TEST
Early in January, I picked up a novella called Fireman’s Carry by Eli Easton in the Your Book Boyfriend’s Boyfriend giveaway (which I think is still going on – around 600 free m/m short stories/novellas), mostly because I was looking for new authors to try and also because I remembered that Em had enjoyed some books by Ms. Easton, so I thought this might be a good place to start. It was; an action-packed, fast-paced short story set during a wildfire with two likeable leads and excellent descriptive prose, Fireman’s Carry can be enjoyed as a standalone but also acts as the prequel to a new series being co-authored by Eli Easton and Tara Lain (also a new-to-me author) and I enjoyed it sufficiently to be interested in reading the first in the Hot Cannolis series, Hot Seat.
A quick recap of Fireman’s Carry. Twenty-two-year-old college student Shane Bower is frantically driving to Crest Lake near Sacramento to persuade his stubborn grandfather to evacuate his home, which could be in the path of an oncoming fire. On the way, Shane meets hot rookie firefighter Mike Canali, the youngest of the big, beefy, ultra-masculine Canali clan, all of whom are firefighters or law-enforcement or in some form of public service – and the two young men end up spending the day together, getting to know each other while racing against time to find and rescue Shane’s grandfather and also saving the lives of more than sixty people through their teamwork and quick thinking. Shane and Mike are chalk-and-cheese; Shane is out, proud, fabulous and femme, Mike is deeply closeted and terrified of coming out to his traditional Italian family. He’d never have thought a guy like Shane could ever be his type, but Shane’s confident snarkiness pushes his buttons like nobody’s business, and by the end of the story, they’ve shared a passionate kiss, exchanged numbers and Mike has promised to call Shane.
When Hot Seat opens, it’s been a month since that day and Mike has never called. Shane tells himself he was stupid to ever get his hopes up – the small glimpses he got of – and the dirty looks thrown his way by – some of Mike’s fellow firefighters should have told him it was never gonna happen, but he can’t help feeling disappointed. He doesn’t expect he’ll see Mike again, until he receives an invitation from the California State Firefighter’s Association to an award ceremony honoring civilians and professionals who demonstrated exceptional valor during the recent Dixie fire. He doesn’t want to hope, but maybe he’ll see Mike there.
Shane is as beautiful as Mike remembers and seeing him again is nerve-wracking. He knows ghosting him was a shitty thing to do, but couldn’t see a way for Shane to be a part of his life – yet seeing him again brings the chemistry he’d experienced when they met roaring back to life, and he wants to apologise and try to set things right.
Shane’s initial reception is frosty, but they manage to find time for a quick chat after the ceremony and Mike is in the middle of asking Shane out when his mother appears and invites Shane to lunch the next day. Mike panics and frantically tries to signal to Shane that he should refuse, but then makes a thoughtless and hurtful comment that clearly upsets Shane – who then accepts the invitation.
On the drive over the next day, Shane regrets being so impulsive – just because Mike pissed him off it doesn’t mean it’s okay for him to make Mike uncomfortable in his own home – but it’s too late to back out now. Lunch with the Canalis – or with the Canali men, at least – is as awkward and unpleasant as he’d expected; Mike doesn’t say two words to him, his father is polite but distant and his two brothers, Donny and Gabe make little attempt to veil their hostility and homophobia. Thankfully, Mike’s mother, aunt and sister are far more welcoming, but fairly oblivious to the uncomfortable atmosphere, and Shane escapes as soon as he can, expecting to have nothing more to do with Mike or his family. Except that Mike’s mother has taken quite a shine to him and keeps thinking up excuses to invite him over in ways that make it impossible for him to refuse.
In case I haven’t made it clear, please be aware that there are strong expressions of homophobia in this book. Mike’s family obviously loves him dearly, but he’s grown up in a household where there’s only one way to be a man and he’s terrified that coming out will mean they’ll cut him out of their lives completely. It happened to Shane (his ultra-religious parents kicked him out at sixteen) and to others, so why not him? The authors do a good job of articulating Mike’s fears, the strain he’s under as a result of feeling he’ll never be able to be fully himself and the pressure he puts on himself to be the perfect son. My heart broke for him as the pressure mounted, and it’s easy to feel his turmoil of confusion and despair. But with that said, I felt as though I was reading the same thing over and over in the middle section; Mike’s mother finds a reason to invite Shane over, Mike’s brothers spout homophobic shit and Mike is more and more convinced he can never tell any of them the truth. That Mike’s father and two of his brothers are bigots was well-established and I could have done with reading a little less of them.
I really liked Shane, who is insightful and takes no crap, is unapologetically himself and not afraid of being vulnerable. He’s very supportive of Mike and makes it clear he has no intention of forcing him into something he’s not ready for; in the meantime, he tries to show him a little bit of a different life, one where he can own his truth, even just for a little while, in the hope that it may eventually give him the confidence to want to come out. There’s a solid secondary cast, too – Shane’s grandfather, his “Pops”, took him in after his parents disowned him and loves and supports him unconditionally, and the Canali women are all accepting and obviously trying to do better than their menfolk.
