Back in Portland much to her dismay, newly unemployed school teacher Erin is home for the summer, job hunting and helping out her ever meddling nut job of a mother. The family comes complete with a brooding teen age sister who refused her college scholarship and a jack hat bossy older brother who is a firefighter. Mom owns a food truck and the two girls are pitching in working while Mom recoups from minor surgery. Erin is job hunting every minute, determined to return to her life in California, she fled Portland 10 years ago and never looked back. Now meet Jake, best friend of her older brother, a long term growing up crush, single dad firefighter, whose life revolves around his job and caring for his now 13 year old daughter. When the two meet by accident at the local bake shop, Erin finds herself owing Jake one, and agrees to accompany him to his sisters wedding, spending the weekend with his entire family 3 hours away. They're attracted to each other but there's slow and then there's slow.
As luck (or not) would have it, they have to share a room. When faced with being alone with Erin, Jake freaks and high tails it from anywhere near her, makes excuses and even when things heat up, the guy flips the deep freeze switch in a nanosecond.
Frankly, I got tired of Jake quickly, I don't care how hot he was and all of his much ado about nothing, he got old quick. Erin is trying to get the hell out of town, even thought the attraction to Jake is overpowering, the reasons why she left and bubbling over. Mom's back working her food truck and trying to work her daughters love life and the family non function was just not fun. Sullen 19 year old who's a little biotch, the brother and I was over it. Erin was hellbent on getting back to Cali and when she finally caved and applied to a few jobs in the area because of Jake, she gets an offer she finds hard to turn down.
So, what would Erin do? How do you make that choice? Do you stay in the place you couldn't wait to get the hell out of 10 years ago, back to the security of the familiar. Stay for the man who is all over the map, the totally screwed up family that was absolutely no help or support. Yeah tough choice right? Far too little, far too late.
She made hers. Read the book to find out.

**arc from NetGalley and Publisher for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Burning Up is an enjoyable romantic read concerning fireman Jake a single parent and Erin an unemployed teacher back home from California whilst she looks for a new teaching position. Erin has always has a crush on Jake from when they were in school, and when they meet up after 10 years both are very attracted to each other. They end up attending a wedding together where things really start heating up between them, Jake so scared of being burned again keeps retreating from Erin.
Eventually they both admit their true feelings for each other, but I did feel it was dragged out for too long as the story then ended rather abruptly for my liking, I would of preferred a short epilogue to show how the relationship was progressing, that said an easy good read.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for opportunity to review this book.

Erin comes home after being laid off from her job as a teacher in California. She has always had a crush on Jake, her brother’s best friend. She’s been putting applications for jobs in California but keeps getting turned down. Jake is a firefighter and raising his twelve year old daughter. Jake doesn’t let women get too close to his daughter for fear of her getting hurt. He tries to stay away from Erin but can’t. Erin gets a call from her old boss that she has her job back. Can she go back to California and leave Jake or stay where her family is and her heart?
Great story. Sexy. Funny. The characters pull you in from the beginning to the very end.
* Voluntarily read and reviewed this for Netgalley *

We meet Erin who returns home to Portland to assist her mother since she had an operation. Erin dreads being home, she left at the age of 18 after feeling suffocated from her mom, she loves her family she does but her mom has no boundaries, so she is counting the days to return to her home of sunny San Fran, unfortunately she was laid off as a teacher so now she is on the job hunt. She ends up running into her crush Jake, who also happens to be her brothers best friend, and she thought she no longer had that crush but boy was she wrong. Jake is interested in Erin, but he tries to remember the Bro Code and also he has a daughter that he does not want to hurt by bringing someone to their lives to just leave again..But plans change..Enjoy!

If there’s anything to be expected of Jennifer Blackwood’s writing, it’s the hefty dose of humour inserted in straight from the start, or at least it’s what I’ve come to associate Blackwood with.

‘Burning Up’ began with a woman on the outs and her embarrassment all because of (wrong) timing—the usual thing that creates comedy—and the characters’ as well as the reader’s reactions to it were enough to bring me on board with it. For a firefighting book however, the burn between Erin/Jake was slower than I expected, with few sparks that flare here and there, interspersed with some firefighting action and the day-to-day scenes (some unusually funny) of the EMTs that I usually like reading about.

And that’s probably as far as I should get with the fire analogies before they start getting corny.

By and large, Blackwood’s jaunty, funny writing made it quite easy to sail through the forbidden brother’s best friend kind of story. There were however, some parts that were frustratingly dedicated to the push-pull decisions both protagonists made as well as the shady implication that Jake needed Erin’s brother’s ‘permission’ or approval to date her and that Erin seemed to constantly pick up the breadcrumbs Jake left for her even as he pushed her away repeatedly, unable to decide what he really wanted. Their HEA, left to the last minute, was an abrupt one, done to the extent where I flipped the page wondering if I’d actually missed something or accidentally ghosted a few paragraphs that would have helped solidify the ending.

In any case, ‘Burning Up’ reads like the establishing book that it’s meant to be: done with a setup of future pairings, the slight hints of the characters who will next get their story and the presence of a close community that help structure the context and the scene. It’s a series that I’ll be watching out for, even if it’s just for the sheer fun factor that Blackwood’s writing gives.

A funny, hot story with a great plot and some fantastic secondary characters, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more of this series. Jennifer Blackwood does not disappoint!

I so enjoy a firefighter romance and this one fits it to a T. Excellent story building and romance. I really liked Jake. He didn't believe in love but along came Erin. Erin was a unique and interesting characters. Enjoyed

Great book!!! I'm thinking and hoping that there will be more to this book!! Hopefully a whole series of hot firefighters!!! But thus story had a little bit of everything! We got some action, light drama, and it was hot hot hot!!! I want to send a huge thank you to the author Jennifer Blackwood for asking her publishers to share this book with me!! It was so worth the read!! Great book!! Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for sharing this book with me also! I truly loved it!! Can't wait for more!!

LOVED this book!!! Erin and her family are quirky and fun, while Jake is swoon-worthy. What could be hotter than a sexy fireman that's also a single dad to a daughter? Yummmmmmmm.... yes, please. Add in Erin's job quest and humorous circumstance she finds herself in and you've got a great combination. I don't think I'll ever look at a hotel room tv the same again......I think I'll always wonder if it's entertainment or the enemy...

If you enjoy contemporary romance with a bit of humor, you will love this book. This is the perfect beach read. The author is on my must read authors' list and should probably be on yours as well.

"I need you, Erin. To the point where you take up every bit of available space in my head. "

"I will make every moment with you count"

Burning Up is the first book in an exciting new series from author Jennifer Blackwood. Following the story of Erin and Jake, Burning Up in a sweet swoon worthy romance that will make you feel good and leave you with a smile on your face. It is a story about coming home and returning to your roots. A story of living the life you're meant to live and taking a chance on love.

I loved the family dynamic in this book and loved how everyone was in on everyone else's business. I thought Erin's mom was a riot. She wanted nothing more than her daughter to be happy and couldn't wait to gossip to whomever would listen. I loved her family despite all of their craziness.

And Jake....he had his reservations about becoming involved with someone. He tried really hard to fight the pull between him and Erin. But, the pull between the two of them was too hot to be ignored.

Overall, I thought this book was an enjoyable read. It was fun and flirty with just the right amount of steam and heart. I think this series is off to a really great start and look forward to getting my hands on the next book in this series.

Even with all the family drama, Erin and Jake are able to find time to be together. I really enjoyed this book.