Iona Findley

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Risking Hearts is book two in the Hero's Heart Romance series. It's furthers the story of smoke jumpers trying to find love. In this story, the smokejumper is Jake. He badly wants what Sam and Jessalyn (from book 1) have. Love. A family of his own. He's a pilot. And unfortunately, the woman he sets his sights on has a post traumatic stress level fear of flying. And an immediate dislike of pilots. But Jake doesn't give up no matter how many times Hope rebuffs him. And despite her better judgement, Hope can't resist Jake.

Their story is very cute. Probably my favorite so far of the series. Jake and Hope are both genuinely good people and they deserve the happiness they can bring to each other. They have a bit of conflict late in the story that just about breaks my heart for both of them. And a bit later, there is some danger that just about stops my heart. The realization of love and the ending was a bit rushed, but for the most part, the rest of the book leading up to the end was really good. There was just a lot packed in at the last minute that disturbed the flow of the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. It was a very satisfying romantic read with a happy ending for all!… (mehr)

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This is the third book in this series that I've read. And each book has been consistent without being repetitious. In this book, there's a female smoke jumper/firefighter (Zoe) who gets injured in the line of duty and has to take a job as an arson inspector until her injuries heal. During the course of an arson investigation, she meets and immediately becomes both annoyed and intrigued by a widowed father, Marcus. Even though he's her main suspect, her feelings for the man grow, as do her feelings for his daughter. Should she risk her heart or risk her job?

I have to say that I didn't enjoy these characters as much as I did in previous books. We've actually met Marcus and his daughter before in the first book. He's the brother of the main male character in book 1. In this book, we get more into his story and how he falls for the fire investigator. I actually sympathized more with Marcus than I did with Zoe. She was in a bad place and kind of let that influence her mood and behavior. She had a bad attitude about people in general that seemed to influence how she acted around them. She kind of got on my nerves. As did Marcus' daughter. And his family. I personally seem to think there's a fine line to parenting and everyone was making it incredibly hard for him to do what he deemed appropriate for his own child. His daughter came across as a bit rude, mouthy, hard headed and insolent, but I tried to remember that she was only 13 and that's generally how they tend to be. Marcus had his good moments with her that seemed to balance it all.

The book was interesting, although I didn't enjoy it as much as the first two books. I think the characters just didn't do it for me. I liked the idea of Marcus being a single, widowed father. But I didn't enjoy the daughter being in the story as much as I thought I would. I didn't enjoy the romance between Marcus and Zoe as much as I thought I would. As with the other books, the HEA came suddenly and abruptly. I needed a bit more convincing to see these two as a viable pair.… (mehr)

I only read the back cover before I started this book but the description sounded good so I thought why not. At first it sounded very much like half the books in the romance category but in the end I found something unique in it and I really loved this book. I like the everyday heroes, such as fire fighters, soldiers and police officers. It's always a pleasure to read that they find their happy ever afters and I'm looking forward to reading the other books in this series. I warmly recommend this to all and everybody. All in all, this was truly an amazing story.… (mehr)