Burn by Dawn Altieri

Burn by Dawn Altieri

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Blurb

Chloe Addison is on the verge of a promising career in real estate development until an explosion destroys her first major project and casts suspicion on her in an arson investigation. Her career is suddenly at risk–and possibly her life.

Firefighter Ryan Monroe wants a spot on the arson team, and getting close to Chloe might be the best way to solve his first investigation. Despite a painful past of his own, Ryan has dedicated himself to saving people, and when he realizes Chloe is in danger, she’s no exception.

He just might be the perfect guy to rescue her, but their attraction could bring them both down in flames.

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Review

Let’s face it, I bought the book for the title. The book promised me fire and arson, and it delivered. I’d have given it two martinis just for fire and arson. I’m pretty easy to please. I liked the premise of the book, too – it’s a great idea for a suspense novel. We’ve got a young woman at the start of her career, we’ve got a young man surrounded by friends and family who want him to make the right choices.

And I have to say, I loved the firehouse scenes. I’ve had a chance to spend a little time in the occasional firehouse and I have to say, those scenes really felt authentic to me. The camaraderie and family feeling definitely went a long way toward getting me to relax into the story.

I liked Ryan in general. He’s a good guy, likes the Yankees, likes the firehouse dog – what’s not to like?  He’s even ambitious, wants to be an arson investigator.

My only issue is Chloe. There’s a lot to like about Chloe. Chloe is fantastic with Max, the firehouse dog. She’s a good friend to her roommate. She’s conscientious about her job. She’s a little anxious, but under the circumstances anyone who wasn’t anxious should probably see a professional.

My issue with Chloe is that she’s too stupid to live.

Chloe is a woman who’s already gone through a round of investigations and not been believed. Trust me, I get it – I do. Why would anyone want to bring that up?  And sure, she’s from out west somewhere. People from the west don’t have turnips for brains. I’ve met a few. Many of them are very smart people indeed – even the ones from small towns.

If she’s already gone through a round of investigations with no one willing to believe her, and someone is willing to try to blackmail over said allegations, and she has a friendly relationship with the people investigating the case, would it not make sense to disclose the allegations at a time and place of her choosing?  When Chloe can control the narrative, as opposed to (redacted to avoid spoilers)?

That’s not the only instance of stupidity. Her ex threatens her repeatedly, but she decides she doesn’t want to “bother” Ryan – even though a) Ryan is also being harassed, b) she suspects the ex of a lot worse than slapping her, and c) he is friends with people who can help her?  I completely understand if she doesn’t believe the police et al will help, because that’s not something they generally prefer to do, but she should at least let someone know when she’s being targeted by someone she suspects of arson.

It goes on and on. And sure, everyone processes trauma differently, but just engaging her brain once could have prevented the painful scene toward the end. (Yes, there’s a happily ever after, but there’s definitely a scary scene before that.)

So while the suspense was great, and Ryan was great, and I definitely believed in their chemistry, I got so frustrated by the end by Chloe’s lack of candlepower that I just can’t give it a higher rating. If you like fire stories, or firefighter stories, you’ll definitely want to give this one a whirl.