Playing with Fire: A Friends to Lovers Firefighter Romance

This book definitely deserves a 5-star review. I kept waiting and waiting for Macey and Derek to kiss or be more intimate with each other and when it happened, it was like I was listening to a friend spill the tea on their relationship. I love this book.

If the definition of a talented author is one whose stories grab your attention from page one, and not only hold it, but make you feel deep emotions for the story and the main characters, then we can add to that definition the name of Amy Knupp. This first book of her Island Fire series centers around Macey Locke and Derek Severson. They had been friends since they were 5 years old and would frequently spend their days in the restaurant owned by their mothers. As they got older they went their separate ways. Macey to work in Thailand in the Peace Corps and Derek became a firefighter in Dallas, until tragedy strikes leaving him a shell of himself. He leaves Dallas to go to San Amaro Island to escape life and help his uncle run a shack on the beach. When Macey returns to the US, she’s asked by Derek’s Mom to please check on him. Off she goes with the intention of spending 6 weeks in a tropical island. That’s when the plot thickens. The story was engaging, with very complex characters. But what I appreciated most, was the author’s ability to make us feel the grief Derek was experiencing and Macey’s need to help Derek . A man she has been in love most of her life. All this making it at times a heartbreaking as well as heartwarming story. The secondary characters were just as entertaining and one can see the potential for stories . Kudos to the author for this wonderful story. I was gifted a copy of this book. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

determined to pull her best friend out of a guilt funk after his girlfriend died, Macie also hopes for love to appear, but will Derek give life and Macie a chance?