Review: Heat Exchange by Shannon Stacey (Boston Fire #1)

Note: This ARC was provided by Carina Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lydia Kincaid knows the demands and sacrifices that are part of being a firefighter. She comes from a family that has four generations of firefighters, including her retired father and her younger brother Scott, and she was married to a firefighter. She vows to never become involved with another firefighter, no longer willing to play second fiddle to the job. Needing to distance herself from all things related to the brotherhood that firefighters espouse, she moves one state over. Two years later, she returns to Boston to help out her older sister who is married to a firefighter and is going through her own set of marital woes.

Helping out at the family-owned Kincaid's Pub is second nature to Lydia, but she has an unexpected reaction to Aidan Hunt. The four-year age difference and his being a firefighter and her brother's best friend has Lydia wary of starting anything with him. However, their mutual attraction is something neither of them can no longer deny and once they decide to become involved, it means keeping things secret from everyone around them, especially Lydia's brother. But will Lydia ever want to settle down with yet one more firefighter or will Aidan have to choose between the job he loves or the woman who has his heart?

Heat Exchange is the first book in the new contemporary romance series from bestselling author Shannon Stacey entitled Boston Fire. Main characters Lydia Kincaid and Aidan Hunt have known each other since she was twenty-one and he was seventeen. Years later, Lydia no longer sees Aidan as the pesky teen who was always with her younger brother, but she has an aversion to firefighters due to her own experience of being part of a firefighting family and having been married to a firefighter for a short while. Aidan is a firefighter and one who doesn't simply consider firefighting to be his job but his passion and true calling.

This has what you would expect from a falling-for-your-best-friend's-sibling love story--the whole bro code about not going after a buddy's sister and the secrecy involved once you decide to listen to either your libido or your heart--but with the interesting aspect of it being set in the risky world of firefighting. Lydia and Aidan's relationship is complicated from the beginning and is made more tenuous by their decision to not be upfront about what's going on with Scott, Lydia's brother and Aidan's best friend, because they assumed that what they had was very casual and temporary since Lydia was going to leave.

The side story about Danny and Ashley Walsh was quite compelling as well. Ashley is Lydia's sister and the oldest among the Kincaid siblings and is married to Danny, a firefighter and Aidan and Scott's lieutenant. Their separation is what leads Lydia to return to Boston for a a few weeks but I liked that their situation was tackled in the book and not glossed over, saving it for later in the series. While Aidan and Lydia are not married and have their own set of complications because of his being a firefighter, Danny and Ashley's relationship woes have less to do with his job than his unwillingness to be more emotionally forthcoming.

I enjoyed this series starter and felt that it did well introducing readers to the firefighting crew of Boston's Engine 59 and Ladder 37. I'm definitely looking forward to reading Scott Kincaid's story once it's out but I'm also curious as to who else will be part of the series and what their stories will be like. Lydia and Aidan's story was a mix of sweet and steamy with bits of angst (mostly courtesy of Danny and Ashley's story) and humor (mostly courtesy of Lydia and Aidan's romance). If you're looking for a worthwhile read that isn't overly heavy but fun and entertaining, check out Shannon Stacey's Heat Exchange. Four stars! ♥

Release Date: 25 August 2015

Date Read: 24 August 2015

Learn more about Shannon Stacey here.

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