Rating: 3.75 Stars

Publisher: Jacki James

Genre: Gay Romance

Tags: Contemporary, Age Gap, Daddy/boy, Opposites Attract, Romance, Son’s Best Friend, Series

Length: 345 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

This review has a couple of minor spoilers from the first two books.

Blurb –

If there is one thing Fire Chief Samuel Sheridan knows, it’s that his son’s best friend is totally off limits. Too bad he clearly needs a Daddy….

When we get a call to fight a blaze engulfing Mars Allen’s home, he needs a place to stay and I have a guest room. It only makes sense to offer him and his cat Kismet a temporary home while they figure out their next move.

Mars is nothing like me. He runs a new-age shop and believes in the energy of the universe, Tarot readings, and balancing the chakras. But as he settles into my space and my life–wearing yoga pants, dancing while cooking dinner, and teasing me with what could be–he becomes more and more tempting.

While my station continues to pursue an arsonist targeting firefighters, getting closer to putting an end to the nightmare, Mars is my one bright spot. He comforts me after a stressful night, and one thing leads to another… But what am I doing? I’ve played with guys, but I’ve never dated one. My bisexuality is private. Not even my son knows, and he’s unlikely to take it well that I’m interested in his best friend of all people.

Mars should be all wrong for me. But the way he responds to my bossy nature and steady guidance tells me that he’s everything I need.

I’m ready to take the risk to have everything I want with Mars. But will the arsonist get his revenge first?

Hot Zone is book three in the Station 69 series and while you could read it as a standalone, the series is best read in order.

Review –

“You said you wanted to find someone who actually wanted to kiss you.” I reached up and cupped his face in my hand, and he leaned into my touch. “I figured I’d save you the trouble of looking.”

Samuel, introduced in the first two books, is the fire chief at Station 69. He’s in the middle of not only his first year as chief, but also an arson investigation targeting Station 69. Abandoned buildings are being booby-trapped and set on fire in hopes of hurting the guys when they rush in to sweep the buildings. One firefighter, Keith, already almost died. Hot Zone starts with no leads on who the arsonist is.

Mars is Samuel’s son Steven’s best friend. Mars has always had a crush on Samuel, something that’s driven Steven crazy over the years. It’s all been in fun… until now. Mars’ rental house is lost in a fire – not as a result of the arsonist – and he needs somewhere to stay. Of course, Samuel being the good Daddy guy he is, offers up Steven’s former bedroom. Mars obviously accepts.

Crushing on Samuel is one thing. Learning he’s not quite as straight as Mars thinks he is? Yeah, that makes things interesting.

Samuel is bisexual. He’s never tried to hide it. He’s just never really had reason to talk about it to his son. His ex-wife knows, but not Steven. The only relationships he’s ever had with men were one-offs. When he starts seeing Mars in a different, sexual light, he knows he has to tell Steven the truth. Saying he’s bisexual is one thing, but saying he’s interested in his best friend? Yeah, no. That didn’t go so well.

Thankfully, Steven wasn’t a total jerk about it except in the beginning, and he came around quickly enough. He was more worried about Samuel’s bossiness than anything else.

Samuel and Mars’ ‘relationship’ starts with a hot kiss, which turns into much more not long after.

The arson investigation is still in the background. More buildings are being destroyed, and there are still no leads on who the arsonist is. Nobody knows who the person is, why they’re setting the fires, and what vendetta they have against Station 69.

Sam owns a new age shop, and I admit to being somewhat clueless about most of it. He’s all about zen and peace and his crystals and tarot cards – and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just not something I know a lot about. When things start happening with the arsonist, a bodyguard is assigned to the shop to keep an eye on Mars. When the hidden link is discovered with regard to the arsons, everything happens super fast. By this time Mars and Samuel are going hot and heavy, and they’re not trying to hide it. Steven knows, and the guys at the station know. The arsonist is finally revealed, and everybody is finally allowed to live their lives without fear.

I will say that I kind of suspected who the arsonist was in the second book, but I wasn’t sure until they were revealed. I had my reasons for suspecting them, but I can’t say what those reasons are without typing spoilers.

I liked Samuel and Mars okay. I’m all about big age differences – Mars is 27, and Samuel is old enough to be his father – so I had high hopes for these two. They were fine, really, but they didn’t wow me as a couple. There’s a bit of Daddy/boy talk happening, but not enough to really even go into detail about it. I enjoyed catching up with others from the series. I liked being introduced to the guys from an upcoming series that’s linked to this one, a series I know I’ll be reading when it’s published. I loved Kismet, Mars’ cat.

I think my main issue is that I didn’t really feel Samuel and Mars as a couple. It’s a lot like how I felt about Keith and Caleb in the first book. I really did try, but I felt a whole lot of nothing, honestly. I really hate that because, as I said, I love books with characters who have substantial age differences.

Overall, the book was okay. I was able to catch up with the others, and I was able to finally learn who the arsonist was and whys of it all.

I’m a big fan of this author, so I’m always eager to read more of her books. I love knowing that some of the characters didn’t end with the Station 69 books. Bring on Mika and Hawk’s story. 🙂