Trial By Fire (Firefighters of Station Five #1) [Howard & Kat] by Jo Davis

WOW! What a ride. It's difficult to start at the beginning, when all I can think about is the last hour or so of the book where I couldn't move from terror and anxiety. This book had it all. It has a beautiful heart warming romance, even though it was fast progressing it felt very genuine. The connection between the two MC - Howard "Six-Pack" Paxton and Kat McKenna - was very real, with realistic difficulties. Neither of them is perfect but I guess relationship-wise Howard had a lot to learn. Besides the romance we had the suspense - someone trying to kill Howard but first making his suffer putting literally in the line of fire people Howard cares about. It was chilling getting not only Kat and Howard's POV but the killer as well! 

I had my guesses to who the killer is. I was quite close most of the time to realizing it. It's no nuclear science but nevertheless it was brought to us little by little preparing us to the obvious connection between Howard's terrible past to his rather happy present. Howard's past, the glimpses we get into it, and later on the full blown truth of it all was horrible beyond words, it's amazing how much he achieved and how he managed to deal with all of it in the last 30 years. Howard was badly abused by his father for the first 4 years of his life then was adopted by Bentley Mitchell Sugarland's Fire Chief and his loving wife Georgie to live happily ever after with them. Yeah the start was "rocky" but with their loving support he became a big tough man capable of fighting the fight and never being helpless again. He is called "Six-Pack" by his friends and co-workers for a reason ;)

Kat's life story is less extreme. She is a teacher, even though it's not what he parents would have wanted for her (her father having an established law office her sister now works in) she loves what she does and she is not apologetic about it. She is enthralled by Howard when she literally falls into his arms in the first crime scene of our psychotic killer - from there they became almost inseparable.  


Most of the book centers around them trying to build a relationship with Howard's difficulty being "out there" with his feelings and also being honest with Kat about his torments of the present (mostly his reaccuring nightmares of the night he almost died at the age of 4). Kat expects a relationship where they both share their feelings - their heart aches as well as their joy. She wants to understand him and be able to be there for him. I really liked how sweet and caring she was with him but had her strong will and spite. The sex between them was steamy with never a dull moment ;)


I really enjoyed reading this book. Howard is the perfect guy the way I see it ;) Strong and powerful on the outside, with a big teddy bear heart inside. Kat was a sweet match for him, what he needs even if it's very hard for him to get where she wants them to be. Also really liked the way the story wrapped, the sweet connection between Howard and his adoptive parents. Enjoyed the banter between Howard and the rest of the Firefighters in his team - the sweet quiet Zack, the "don juan" Julian, Tommy (who I hadn't formed an opinion of yet) and the strong willed Eve, the feminine part of the team - as well as Howard's best friend (and boss) Sean who has a very tragic life story as well. Can't wait to have my hands on the next ones with their stories. 


HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Additional Details: Kindle Ebook, 352 pages, 13-14 June 2015 / On GoodReads

 

ABOUT THIS SERIES 

 

Firefighters of Station Five by Jo Davis is a Romantic Suspense series in which every one of A-team's 5 firefighters finds his/her "Happily Ever After" but not before dealing with their haunted past as well as life threatening ordeals. 

This series is an EXCELLENT Romantic Suspense. It has it all, sexy firefighters, YUM on the outside and sensitive on the inside resulting in sweet romance with plenty of steamy sex. It has suspense galore the fires always licking at the edges and taking our precious heroes into medic care. The women are smart and sexy, not being left out with all the action and not giving the guys a break when they need to put their over protectiveness and priorities straight or just being there, sitting by their bed and showing them real love and care. 

 

There is a spin-off series centering around cops called "Sugarland Blue". Some of the cops mentioned in "Firefighters of Station 5" has a book of their own in the spinoff - Like Shane (1st installment) being Shea's brother - the MC in "Line of Fire" and Tonio (2nd installment) being Julian's brother - the MC in "Hidden Fire".

Books:
1. Trial By Fire [Howard Paxton & Kat McKenna] (Published 8 August 2008) ★★★★★
2. Under Fire [Zack Knight & Corrie Shannon] (Published 5 May 2009) ★★★★
3. Hidden Fire [Julian Salvatore & Grace McKenna] (Published 1 December 2009) ★★★★★
4. Line of Fire [Tommy Skyler & Shea Ford] (Published 4 May 2010) ★★
5. Ride the Fire [Eve Marshall & Sean Tanner] (Published 7 December 2010) ★★★★½