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Hearts Afire #4
Hearts Afire: April
Once Burned – By Emery Sanborne
Andreas Sullivan learns that promotion in the fire department comes with its downside when the chief assigns him to settling in their new man and reputed adrenaline junkie, Bobby Ford. However, Bobby proves himself a good addition to the team and makes no secret about his attraction to Andreas.
Early in his career, Andreas had a relationship with another fireman that went sour after he was injured in a call. Since then, he has avoided serious entanglement both on the job and off. But Bobby is persistent and Andreas finds himself falling hard and fast. Once burned, Andreas holds back until a close call makes him reevaluate things.
Contains billiards, baseball and hot fireman on fireman action.
A Voice in the Dark – Jamie Craig
On one horrible morning, the existence Anthony Saunders knew disappeared with the crunch of twisted metal. The other driver lost his life. Anthony lost his sight. He almost lost more, but for a single voice. A voice that reached through the fear and confusion, and kept him calm while the Jaws of Life tore open his flipped car. A voice that followed Anthony during his long road to recovery as he learned to live with his disability.
Firefighter Dan Middleton's job is to save lives. He certainly doesn't expect to hear from the rescued victims after they leave his brief care. When a blind man he only vaguely remembers arrives at the fire station to express his gratitude, Dan is stunned. He's even more stunned to discover he genuinely likes Anthony. More than he's liked anybody in a long time.
Dan finds it difficult to balance his career with a real relationship, while Anthony is still trying to find a way to stand on his own two feet. They only need to have the courage to follow a voice in the dark.
M/M
Andreas Sullivan learns that promotion in the fire department comes with its downside when the chief assigns him to settling in their new man and reputed adrenaline junkie, Bobby Ford. However, Bobby proves himself a good addition to the team and makes no secret about his attraction to Andreas.
Early in his career, Andreas had a relationship with another fireman that went sour after he was injured in a call. Since then, he has avoided serious entanglement both on the job and off. But Bobby is persistent and Andreas finds himself falling hard and fast. Once burned, Andreas holds back until a close call makes him reevaluate things.
Contains billiards, baseball and hot fireman on fireman action.
A Voice in the Dark – Jamie Craig
On one horrible morning, the existence Anthony Saunders knew disappeared with the crunch of twisted metal. The other driver lost his life. Anthony lost his sight. He almost lost more, but for a single voice. A voice that reached through the fear and confusion, and kept him calm while the Jaws of Life tore open his flipped car. A voice that followed Anthony during his long road to recovery as he learned to live with his disability.
Firefighter Dan Middleton's job is to save lives. He certainly doesn't expect to hear from the rescued victims after they leave his brief care. When a blind man he only vaguely remembers arrives at the fire station to express his gratitude, Dan is stunned. He's even more stunned to discover he genuinely likes Anthony. More than he's liked anybody in a long time.
Dan finds it difficult to balance his career with a real relationship, while Anthony is still trying to find a way to stand on his own two feet. They only need to have the courage to follow a voice in the dark.
M/M
159 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 18, 2011
Upd. from 17.12
I've read the second story and I'm ready to rate the whole book, since I rather liked the first story too. But the second one was amazing! Of course I'm a sap and I nearly cried several times, but that was really good! Hopeful and tender and sweet - my favorite type of reading!
***
I have to say I've only read the first story, just because I'm not in the mood for the depressive theme of the second one, but I'll return to it someday.
And still I don't know how to rate the first story.
It was good and I really liked the characters, but there was WAY too much family for my liking. I wanted the story to be focused on Andreas and Bobby, not on Andreas' giant family and their intrusive questions and advices and whatnot. If that was me, I'd seriously tell them to fuck off even though I love my family, but there are some boundaries they're not allowed to cross.
I'd love to know more about Andreas's past and his failed relationships with Tom and I wanted the book to be more... finished. Maybe a little insight in the future and how Andreas and Bobby are doing.
So, it was good, but I wish it were a little different :)
I've read the second story and I'm ready to rate the whole book, since I rather liked the first story too. But the second one was amazing! Of course I'm a sap and I nearly cried several times, but that was really good! Hopeful and tender and sweet - my favorite type of reading!
***
I have to say I've only read the first story, just because I'm not in the mood for the depressive theme of the second one, but I'll return to it someday.
And still I don't know how to rate the first story.
It was good and I really liked the characters, but there was WAY too much family for my liking. I wanted the story to be focused on Andreas and Bobby, not on Andreas' giant family and their intrusive questions and advices and whatnot. If that was me, I'd seriously tell them to fuck off even though I love my family, but there are some boundaries they're not allowed to cross.
I'd love to know more about Andreas's past and his failed relationships with Tom and I wanted the book to be more... finished. Maybe a little insight in the future and how Andreas and Bobby are doing.
