Series: Fire and Rain #2
Published by Samhain Publishing, Limited on 2014-02-11
Genres: Male-Male
Pages: 183
Format: eBook
Goodreads
They’re going to need a bigger tent.
Fire and Rain, Book 2
Henri’s list of bad exes is as long as his arm, but nothing prepared him for his latest, heart-stomping breakup. He thought he couldn’t feel more abandoned, until his ride for a group camping trip bails, leaving him stuck driving for hours with a guy who is absolutely not his type.
After breaking up with his girlfriend of five years, firefighter Logan is working up the nerve to explore his interest in men. He knows he’s gay. He just hasn’t had the guts to do anything about it...until now.
Henri’s big-city attitude and tight jeans push every last one of Logan’s buttons, and when he and Henri have to share a tent, Logan is thrilled. He should have realized Pacific Northwest weather would get wet—forcing them to strip naked.
Though the steam between them is thicker than coastal fog, Henri’s not sure he can let himself fall for another man. Not even the guy who finally treats him right.
Warning: Contains bad ex-boyfriends, even worse weather, and more than your average amount of sex in a tent. May not be suitable for those with germ phobias, outdoor aversions or fear of damp shoes.
FTC : I received this book for an honest review. I have worked with the author on several occasions and have enjoyed several of her previous work.
This is the second in the series although it can be read as a standalone. I class this book as a rather sweet MM romance with coming out angst and a reluctant hero to boot; I really liked it.
Henri has just broken up with his douche of an ex after finding out he was cheating on him and, subsequently, may have given him herpes. He finds himself on a camping trip where he doesn’t want to be, sharing a tent with a man who stirs unwelcome feelings within him. I don’t know how I felt about Henri as the reluctant hero. He shows all the classic traits (surly towards his love interest but overall protective) and he has added complications of the embarrassing wait for the Herpes test, but he was just a bit too grumpy to be likeable for the majority of the book. Don’t get me wrong, he had ample reasons to want to push Logan away. He is still caught up in the initial betrayal of his ex, unable to move on whilst the threat of an STI still looms, and then, when he realises that fighting his attraction to Logan is useless, he can’t act on his sexual urges which puts a huge strain on him throughout. It was understandable but it wasn’t all that sexy.
Logan is a lovely character to read about. He has just split up from his long-term girlfriend, finally accepting that he is gay, and goes on the camping trip to be introduced to other gay men in the hopes he can find friends and maybe more. What he actually meets is a surly man who really doesn’t like the fact that he is sharing a tent with him. Logan can’t help the attraction that he feels towards him, or the wide eyed looks that he keeps throwing, but he can help the way he is treated. He manages to restrain himself whilst Henri is throwing him nothing but distain but once the signals start getting more mixed, he finds it easier to try his first romance with a man. Then he gets oh so cute (he’s a Texan too…. a cowboy!)
The heat level of this book is spicy rather than sweet. These two were a cute mis-matched couple who I wanted to succeed. I have to say I was quite amazed at the addition of a STI to a spicy romance (it isn’t really a sexy topic) but it did add a level of angst that I feel the story needed and it was dealt with in a very delicate way. There is a scene in the tent that is quite fun…. there is a lot of sexual tension in this book that is amped up by the STI storyline 🙂
I really enjoyed this cute romance story. If you like your romance sweet and your hero’s cute enough to hug, give this one a try.
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