Ignite on Contact by Jaci Burton

Rafe Donovan and Carmen Lewis live next door to each other. They also interact when their job paths cross (he's a firefighter and she's an ER nurse.) Rafe is interested but Carmen is hesitant. She had a pretty bad marriage that she doesn't want to repeat and her life is already full with her job and taking care of her grandfather with whom she lives. Rafe convinces her that he just wants to take her out for a thank you, that it's not a real date.
Things escalate from there with the two of them having lives that get more and more intertwined. But can Carmen trust a known player with her previously battered heart?
I liked the first book in this series a little more just because I connected with the characters more.


Three stars
Follows Hot to the Touch
This book came out February 4th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Hot to the Touch by Jaci Burton

Growing up, Jackson Donovan was homeless. With a group of other kids, he formed a pack that protected and looked out for each other. One night, they had to split up. He found shelter from a storm with two other boys and they were almost killed in a fire. Instead, they were rescued twice by Josh Donovan.  Once  from the fire and then once from the streets when he and his wife Laurel took them all in.
Now an adult, all three boys work in the same fire station (I didn't think that was allowed?). When they answer a call at a tattoo parlor, they find one of the other kids that they used to hang out iwith, Rebecca "Becks" Benning. When they find out Becks was living above her shop,  Jackson's brothers immediately invite her to move in. They just had a roommate move out so they've got space.
Unlike the boys, Becks never got adopted. She needed up going back into foster care and found a decent family but has no real ties to anyone. So she's happy to move in with her friends, if only Jackson weren't so prickly.
The two figure out how to navigate, especially when they acknowledge the tension between them is a lot related to attraction. But both have their issues stemming from the way they grew up. Jackson especially will have to dig deep if he wants to keep the woman he's starting to love.
A nice start to a new series. I can't wait to read Carmen and Rafe's story.

Four stars
Followed by Ignite on Contact
This book came out May 7
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own