So, it was good, but I wish it were a little different :)
June 8, 2015
2,5 stars
Once Burned by Emery Sanborne - 2 stars
A Voice in the Dark by Jamie Craig - 3 stars
Once Burned by Emery Sanborne - 2 stars
A Voice in the Dark by Jamie Craig - 3 stars
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January 2, 2018Once Burned by Emery Sanborne
A Voice In the Dark by Jamie Craig
A Voice In the Dark by Jamie Craig
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June 5, 2009Once Burned by Emery Sanborne
This story really surprised me. From the blurb and also from the title, I was expecting quite an angst story about a "burned" firefighter (bad pun intended) who fights with all his force to not fall in love for the newbie at the station; obviously the fight would be lost since the beginning and if we were lucky there would have been a lot of sex and so on... so more or less a standard story, a right dose of hot romance, but nothing special... and instead it's way more funny than that.
At first Andreas comes out as the good boy of the story, his Uncle Ed, who is also the Chief of the station where he works, asks him to babysit the new man, a "young" boy with the reputation of being an adrenaline junkie. I was just imagining my may / december relationship, with an hot young pretty thing, when Bobby appears on the scene: 16 years as marine and 2 as firefighter, Bobby is at the same level as Andreas, and above all, he is not the trouble seeking they were expecting. Instead, the first time they go out together, it's Andreas who gets involved in a bar fight.
Bobby is plain and direct since the first moment: he likes Andreas, they are both single, why not give a chance to the two of them? No strings attached, no word of forever love, they are two adult men who can be buddy friends with benefits. And it's exactly like that between them, there is an easy behavior, a communion of intent and idea without no one of them speaking the words. It's hot and funny sexy, easy and enjoyable, so easy that Andreas and Bobby slip from buddy friends to lovers to partners wihout even realizing it.
I like the feeling of the story, I like how Andreas and Bobby are both enough adult to realize what they have and don't be scared by that. The squabbles between them are real fun and the story was fun as well to read. Andreas' past burns are so insignificat in comparison to what he found now, that almost slip into oblivion without notice.
A Voice in the Dark by Jamie Craig
When Pepper Espinoza and Vivien Dean write alone, I noticed a trend in their writing, Pepper Espinoza I believe is the light side (even if in The Obsolete Man she proved to be able of a little angst) and Vivien Dean is the dark side, preferring the paranormal side of romance. When they write together they are a mix of both. A Voice in the Dark is not paranormal, it's the classical firefighters story, but it has its right dose of angst, being at the same time light enough to make you smile, see the supporting character of the mother.
In the prologue Anthony and Dan met in the worst possible way, Anthony the victim of a very bad accident and Dan the firefighter on the site. Dan helps Anthony to go through his nightmare being the voice that comforts the scared man. And unfortunately the voices become the most important things for Anthony, since he looses his sight in that accident. The authors decide to not show us all the trial through Anthony for sure was in the year following the accident, probably since this is a novella, and there was not enough space, and probably since they preferred to focus on the romantic relationship.
When Anthony is better, means when he is comfortable with his blindness, he decides to go thanks Dan for being that comforting voice in the dark. Fate wants that both Anthony than Dan are gay and single, and it doesn't take much time to realize that they are good one for the other.
I like that for Dan, Anthony's blindness is not consciously a problem, but that for real he starts the relationship dealing with Anthony in a different way he would do with another man. And I like that Anthony explains the "problem", that he doesn't like to be treated in a different way, without being snarky and without being angry with Dan. Both heroes are so nice that they are almost too good to be true.
Quite obviously Dan and Anthony's sex scenes, especially the first one, are quite heavy in "tactile" details, every movement is described as to provide for the lack of sight of Anthony, and so the reader is on with him for the ride, being overwhelmed, but in a very nice way.
There is not much drama, just the right dose you will expect for a story with a firefighter in it (who has ear to understand, understand...), but overall, this is more a nice romantic story of boy meets boy, boy likes boy and boy lives happily ever after with boy.
Usually I don't like double anthology, I always end liking one story more than the other. Instead in this one, I wouldn't be able to say what story I prefer: they are so different in tone and style, even having similar setting, that are both high in my satisfaction level.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/59...
This story really surprised me. From the blurb and also from the title, I was expecting quite an angst story about a "burned" firefighter (bad pun intended) who fights with all his force to not fall in love for the newbie at the station; obviously the fight would be lost since the beginning and if we were lucky there would have been a lot of sex and so on... so more or less a standard story, a right dose of hot romance, but nothing special... and instead it's way more funny than that.
