Sometimes I fall in love with an author’s description of a character well before I even get to know the character enough to fall in love with them. One of Shane’s thoughts when he sees Brandt for the first time…”Rugged stubbly jaw that was somewhere between lazy and beard. Hazel eyes with crinkly lines, like he laughed his way through life.” I mean, come on! Those descriptions! It not only helped me to get a picture of Brandt in my mind, but also gave me a good idea of the type of person Shane was.

As with all of the other amazing men in this series, these two guys stole my heart pretty quickly. From their first meeting when nothing even happens, I was hooked. I was all in on seeing them find their way to each other and an HEA. Off the charts chemistry with that vulnerability that I find this author is amazing at writing for her characters.

All of the “getting to know you” parts in the beginning were great. The way Brandt and Shane learn to trust each other and work together to keep baby Jewel safe, happy, and healthy is sweet and touching. Then the middle parts, the parts where they both start thinking there could be more, wondering if the other would ever want more, were heartrending. Yet when we got to the last quarter of the book, things seemed a bit too rushed for me. Too much like the author realizing she still had a lot to say but not a lot of time to say and do it in.

Listen, I love this story. I love the how things ended up for Brandt, Shane, and baby Jewel. The highs and lows and everything in between kept me engaged. I had butterflies and warm fuzzies galore. So don’t think this is one that should be skipped just because I felt the pacing of the end was off. It’s still 100% worth the read.

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**

You can find an excerpt from this story over on my blog at All In Good Time.

Merged review:

Sometimes I fall in love with an author’s description of a character well before I even get to know the character enough to fall in love with them. One of Shane’s thoughts when he sees Brandt for the first time…”Rugged stubbly jaw that was somewhere between lazy and beard. Hazel eyes with crinkly lines, like he laughed his way through life.” I mean, come on! Those descriptions! It not only helped me to get a picture of Brandt in my mind, but also gave me a good idea of the type of person Shane was.

As with all of the other amazing men in this series, these two guys stole my heart pretty quickly. From their first meeting when nothing even happens, I was hooked. I was all in on seeing them find their way to each other and an HEA. Off the charts chemistry with that vulnerability that I find this author is amazing at writing for her characters.

All of the “getting to know you” parts in the beginning were great. The way Brandt and Shane learn to trust each other and work together to keep baby Jewel safe, happy, and healthy is sweet and touching. Then the middle parts, the parts where they both start thinking there could be more, wondering if the other would ever want more, were heartrending. Yet when we got to the last quarter of the book, things seemed a bit too rushed for me. Too much like the author realizing she still had a lot to say but not a lot of time to say and do it in.

Listen, I love this story. I love the how things ended up for Brandt, Shane, and baby Jewel. The highs and lows and everything in between kept me engaged. I had butterflies and warm fuzzies galore. So don’t think this is one that should be skipped just because I felt the pacing of the end was off. It’s still 100% worth the read.

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**

You can find an excerpt from this story over on my blog at All In Good Time.

Another Solid Entry In Series. This is another solid entry in the series Albert has created over the last year featuring MM romances set in the hyper-macho world of western US "hotshot" firefighters and smoke jumpers - the front lines of any wildfire containment efforts. Here, we finally get smokejumper Brandt's story, and it is at least as good from the romance angle as any of the other entries in this series. Maybe even better, since it runs a bit smoother with lower angst, minimal separation, both equally hoping for the other's success, etc. Has an almost A Star Is Born vibe to it at times, though without the more depressing elements of that tale. But the biggest thing that will be hit or miss depending on exactly what you feel about it is the baby stuff in particular. Even as a childfree married male who generally doesn't like babies (older kids are much cooler, though I'm always grateful that I can leave when I need to :D), I didn't find the baby aspects *too* detracting, even for my tastes. Because the story really did focus on the interactions of the adults, with the baby providing the realistic distractions that adults having to care for a baby would actually provide. But if you're particularly opposed to anything remotely baby related... well, you were told in the description that this one had one. ;) Overall a truly solid story, and very much recommended.