HEATING UP by Stacy Finz: Review

Posted July 19, 2016 in Reviews / 0 Comments

HEATING UP by Stacy Finz: ReviewHeating Up by Stacy Finz
Series: Nugget #7
Published by Lyrical Shine
Publication Date: July 19th 2016
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 274
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
Goodreads
Buy Online: Amazon  B&N  Kobo

Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.

Nugget, California, is remote, picturesque—and the perfect place to fall in love. Even when you’re trying desperately not to…

Dana Calloway is tired of being second choice. No question she was her parents’ consolation prize, and now she’s placed second in the race for a guy’s heart—a guy she could have sworn was The One. Is it any wonder such a normally type A person accidentally burns down her house in one distracted moment?

Cal Fire arson investigator Aidan McBride came to Nugget to do a little soul searching about his commitment phobia. But there’s only one available apartment in this tiny town, and the headstrong woman who just had a house fire needs it too. Of course, there are worse things than sharing living quarters with someone so beautiful…

Dana’s determined to resist her sexy new roommate, but it isn’t long before Aidan realizes he doesn’t have a commitment problem when she’s around. And the hotter things get in their apartment, the brighter the blaze when someone finally ignites that first spark…

 

Review

This entire series is at the top of the list for me when I want to get my small town fix because the town itself is just as important as the characters and the romances. HEATING UP is another enjoyable installment with a sweet and charming opposites attracts romance and as usual, Ms. Finz’s characters and the emotions and experiences they go through are easy to relate to and leave the reader feeling very satisfied. 

Firefighter and arson investigator Aidan McBride made the move from Chicago to Nugget, California for a fresh start but for a small town, he’s been very busy with the number of fires to investigate. Could this be a result of the dry weather conditions or is there a much more unsavory reason?

Dana Calloway is half of Nugget’s star realty team, successful but very reserved. But the accidental fire that destroys her home finds her relying on the goodwill of the good people of Nugget and gives her a chance to get to know them, especially hottie fireman, Aidan when she ends up sharing his apartment with him. As much as she is attracted to him, Aidan comes with baggage in the form of an ex who doesn’t want to remain an ex and Dana has had her fill of being in second place in the affections of people she cares for. 

Dana and Aidan are opposites in every way. While he’s outgoing and confident, Dana is very shy and her shyness comes across as being standoffish, so while the fire may have been an inconvenience, it gave her the perfect opportunity to show the town who she really was.  I enjoyed the progression of their relationship, especially the lack of drama between them.

All the drama comes from the outside and between the Nugget Mafia and the Baker’s Dozen, there are also a lot of funny, laugh out loud moments. Plus, the mystery of the fires adds a little kick to the story.

I’m sure I’ve said this in every review I’ve written about the books in this series, but the sense of community and support provided by the town is the biggest draw of this series. This story stands alone but at this point in the series, I would recommend starting from the beginning to avoid being confused by the large cast of characters and references to past occurrences.

 

 

About Stacy Finz

Stacy Finz is an award-winning journalist. After more than seventeen years covering notorious serial killers, naked-tractor-driving farmers, fanatical foodies, aging rock stars and weird Western towns for the San Francisco Chronicle, she figured she finally had enough material to launch a career writing fiction. In 2012 she won the Daphne du Maurier Award for unpublished single-title mystery/suspense. She lives in Berkeley, California with her husband.


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