At first Andreas comes out as the good boy of the story, his Uncle Ed, who is also the Chief of the station where he works, asks him to babysit the new man, a "young" boy with the reputation of being an adrenaline junkie. I was just imagining my may / december relationship, with an hot young pretty thing, when Bobby appears on the scene: 16 years as marine and 2 as firefighter, Bobby is at the same level as Andreas, and above all, he is not the trouble seeking they were expecting. Instead, the first time they go out together, it's Andreas who gets involved in a bar fight.
Bobby is plain and direct since the first moment: he likes Andreas, they are both single, why not give a chance to the two of them? No strings attached, no word of forever love, they are two adult men who can be buddy friends with benefits. And it's exactly like that between them, there is an easy behavior, a communion of intent and idea without no one of them speaking the words. It's hot and funny sexy, easy and enjoyable, so easy that Andreas and Bobby slip from buddy friends to lovers to partners wihout even realizing it.
I like the feeling of the story, I like how Andreas and Bobby are both enough adult to realize what they have and don't be scared by that. The squabbles between them are real fun and the story was fun as well to read. Andreas' past burns are so insignificat in comparison to what he found now, that almost slip into oblivion without notice.
A Voice in the Dark by Jamie Craig
When Pepper Espinoza and Vivien Dean write alone, I noticed a trend in their writing, Pepper Espinoza I believe is the light side (even if in The Obsolete Man she proved to be able of a little angst) and Vivien Dean is the dark side, preferring the paranormal side of romance. When they write together they are a mix of both. A Voice in the Dark is not paranormal, it's the classical firefighters story, but it has its right dose of angst, being at the same time light enough to make you smile, see the supporting character of the mother.
In the prologue Anthony and Dan met in the worst possible way, Anthony the victim of a very bad accident and Dan the firefighter on the site. Dan helps Anthony to go through his nightmare being the voice that comforts the scared man. And unfortunately the voices become the most important things for Anthony, since he looses his sight in that accident. The authors decide to not show us all the trial through Anthony for sure was in the year following the accident, probably since this is a novella, and there was not enough space, and probably since they preferred to focus on the romantic relationship.
When Anthony is better, means when he is comfortable with his blindness, he decides to go thanks Dan for being that comforting voice in the dark. Fate wants that both Anthony than Dan are gay and single, and it doesn't take much time to realize that they are good one for the other.
I like that for Dan, Anthony's blindness is not consciously a problem, but that for real he starts the relationship dealing with Anthony in a different way he would do with another man. And I like that Anthony explains the "problem", that he doesn't like to be treated in a different way, without being snarky and without being angry with Dan. Both heroes are so nice that they are almost too good to be true.
Quite obviously Dan and Anthony's sex scenes, especially the first one, are quite heavy in "tactile" details, every movement is described as to provide for the lack of sight of Anthony, and so the reader is on with him for the ride, being overwhelmed, but in a very nice way.
There is not much drama, just the right dose you will expect for a story with a firefighter in it (who has ear to understand, understand...), but overall, this is more a nice romantic story of boy meets boy, boy likes boy and boy lives happily ever after with boy.
Usually I don't like double anthology, I always end liking one story more than the other. Instead in this one, I wouldn't be able to say what story I prefer: they are so different in tone and style, even having similar setting, that are both high in my satisfaction level.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/59...
August 2, 2010
Once Burned:
funny/snappy dialogue; not much character development; also slightly odd? very few mentions of how something is said- like with what type of inflection. makes it kind of difficult to understand what is serious/humorous/&c. but overall, good.
A Voice in the Dark:
not a huge Jamie Craig fan, so i'm just going to skip this one. it wasnt bad, or anything. just not rating it b/c it'd be easier (for me) if the other book stood alone. so i'm pretending it does.
funny/snappy dialogue; not much character development; also slightly odd? very few mentions of how something is said- like with what type of inflection. makes it kind of difficult to understand what is serious/humorous/&c. but overall, good.
A Voice in the Dark:
not a huge Jamie Craig fan, so i'm just going to skip this one. it wasnt bad, or anything. just not rating it b/c it'd be easier (for me) if the other book stood alone. so i'm pretending it does.
May 21, 2009
3.5 stars for the first story
3 stars for the second
...but i'll give 4 because the dialogues in the first one were really funny.
There weren't really a plot but nice characters for both.
3 stars for the second
...but i'll give 4 because the dialogues in the first one were really funny.
There weren't really a plot but nice characters for both.
July 23, 2011
3.5 stars overall
1st story 3Stars, a bit too previsible and not very orriginal
2nd story 4Stars : a very nice story, well written and heart-warming
1st story 3Stars, a bit too previsible and not very orriginal
2nd story 4Stars : a very nice story, well written and heart-warming
July 9, 2012
Rating 3.5
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews