REVIEW: Fanning the Flames by Victoria Dahl

In Fanning the Flames (Jackson: Girls’ Night Out #0.5) by Victoria Dahl, Lauren Foster’s body is rebelling. Now in her early forties, and divorced, she’s suddenly understanding why women dubbed cougars are on the hunt for a man to slate their physical desires. Lauren decides it’s time to get back into the dating pool. Armed with her co-worker as a wing-woman, they hit the local bar. Instead of hooking up with some twenty-something fresh faced young man, she flirts with the local fire captain, Jake Davis. Her ex-husband’s good friend. When attraction flares between them, will she be strong enough to not give in?

‘Tonight the temptation of something forbidden transformed warm friendship into something sharp and dangerous.’

People have been pushing Jake to begin seriously dating for a few years. His wife passed away a while ago, and while he’s ready to find someone special again, he’s afraid it will be difficult in a small town like Jackson Hole. It turns out the woman Jake’s looking for has been closer than he imagined. Lauren works next door at the library, and was also married years ago to his close friend. Their serious chemistry is difficult to ignore when they run into each other one night, and from then on Jake is on a mission to prove to Lauren that they should explore this new found interest.

“Are you saying you want me to be your boyfriend, Ms. Foster?”
“I don’t know. I can’t promise I’ll be good at it. I’m not good at this. I’m not–”
“Stop telling me what you’re not, Lauren. I know what you are, dammit. Right now. Here. With me.”

Fanning the Flames is a novella that is definitely hot, hot, HOT. Trust Victoria Dahl to always bring the sexy with her romances!

I love getting the chance to read love stories with diversity: from all age ranges, backgrounds, locations, etc. And Jake and Lauren were characters in their forties who knew who they were, and what they liked and didn’t like. For me, being closer to their age than I’d care to admit, it was refreshing to read about a little bit more mature couple finding each other and starting a relationship. I thought their insecurities about starting over were very realistic and more than understandable given their past.

Like I said, Victoria Dahl is excellent at giving us readers some very, very passionate, raw love scenes. There’s definitely no exception here. The instant pull between Lauren and Jake was strong and begged to be explored. My only gripe was that this was novella length. I really wish it would have been a full novel just about them. However, there will be more books in the Jackson: Girls’ Night Out series and I understand Lauren and Jake will be making appearances there as well…

If you’re looking for a quick romance that is equal parts wild and sensual, check out Fanning the Flames.

Book Info:

Published July 1st 2014 by Harlequin HQN

Burning for you

Some men are off-limits. Close friends of your ex-husband, for instance. Or firefighters who work in the same building as you. Yet despite her best judgment, librarian Lauren Foster can’t help noticing fire captain Jake Davis whenever he jogs by…shirtless. They’ve always been friends, but all it takes is one not-so-chance meeting at a local bar and one not-quite-innocent walk home to ignite a fierce, uncontrollable desire between them.

Widower Jake Davis has tried to ignore the spark he feels whenever Lauren’s around, but once he sees her curves in a little black dress, there’s no turning back. No matter how often she says she’s all wrong for him, the sexy, outspoken divorcée is driving him wild in the best possible way. Maybe she’s just blowing off steam. Or maybe he can convince her to fan these flames into something deeper, hotter and truer than they ever expected….