Under Fire (Firefighters of Station Five #2) [Zack & Corrie] by Jo Davis

I enjoyed this book, but I have to say, the first installment was much better. I"m not even sure why. But I felt less "sticky" about it if it makes any sense. I mean, when I'm obsessed with a book, my hands feel glued to the kindle, not being able to un-glue them to handle everyday life and putting the book aside almost feels like "withdrawal", as in "must-get-back-to-my-book" whenever life gets in my way of my reading. With this one, life DID get in my way of my reading (quite a lot!) but I wasn't as obsessed with it as I was with the first installment, I like both MC but much more the heroine than the hero who I didn't really "get". With Howard "Six-Pack", hell, he can be my book boyfriend FOREVER, but Zack? he's a nice enough guy I guess but maybe a tad too sensitive and not enough "in tune" with himself. Cori on the other hand was strong, capable, she had enough dark days in her past to know what she wants now and is determined to get it (Zack included).

We met Zack in the previous installment he is the sweet, gentle one in the team, best friends with Eve and unlike most of the others (well, Julian and Tommy) he isn't a "player" he is actually a virgin.. There is something going on with Zack, we didn't get any real details in the previous one, only that he asked "Six-Pack" for days off and has a "clash" with Sean(their boss) about him not being focused enough and missing out in shifts. All is revealed in the beginning when we learn of the mess he got into because of his father. It's really sad, his past as well as his present all screwed up, never having any kind of real family who cares about him besides his firefighters he works with, but even with them, he can't "dump" these things on them, they can't help, it's too big, and he doesn't want to show people this vulnerable side to himself.

Cori and Zack meet by accident. Literally. and actually TWICE. First one being quite harmless but the second - another thing entirely! There is someone after Cori, who that is and what he wants takes time to unravel (even though, like in the previous installment we don't get only Cori and Zack's POV but also the villain's) but in the mean while there is A LOT of bashing to poor Zack who seems to be always in the way of harm, making Zack re-consider if Cori is actually the one "whoever it is" tries to kill and not him!

While the previous book had somewhat the romance in the beginning and the heart clenching sitting at the end of your seat suspense in the end, this one, the action started maybe 10% into the book and the romance came right after. While I realized the MC can't die and not that soon in the beginning of the book, I still couldn't relax until everyone hurt got better, yet that didn't happen until the book was concluded.. As Cori put it near the end - 
"You know, if you keep coming back, the hospital might have to assign you a mailbox".

It was a nice enough romantic suspense. I liked the progress of both characters. Cori delivered quite the bomb on Zack in the ending, making him realize if she can "suck it up" so can he. I think that was part of my problem with him. He took things to heart and WAY too much. Cori had a sad life story (same as Zack had) but she overcome it and become an amazing woman, strong yet still sensitive and sweet. I loved how she took care of Zack even before they actually had any sort of relationship. 

I'll be continuing to the next one - It's going to be of Julian and Grace (Kat's sister) I'm really interested in getting Julian's story and then seeing how it works between the ice queen and the "Don Juan"

Additional Details: Kindle Ebook, 352 pages, 15-18 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