But while I liked both principals – and really felt for Mike – the strength of their connection and bulk of their chemistry is established in Fireman’s Carry and I’m not sure I’d have been able to buy their attraction in Hot Seat as easily as I did had I not read the prequel. While all the relevant information about their backstory is included here, the relationship is built ‘outside’ this book and because of that, we’re asked to take it on trust. I’ve taken that into account when assigning a grade for this novel.
In spite of my criticisms, I did enjoy Hot Seat. The writing accomplished, all the characters have their own, distinctive voices, and Mike’s heart-breaking inner conflict is very well depicted. I feel able to recommend it, but with reservations and a reminder to read the prequel first if you can.
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Grade: B-
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 25/02/22
Publication Date: 02/2022
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
Related Reviews
Book 2 in this series – Hot Wings – is out today . . .
Yep, I was thinking about picking it up for review, but honestly, wasn’t that sold on it when I read the synopsis. If you read it, come back and let me know what you think! (Or write us a review!)
I read the prequel and then the novel back-to-back. It reminds me of Patricia Briggs opening to the Charles and Anna series: the prequel first appeared as a short story in an anthology. But the prequel really belongs at the beginning of the first novel – I think the authors should have just included it with this novel. So I wholeheartedly agree with Caz’s rec here to do the same (read them as a single story).
I think I liked this better than Caz. The authors deliberately created a large, Italian, very Catholic family with almost nothing but male offspring, who have followed the family tradition by becoming firefighters (several working at the same fire station) and LEOs, and no one in the family has ever considered that one of its own might not be straight. Everyone in the family lives together (separate houses but on the family’s land) in a small, rural community. Mike is the youngest sibling at 22 and is literally weeks into being on the job. The stakes for Mike are really high: job, literally the roof over his head, the men in his family who he has grown up adoring . . .
I’m not sure how to express this next thought and I apologize in advance if I offend anyone in the process. I didn’t find the homophobia to be as overtly aggressive or menacing as Caz may have; or what I may have anticipated based on her review. YMMV of course. Homophobia sucks and it shouldn’t exist and people need to be called on it. But this family has never had to deal with it in any personal way, so they’ve never made any effort to consider their comments or actions. Was it there? Yes. It’s a little more “on page” but not unlike the homophobia (certainly implied, if not actually in) Reid’s Game Changer series for example, IMO.
If readers are up for a closeted character realizing that s/he really doesn’t want to be there anymore and working to find the courage to come out, I think this book works. Having said that, closeted characters are an easy plot device for ratcheting up tension and the authors have thrown everything but the kitchen sink into this one. I hope the authors have something more in store for future books in the series. They’ve sort of shot their wad here, so to speak. What I hope to see in future books is real growth by the secondary characters in this book.
GIven that Danny is one of the leads in the next book, I think they’ve got their work cut out for them – not only to turn him around but to not write the same book twice!
I think that the authors did a really good job, not only showing just how much pressure Mike was under, but also with the family dynamics. I didn’t think the homophobia was over the top given who these individuals are and their situation, which you’ve described accurately. I just felt the authors had established it well enough and needed to move on.
I like the way you phrased that: not writing the same book twice.
Thanks for your post. One of the things I love about AAR is getting multiple viewpoints on a given book. It helps me decide whether to buy it or not!
Me too!
I read Fireman’s Carry and was looking forward to this,but I’m really not in the mood for lots of on page homophobia. Maybe another time.
A couple of people I follow on GR were talking about this book and called Tara Lain “The Queen of Awkward Sex Scenes” and were bemoaning the fact Easton had teamed up with her. Did you notice that?
I thought about adding a note to the end that said “Carrie – you probably won’t like thus one!” :P
I haven’t seen those comments – and now I’m curious! I haven’t read anything by Tara Lain, although I suspect, from some of the reviews I’ve seen, her stuff might not be my thing.
HAHAHA! It’s like you know me!
Yeah, some examples were quoted in one comment thread on this book and they were…interesting. Of course, the quotes were out of context, so I don’t really know.
These 2 authors co-wrote a M/M new adult series last year called Nerds vs Jocks (4 books, takes place at college, rival fraternities). I liked the first two books but not the third as much and haven’t read the 4th as the premise seemed to strain my credulity too much. But I think that series would be a bit too lighthearted/silly for you, Caz!
I got Fireman’s Carry but haven’t read it yet. It looks like there is a pre-order up for the 2nd Hot Cannolis book and it sounds like much the same issue (yet another brother in the same family is gay/closeted). There was a reasonable amount of acceptance in the Nerds vs Jocks series, maybe because college students/younger generation are more accepting in general? I am pretty amused by the Hot Cannolis titles though – Hot Seat’s sequel is Hot Wings!
I don’t know- Mike and Shane are twenty,-two and this is set in the world outside college. It’s more to do with institutionalised bigotry in certain professions, and the very conservative opinions held by the Canali men. Interesting that Danny is one of the leads in the next book – he’s a jerk most of the time here, although he does redeem himself a little near the end.
I’m generally wary of college-set books, often they’re, as you say too silly, or too full of overly sentimental hand-wringing and pointless navel-gazing!