Books & Spoons Review: HEAT EXCHANGE by Shannon Stacey

Lydia Kincaid's shipping back to Boston, but she's not happy about it. She left to get away from the firefighting community—her father was a firefighter, her brother's a firefighter and, more important, her ex is a firefighter. But family is number one, and her father needs her help running the pub he bought when he retired. Soon, Lydia finds it hard to resist the familiar comfort and routine, and even harder to resist her brother's handsome friend Aidan.

Aidan Hunt is a firefighter because of the Kincaid family. He's had the hots for Lydia for years, but if ever a woman was off-limits to him, it's her. Aside from being his mentor's daughter, she's his best friend's sister. The ex-wife of a fellow firefighter. But his plan to play it cool until she leaves town again fails, and soon he and Lydia have crossed a line they can't uncross.

As Aidan and Lydia's flirtation turns into something more serious, Lydia knows she should be planning her escape. Being a firefighter's wife was the hardest thing she's ever done, and she doesn't know if she has the strength to do it again. Aidan can't imagine walking away from Boston Fire—even for Lydia. The job and the brotherhood are his life; but if he wants Lydia in it, he'll have to decide who's first in his heart.

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Shannon Stacey is one of my top five favorite authors. I love her books, they are filled with smart, charismatic characters, humor, families that you love, and great swoon worthy romance. Heat Exchange is a book one of the new series of Boston firefighters, and I got completely lost in the story, so that I lost the track of time.
Lydia and Aidan both have some package they have to deal with. Aidan's family is not the most loving and supportive, and Aidan feels like the Lydia's dad has been more of a father figure to him than his own ever was. Lydia has always felt she played a second fiddle to the firefighter brotherhood, with her father, ex-husband, and brother. She promised to herself never to get involved with another firefighter again.
But the attraction between Aidan and Lydia is strong, and something they have to hide from people around them.
I loved how their feelings grew for each other. They are fantastic together, they fit so naturally with each other, the chemistry is hot, the sexy times are steamy, but it's not only about that. They have a real connection, understanding, and friendship as well.
There's a secondary plot on the side, the reason why Lydia came back home, the marriage problems her sister Ashley is having with her firefighter husband Danny. I enjoyed both of the sisters stories, how the stories were developed, and how they had to do the hard work in their relationships, to make it work, to build for the future together.
The struggle firefighters and their families have, with the time and mind consuming work they do, the priorities they have to set, and danger of their work, was well played in the story.
There were times I was laughing out loud, and times when I teared up, the story swept me away and touched my emotions. The brutality of the choices these everyday heroes have to make, the danger of their job, the families that support them, and the sacrifices they have to make were so well described in the story. But also there was a celebration of love, the kind that have your best in mind, always, and supports you no matter what. I can't wait to see, where this series will go.
~ Four Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

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