#Review: Melt for Him by Lauren Blakely - 3.5 Wine Glasses

Title: Melt for Him
Series: Fighting Fire  #2
Author: Lauren Blakely 
Format:  Paperback & eBook, 192 pages
Published: September 8, 2014 by Entangled: Brazen
ASIN: B00MSZECNQ
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N 
Source: Publisher
Reviewer: Kimberly
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Wine Glasses

He knows exactly how to make her burn…

Fire captain and bar owner Becker Thomas usually spends his nights alone, trying to escape painful memories from his past. When he meets a sexy, free-spirited brunette outside his bar, he knows he’s found the perfect way to forget for one night. But when he later discovers the woman he’s itching for another night with is his best friend’s sister, everything comes to a halt.

Just out of a toxic relationship, Megan Jansen is only in Hidden Oaks to visit her brother, photograph the firemen’s calendar, and then slip off to another adventure. The brooding man who gave her the best sex ever is an unexpected surprise. The problem is, he’s her brother’s friend and a fellow fireman, and Megan’s rule is no firemen. She knows she’s going to get burned …but keeping their hands off each other is easier said than done.

Kimberly’s Thoughts:
Megan is back in her hometown after finally breaking up with her loser boyfriend and ready to catch up with her bestfriend and brother before she satisfies her wanderlust and heads back out of town.  When Becker catches sight of the leggy beauty currently removing her bra in the alley behind his bar, he is amused, intrigued, and turned on.  There is instant attraction between the two that soon has them burning up the sheets but when Megan learns of Becker's dangerous side job and Becker learns who Megan is, they find themselves having to cool things off.  It turns out that is easier said than done.

Second in the Fighting Fire series Melt for Him was a quick, sexy, and intimate read.  Even though our leads jump into the sack pretty early, they still had a fun, friendly, and gradual deeper growing attraction.  Megan was a confident and vulnerable character who knew her own mind but was still battling a lot of hurt and scared to follow her own heart.  When her fireman father died, her mother became a ghost herself and left Megan and her older brother Travis to fend for themselves for most of their formative years.  Megan grew up with the fear of losing her loved ones and swore off men like firefighters; her wounded heart was somber and understandable.  Through their teasing and banter it was easy to see why she really liked Becker and believable to see why she panicked when she learned he was a volunteer firefighter.

Becker was a little bit less flushed out as a character, his past traumatic experience in Chicago felt somewhat like tagged on angst.  Becker’s darker broody moments when he was self-flagellating with survivor’s guilt was too quick and awkwardly inserted to have any depth.  He worked best when he was lightheartedly interacting with Megan.  In fact, for how quick of a read this was and how Brazen books tend to rely heavily on the sexy times, I was impressed with how believable Becker and Megan were outside of the bedroom.  There was a camaraderie and ease to the couple that paired extraordinarily well with their bedroom scenes.  The friendship and dialogue they showcased gave their sex scenes not only a naughty and sexy flair but added an intimate feeling; there was an attraction of body and mind.

The small town the story is placed in has a number of current secondary characters that could easily become stars of their own show.  Number one on my want list is Megan's brother Travis, who plays the overly protective role but realizes his sister has her own mind and respects her decisions, nothing more attractive than that.  This would be a great book to pick up for a swift afternoon read, it's sexy with a communicative believable  couple, not always found in these types of books.