Books & Spoons review: Burning For You by Michele Dunaway

The Man of the Month The last thing Taylor Krebs wants is a man. Her crazy, possessive ex-boyfriend has caused her enough drama to last a lifetime. Putting drama and men behind her she focuses on her fledgling photography business. That is, until gorgeous fireman Joe Marino--otherwise known as Mr. September on the Sexy Public Servants Charity Calendar--walks into her life. Joe wants Taylor to photograph burn victims pro bono for a book he’s spearheading for the Burn Recovery Support Group...and he’ll do everything in his power to persuade her to take on his cause.

Taylor soon finds out that she isn’t immune to Joe’s persuasive charms--both professionally and personally--and soon they are burning up the sheets. But will Joe’s secrets and Taylor’s need for quiet stability tear them apart? Or will this Man of the Month also end up being Taylor’s love for all days?

---

What starts as a fun and sexy story about a charity calendar photo shoot, turns up being so much more, with real, heavy issues, and real people with problems and burdens. And maybe there's too much more, since many of the topics were fast overlooked, and then moved on, maybe it could have concentrated on with just some of the topics.
Joe is a firefighter, scarred both physically and mentally in an accidental fire, at the age of 12. He is involved in the charity work, not only for the burn victims, but with the fire department as a boxer, marathon runner, and with the calendar. The scars in his body had given him issues with women, making it hard to trust, and never showing anyone his body from waist down. He is stubborn, goal oriented, he wants to protect, and fix everything for everyone.
Taylor is a photographer, getting her masters degree, working as a waitress to pay the bills. For a long time she has tried to get a topic of her theses approved, with no luck. Most of her photography work is for charity, and she is struggling financially. And her ex, whom she had a restraining order in before, has started to contact her again. Stubbornly, she refuses from help in the matter. Seems like the perfect match for Joe, huh?! And they were hot, there's a connection, and they do burn up the sheets. It seemed things moved on real fast in the story, but I think the timeline got somehow lost in the tale.
There's a fun big meddling family, banter between firefighters, and fancy events with the charity work, to lighten up the story. But there were some events that took place, that I raised my eyebrow for. Taylor's best friend calls Joe and tells him about the ex who is contacting Taylor again. The reason why the ex, Owen, is able to contact her, is that Taylor's mother gave him her phone number. Joe's sister tells Taylor something really personal about Joe, something he doesn't share with people in any form. And if those were not enough, there's the end conflict, where Taylor brakes Joe's trust in a fundamental way. All these events, where people broke the trust of another, were pushed aside fast and mostly overlooked. Some people might shrug their shoulders for that, and that's all good, me - I had a little issue with them.
Yes, there were fun and sexy romance, with a deeper message of accepting yourself as you are, and moving on from your past. Without the issues I mentioned before, I would have given the story a higher score, but now just barely
~ Three Spoons