Series Review: Hot Shots: Men of Fire by Bella Andre

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Synopsis for Wild Heat (from Goodreads):
HE’S A HOTSHOT FIREFIGHTER ADDICTED TO RISK. SHE’S THE SULTRY BEAUTY HE NEVER SAW COMING.
Maya Jackson doesn’t sleep with strangers. Until the night grief sent her to the nearest bar and into the arms of the most explosive lover she’s ever had. Six months later, the dedicated arson investigator is coming face to face with him again. Gorgeous, grinning Logan Cain. Her biggest mistake. Now her number-one suspect in a string of deadly wildfires.
Risking his life on a daily basis is what gets Logan up in the morning. As leader of the elite Tahoe Pines Hotshot Crew, he won’t back down from a blaze-or from beautiful, lethal Maya Jackson. She may have seduced him with her tears and her passion, but it’ll be a cold day in hell before Logan lets down his guard again. Until Maya’s life is threatened. With his natural-born hero instincts kicking in, Logan vows to protect the woman sworn to bring him down. And as desire reignites, nothing-not the killer fire or the killer hot on their trail-can douse the flames…

Series: Hot Shots: Men of Fire
Author: Bella Andre
# of Books: 3 (Wild Heat, Hot as Sin, Never too Hot)
Book Order: Connected
Complete?: Yes
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Suspense, Action
Heat Rating: really warm
Point of View: Third Person, Alternating
Publication Dates: April 2009 – May 2010
Source & Format: Public Library–eBook

Disclaimer: I read Wild Heat in July 2013 but did not pick up the sequels. Find out why below…

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

When I first started blogging, my reading tastes weren’t what they are now. I hadn’t discovered the New Adult genre yet and so I mostly alternated between Adult Contemporaries and Young Adult reads. Bella Andre quickly became a go-to adult contemporary author for me since her books weren’t all that long and lean towards the lighter side of romance. And so I started to make my way through her collection of titles.

I picked up Wild Heat in the hopes it would be a light, quick read in between some other books I was reading.

What I Liked:

–It was a romance suspense–

This book is “darker” than the other Andre reads I have read. It is definitely more of a mystery suspense novel than a straight romance. Again, not necessarily a bad thing but not what I was looking for at the time. The book started really slow and then picked up after a few chapters in. I had a hard time putting it down once I reached the climax.
Bonus was that it wasn’t overly predictable either!

–Closure!!!–

In my mind, Bella Andre is notorious for rushed endings that leave me little to no closure. So I was really pleased that this story seemed to have a complete ending.

What I Didn’t Like:

–It Just Didn’t Wow Me–

While it was an enjoyable way to pass the time, I wasn’t blown away by this book. It did start a little slower so I don’t think I got as invested into the story as I would have liked.

And despite the fact that the romantic suspense genre appeals greatly to me, this one just didn’t have me convinced this is the genre for me to explore more.

Will I Finish It?

Considering the fact that I read Wild Heat in the summer of 2013, drafted a review for it and never thought about the series again until I cleaned up my draft folder on my blog in October 2016—the short answer is no.

Series Rating: DNF

Wild Heat 3/5 | Hot as Sin N/A | Never too Hot N/A

I’m sure fans of Bella Andre will enjoy this one. But I feel like there are better romantic suspense novels out there if that is what you are looking for.

Read if You Like: firefighters, light romance
Avoid if You: want a stronger romantic suspense