Review: Fanning the Flames by Victoria Dahl

Victoria Dahl is one of those writers whose work I started reading because she's one of my favorite people to follow on twitter.  Seems like a really cool person, and in turn, that makes me want to read her books.  So far, I've very much enjoyed what I've read of hers. 

  

I remember last summer, she mentioned writing a story about a librarian who watched the firefighter next door running each day.  I was looking forward to that story because, well, my library shares a parking lot with a fire department and there are many jokes in my life regarding going to pick up books/check out the firemen.  Of course, I don't really do that.  But still, funny, right? Whatever.   However, I was a little disappointed that this wasn't a full length story.  And because it was so short, the romance felt a bit rushed.  I usually like a little more of people getting to know each other, more of a build  up.  I guess we are informed that these two people have known each other for a while, so it isn't as if they just met and fell for each other.  They do know each other, which was one of the obstacles in their relationship.  He'd been friends with her ex-husband and she had known his wife before she died.  

One of the reasons I may not have loved this story was because the main characters are older.  Absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it isn't something to which I can relate - being older and having kids and former spouses and such.  These aren't topics that resonate with me at all.   The older part, yes, to some extent, but that's it.  

As for their story, Lauren is a librarian who, despite always being attracted to Jake, has never acted on that attraction.  But she gets talked into going out with her co-workers one night, and he's there.  And he seems quite interested in her.  As you might imagine, the two finally give into their attraction to each other.  

I still liked the story, just not as much as I usually like Dahl's books.  At about 61 pages, it's perfect for a quick, sexy read.  And it's set in Jackson, the beginning of the Girls' Night Out series, and I loved the first book in that series, Looking for Trouble.  Some of the same characters are mentioned, making this well worth reading to know what's happening with everyone involved.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.