Ignite on Contact

TEST

Jaci Burton’s Ignite on Contact is a steamy, fun modern romance with a lot of life and spice to it. The characters have pitch-perfect, spicy banter and their romance feels real and fun.

Rafe Donovan loves being a Florida-based fireman, but when an explosion leaves him in the ER he meets up with his next-door neighbor, triage nurse and department supervisor Carmen Lewis, and sparks fly.

Carmen and Rafe are mightily attracted to one another, but Carmen was divorced four years ago and is still wary of giving her heart again and Rafe – fostering his own issues – refuses to enter into a serious relationship with anyone.

But Rafe is stuck on leave until his injuries heal, and so the two of them get closer in spite of themselves. When Rafe finally breaks down and suggests a strings-free fling it seems to be just what the doctor ordered for both of them. But what happens when feelings get involved?

Ignite on Contact is Burton’s best book yet, a great romance about two good people who have to work hard for their HEAs in a world that is anchored by the serious reality of their jobs.

I loved Carmen’s practicality and pragmatics versus Rafe’s everyday normal dude outlook (she’s also Latina and I loved the little snippets of Spanish Burton put in the book).  They’re both people who feel deeply responsible for those around them, and that’s a trait that dominates the book.

I liked Rafe’s relationship with his other brothers – orphaned in a fire, they were adopted by a fireman and have followed their stepfather’s footsteps into the firefighting business.  Each man is pulling away in a different direction as the book opens, which makes things a hair difficult for them, as they need to stay cohesive as a fire-fighting unit.

As I said in the preamble, the romance is off the charts – grown up, hot and delicious.  There’s a sense of great liveliness to it, and an excellent sense of two real people coming to know and love one another.

I loved Rafe’s relationship with his friends in the firehouse, and I liked Carmen’s sisterhood with her fellow nurses.  The book does a very good job of portraying life in the medical and firefighting worlds; Rafe’s guilt when he can’t save every single person who comes his way is palpable.  They’re both in services like that and Carmen’s response is appropriately different than his.

Also wonderful is Carmen’s relationship with her grandfather, whom she has taken care of at night since his stroke. He tries to nudge her into living her very best life while maintaining a warm relationship with her, and is provided with a sweet secondary romance with a woman named Felice that’s worth investing in.

Overall Ignite on Contact is a handsome Burton romance with a lot of feeling, zest and passion, and for that it gets a high recommendation.

Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo

Visit our Amazon Storefrontor shop at your local independent bookstore

Reviewed by Lisa Fernandes

Grade: A

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date: 04/02/20

Publication Date: 02/2020

Recent Comments …

  1. excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.

Lisa Fernandes is a writer, reviewer and recapper who lives somewhere on the East Coast. Formerly employed by Firefox.org and Next Projection, she also currently contributes to Women Write About Comics. Read her blog at http://thatbouviergirl.blogspot.com/, follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/thatbouviergirl or contribute to her Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/MissyvsEvilDead or her Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com/missmelbouvier

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KesterGayle
KesterGayle
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02/04/2020 1:37 am

This sounds perfect for me and it’s on audio, so I took the plunge. It’s always fun when responsible grown ups fall in love.

Lisa Fernandes
Lisa Fernandes
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Reply to  KesterGayle
02/04/2020 2:50 pm

I really hope you like it!