ARC Review: Against the Fire by Kat Martin

Against the Fire

The Raines of Wind Canyon

Kat Martin

Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages

Publisher: Mira (January 25, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0778329305

ISBN-13: 978-0778329305

You can't fight what you can't see. And Gabriel Raines can't be sure just who's setting the fires in his new real-estate development. When two fires hit back-to-back, he knows it's personal, but any number of competitors or ex-employees could be the arsonist.

The police suspect Angel Ramirez, a local teen who's been in trouble before. But Mattie Baker, a volunteer at the Family Abuse center, just can't believe the kid she's been working with would go back to his delinquent ways.

Determined to convince Gabe that she's right, Mattie must get close to him and find out who's putting their neighborhood in jeopardy. And just as the arsonist's flames continue to burn, they find a heat developing between them. It might just turn into a full-fledged fire…if they can survive long enough.

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Review:

Gabe Raines is an ex-marine who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in Wind Canyon, Wyoming with his two brothers and an alcoholic mother. Now owning a successful construction company, he’s a long way away from being referred to as one of those “No account Raines boys.” Living the life as a prominent bachelor, Gabe wasn’t looking for a relationship but enjoyed the occasional sleep over with a lovely lady. When one of his construction projects is set to fire he runs into good-looking Mattie Baker, an architect who regularly volunteers at a family help center. He can tell right away that she is not going to be just another easy conquest. Never having to chase a woman before, they usually chase him; getting Mattie to even see him again is going to be a challenge he looks forward to. The circumstances they end up spending time together under however are not ideal and definitely dangerous. An unknown arsonist seems to be gunning for Gabe and the heat is turned up, in more ways then one.

Another sensational read from author Kat Martin in her second installment of The Raines of Wind Canyon series.

Against the Fire deals with real-world issues such as abuse, neglect, sexual harassment and loss. It was a very moving story and well paced with good dialogue and world building. I loved Gabe right away but it took a while for me to get into Mattie. She had very cold characteristics until towards the end when she finally started showing some heart. She isn’t into ‘macho’ men and considered Gabe one. And because of her father’s death and her mother’s struggles afterwards she is of the mindset that the only person you can rely on is yourself, and never a man. Mattie eventually realizes that Gabe isn’t like any other man she has known but by this time it may be too late.

This is a great novel that demonstrates how a person can heal and move forward from a violent past and a bit of a tearjerker towards the end. Against the Fire is also filled with mystery and suspense, some action when we meet the villain face-to-face, heart warming romance and Martins classy love scenes. The story comes to a climatic conclusion that I absolutely loved and I am very much looking forward to the last novel in this trilogy, Against the Law, Devlin’s story. 

4 Wine Glasses

Hot!