Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Brady Stewart lives for the fire. Nightmares of the fire haunt Nicole McMillan. Whether fighting fires in the Kuwaiti desert, in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico or the heartland of Oklahoma, both women hide behind a smoke screen of who they really are. When they meet and face the challenge of their lives, their passion ignites because where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

 

Book Review

At the heart of this intense and intriguing book is an enticingly special love story. Both women have extraordinary backgrounds and quite simply amazingly beautiful souls. The gentle and slowly developing relationship, so remarkably crafted and magnificently delineated, was enhanced by the extraordinary pain each woman had experienced at different times and in very different ways. Each woman's story eventually is expressed completely while the thoroughly fascinating world of 'Fire Suppression' unfolded before my eyes. This specialized world where highly trained teams along with customized equipment put out incredibly dangerous oil fires is presented in such an intelligible way as to be just as much of an important character in this book as the two nascent lovers are. I was totally captivated and enthralled by this world I barely understood from news stories I have read.  I definitely recommend 'Smoke and Fire' and please do not skip over the technical sections about 'Fire Suppression' as they are lucidly rendered. Bravo!

Nicole McMillan is the daughter of the man who founded McMillan Suppress, a leader in safety and successful oil fire containment. She loved being in the field and had been for over ten years until she was a victim of an explosion and was severely injured. She went through a very long physical recovery, and still suffers from post traumatic stress episodes that vary in intensity. This was rather well documented and known by everyone in the industry and especially by folks employed by McMillan. Nevertheless, she has triumphantly succeeded her father as president. Those are the facts, this book presents the extraordinary underpinnings of those events and her daily battles in a manner that practically made me feel it happened to me. Marvelous!

Brady Stewart is a member of one the elite teams working for McMillan. She fought hard and long to be respected and befriended by her co-workers. She is even asked to be "Best Woman" at the wedding of a fellow team member. That speaks volumes about how esteemed and admired she is. Her story, her struggles, and her lifestyle make for fantastic reading. In addition, they provide the strong foundation for her astonishing relationship with Nicole. As that part of the book unfolded brilliantly, I found myself entirely enamored with Brady. She also helped me to understand and be gently non-judgmental of Nicole. Amazing!

This is one of the most evenly paced books I have ever read. That was quite beneficial and supportive of the intricate elements surrounding Nicole and Brady. Fantastic!

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Bold Strokes Books for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 240 pages/71,927 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	01-January-2014
Price	$9.99 ebook, $16.95 paperback, $19.99 bundle
Buy Link	http://boldstrokesbooks.mivamerchant.net/9781626390164e.html