the money to the tune of $750,000.00! Zack has lost his house, hardly eats, works double shifts constantly and still has no way of coming up with the money to pay back. The casino owner is threatening Zack and his father.
Cori doesn’t have any clue as to why Zack is lacking in the financial department but she’s more than willing to take him home and take care of him for a while. Unfortunately Cori has problems of her own…a stalker – and it’s putting both Zack and Cori in danger.
I really liked this book – to a point. I was truly enjoying Zack and Cori’s budding relationship. Cori had been doing exotic dancing to put herself through nursing school (and not touching the millions she had in a Swiss account as she was sure it was dirty money that her dead husband left her in his will) and though it bothered Zack for other men to look at Cori he wasn’t so stubborn as to tell her to stop. I very much appreciated that part of his personality.
There was just a lot of wonderful about this book. Zack, Cori, the secondary characters, the plot line – all really good. Poor Zack did get the crap beat out of him for most of the book for one reason or another but always bounced back. I felt like he was a human Timex: took a licking and just kept on ticking! Lol
However for about 10 pages near the very end of the book Zack became an idiot. He had a HUMONGOUS pity party that undeniably changed my perspective of him almost entirely and really made me say a big WTF at what was happening. I didn’t feel that the reaction that he had fit his personality at all and I was more than shocked that the author chose to take it to the extreme that she did. I have to say that just those 10 pages made me rethink my feelings on the book which is so sad since I loved the first part of the book.
If I was breaking the book in 2 parts I would say that the first part of the book would be a 4.5 out of 5 for me. The very last part of the book would be a 3 out of 5.
Overall rating then ends up being: 3.75 out of 5
Mmmmmm….firemen.
Great review, Tracy. I don’t usually go for m/f RS, but the first part of this book sounds great. The second part? Don’t you just hate it when a character from a book undergoes a personality change just before the end?
I was expected to be wowed again just like I was with Davis’s first book. I thought Zack was nice, especially how he explains his virginity and how he loses it to Cori. But he became a punching bag and I can’t believe he was still standing by the amount of abuse he took.
I can’t wait to read the Captain’s story. I think we know who he ends up with. 😉
But Howard will always be number one in my heart.
Ahh, now that I see why you weren’t sure if you liked it or not, I can completely understand! I do agree with you about how Zack acted at the end. I guess I just overlooked it. I think I do that alot, especially if its at the end like that. If he acted like that halfway trhough the book and continued to act like that, then I would be like “Dude, get some balls!” I did really like the book otherwise :). I was actually getting a bit frustrated that Zach kept getting beat up!! Sheesh, how much can one man take??
I’m glad overall you did enjoy it!
I don’t know that I had the same problem with Zack that you did. I agree with Amy – I felt bad the poor guy kept getting brutally hurt. That bothered me a lot. I mentioned that to Jo and she said it always frustrated her that the hero always managed to remain safe, never getting hurt, and I can understand that. But what Zack went though was just too much. Who wouldn’t feel sorry for themselves after all that???
Love your review Tracy!
“I felt like he was a human Timex: took a licking and just kept on ticking!” – LOL
I have both of Jo Davis’ books in the alps and will get to them eventually. I’m not too sure about this Zack guy now though – lol…
A virgin fireman eh? hmmmmmm
L
Oooh I like firemen! My husband teases me anytime we drive past a fire house. His word, “Want me to drop you off?”
Har har har…
Anyhow, great review. Sorry the ending didn’t work for you. I’ve read books that I also really enjoyed and yet, something about the ending left alot to be desired. Happens.
Great review, Tracy. You know you liked this book better than me (it would be hard not to). But I agree, part of the issue, I think was how hard Zack had it. The amount of abuse piled on him was just unbelievable!
What did you think of the first book Tracy?
Hmmm, so he conveniently met a woman who just happened to have enough money and more lying around to pay his debt ^_^; I don’t know if I like this coincidence 🙁
Bummer that the ending almost ruined the book for you 🙁
Jenre – it has been a pretty good series so far and of course you're right – firemen are just yummy! lol
KB – See as much as I liked the first book I thought the second was better – well, up until the end!
Amy & Stacy – Funny that I really didn't have an issue with Zack getting beat to hell. That sounds funny! Not that I wanted him to – but I understood it because of the situations that they were both in. It was that last part that really threw me though!
Lea – thanks! Yep the virgin fireman thing was great. It was done well and I have to say that even though he was a virgin she didn't make him less of a man because of it.
Barbara – I don't think I've read a book that changed my opinion so drastically before. I think the reason I had such an issue was because he had been given a shit hand all of his life and he's bounced back or was at least trying to and then this one thing cracked him wide open. Of all the crap he'd taken I wouldn't have thought that 1 issue would have done it, but there ya go! lol
Kati – lol I definitely liked the book better than you did.:)
Nath – yes, it is a coincidence that she has all this money and Zack just so happens to need money – but Zack never uses her money – which I expected to happen and didn't WANT to happen.
As I said to KB I liked the first book but didn't love it more than chocolate. It was a good read, imo, but not fantastic.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
I couldn’t have said it better! Zack lost his balls in the end and it ruined the book for me!! I too, would have given it an A until the end–I ended up giving it a C+.
I think Jo Davis has a lot of potential, though…..I think her best book is yet to come!
I loved Zack as a hero. A virgin hero, no less. And I don’t have a problem with a hero getting his ass kicked. But really. Enough was enough. I kept thinking… again? Seriously? Once, yes. Twice, ok. But how many times was this guy beaten, shot, whatever. And he still stuck around. Sorry. It was too much for me. I’d have bought it if she’d only had him trounced a couple times.
Tracy,
Thank you for your wonderful review! I do appreciate all comments and am glad you enjoyed the story. About what got to Zack at the end, I want to clarify a point. Earlier on, Cori said one of the things she loved most about him was that he used his brains to solve problems, not his fists. In the end, though, he lost control and became the thing she hated most–a violent man. He felt he'd thrown away the last good thing about himself he had to cling to by unloading all of his pent-up anger. He nearly killed someone with his bare hands, and to Zack, that was devastating.
A teaser here: I truly believe you guys will love Julian's story. It's got plenty of scorching heat and moves forward with the characters you love. The suspense? In a word, it's chilling. I scared myself writing it. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Nikki – we have such the same taste in books it's amazing!
Lori – again, I didn't think that Zack getting hurt was too much for me. I think because we so rarely see it in novels these days. It's usually the heroine getting hurt or kidnapped.
Jo – thank you so much for stopping by. I do understand why Zack reacted to what he had done and can completely understand that he was effected by his actions. After reading the book I guess I just felt that he had enough confidence in his and Cori's relationship to work through it differently…but that's me. 🙂
Thanks for the teaser about the next book I'm very much looking forward to reading it.