Available Oct 2: Consumed by J.R. Ward
****4/5 stars

A fabulous action-thriller-romance starring two firefighters with chips on their shoulders.



Recommended readers:

JR Ward, Laura Griffin or mystery-thriller drama plots
for action-adventure-romance lovers
if you're a fan of CSI TV series, you'll love anything Laura Griffin
Here's my Rankings:

4/5 for characters
5/5 for plot
4/5 overall
3/5 steaminess
REVIEW FROM BOOKS FOR HER:
Ann Ashburn has a legacy of firefighters in her family - even her brother is the fire chief. And one questionable - though brave - decision changes her career as a firefigher forever. She's still recovering from her physical and emotional wounds when she becomes an arson investigator. A series of suspicious and deadly fires throws her back into the thick of it - and even closer to her ex - sexy, arrogant Danny McGuire. 

As you expect from any J.R. Ward thriller, there's so break in the action in the page-turning Consumed. From action, passion and mystery there's no putting this book down.

Available Oct 2: Consumed by J.R. Ward

While missing the one liners of the Brotherhood you still get the camaraderie feel of the group. The story is fast paced and ends without a cliffhanger. You get a peek into the other's lives just enough that leaves you wanting to read their stories. Annie and Danny are perfect for each other and I loved the addition, even though it was small, of Soot. Will be reading more of this series.

Anne and Danny are kindred spirits. They compliment each other is a very subtle way, pretty much unnoticeable. Of course, being completely in love with one another while working side by side in a firehouse makes things very complex.

Having slept together once, they try to maintain a normal working friends' relationship.

When a tragedy hits and Danny is forced to do whatever he must to save Anne's life, his already traumatic past takes a plunge to some serious self-destruct.

I think Anne's involvement in Danny's recovery is very special, considering her own loss and trauma. Also, the fact that she's now following a different career path and trying to prove a crime only complicates things between them, as well as their surrounding friends.

I'm still not sure how I feel about reading a human WARDen series, but for now I like it.

I have never read anything but PNR by this author but I really liked this new series starter. It's looking like a combination of sexy with a healthy dose of romantic suspense/mystery that will certainly keep you guessing and hold your attention. There are some very intense moments in this book that made me gasp and not in a good way. Anne and Danny may not fall right into their HEA, but that's a good thing. Everything that happens to get them there is what makes this book so good.

Thank you yo Netgalley for this ARC.

I have to admit that I am a little impatient.

I was hooked on the tragedy of Anne losing her arm at the very beginning and how Danny was the one who assisted in that. I saw Anne and Danny's love story developing. However, I grew tired of the switching between different story lines out of nowhere in each chapter. A lot of the conversations and words felt like filler in order to meet some type of page quota. I wanted to finish the book so hopefully I would understand how some of these stories connected to the overall plot. The book's summary focuses on an arson investigation and search for a killer. The first 50% of the book felt drawn out because it only addressed the night of the fires, the follow up to Anne losing her hand, and the background lives of the characters.

The ending helped the book redeem itself a bit. I realized that some of the things written in the book connected to the outcome of the story. This book is advertised as the first in a series, but I honestly think that the series should end here as it is. I also think that this book needs to be condensed. I don't think that it needed to be over 400 pages in order to drive this plot line home. Overall, I was genuinely surprised at the ending because I honestly did not expect that.

Side note: The author wrote decent erotic scenes, but calling human genitalia "sex" during a sex scene makes me cringe.

WOW!!! This book grabs you from the first page and doesn't let go. Hold on for a rollercoaster ride, this book has it all...I couldn't put it down.

OH YES! J.R. Ward does it again. Superb storyline and characters. Totally enjoyed. I liked the plot which was quite interesting.

Consumed
Firefighters, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: J.R. Ward!!!!!

The Characters:

Anne Ashburn:
Danny McGuire:
Tom Ashburn Jr, Nancy Janice Fitzgerald Ashburn, a host of fellow firefighters

The Story:

J. R. Ward is an author that tends to make me babble with joy so I’ll take it down to the scorecard format and hopefully make some sense.

Writing: So good. There is a different voice from the Brothers or even the Bourbon Kings but it’s undeniably Ward. The story flowed well and the characters lived off the page to me.
Forward Motion: Really good. I never felt rushed despite a lot of the action being back loaded.
Overall Interest: This was a book I wanted to pick up. I did stray just because I wanted to also finish the book I was reading when the galley was approved but It was a 2 chapter of Consumed to 1 chapter of the other book ratio.
Length of Reading Time: Average for me. Again I could have done it faster if I wasn’t sharing time but I enjoyed it the way it was.
Re-read-ability: Probably not. I love J.R. Ward books but I’ve never been compelled to reread.

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot. I couldn’t put it down for the last 10%. I can’t wait to get to know these characters more.

The Random Thoughts:



4 Stars

I received an ARC of this book for my honest review.
I have not read a lot of books by J.R. Ward but this interested me and I am I glad I asked to review it. This book has it all romance, murder/mystery and a fast paced action thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. Without giving any of it away, the opening fire that involved Anne and Danny was so realistic that it was like you were there with them. I had to stop reading and start reading that part it was that good. It was like you were watching a movie on the big screen, you wanted to look away but you just had to watch to see how it all played out.
Just a really great read and this will be one I will buy for friends to read.
An outstanding book,

This is the first book by this author I've read. And wow, it grabbed me from the beginning and kept me.

I really enjoyed this story. The characters, the story, all of it. And when it ended I totally wanted more. The story kicked off with a wow - loved the relationship between Anne and Danny - and the twist and turns in the story.

I will be looking at other books by the author now.

Another engrossing read from J.R. Ward. I can see a whole series of books about many of the other characters we met in Consumed. I cannot wait to read more books set in the fire-fighting world.

I hadn't read any of J.R. Ward's books before and I was anxious to read this one as I know she has many fans. It was a fascinating novel about firefighting and arson investigation with some steamy romance and intrigue thrown in. During a routine warehouse fire, Anne, a fearless, take-no-prisoners, Alpha female suffers a devastating injury at the hand of Danny--the "bad boy" firefighter to whom she is attracted. Both are wounded characters, physically and mentally-- from their pasts and their present--and of course think that suffering in silence will help them "move on." Has that really ever worked for anyone? (But no one asked for my advice). In any case, it has a fast-moving plot, dynamic characters that are complex and flawed, and action that is non-stop. This will certainly make you respect firefighters and the dangers they face--so a very relevant read with all that's happening this fire season!

4.5 Stars
Fans of J.R. Ward will probably love CONSUMED, since her cast of primary and secondary characters, both male and female, are all in-your-face, don't F with me alphas, reminiscent of her Black Dagger Brotherhood protagonists. Her firefighters are dedicated and kick-ass in Book One of her new series. Keeping up with the action and pace of this story was like watching an extended drag race, and I have to admit I got fatigued by that at times, but Ward proved once again that she can deliver a unique series.

Good story about the dangers of fire fighting and the mystery of solving an arson case and maybe a little romance thrown in. .

I will admit that it was slow reading at first. Then somewhere around chapter 3 I couldn't put it down. Anne and Danny were relatable characters and you can't help but root for them. Ms. Ward did the thing I love best about her books, she gave us a wealth of characters to wait patiently for their stories to be written. She also made sure we were hooked on the overall conflict.

Anne and Danny are both strong characters and both have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Will they learn that shouldering it together is better than doing it alone? Will they learn that strength isn't in the circumstances? The warden gives us great characters with a great story and she doesn't skimp on the heat.

Consumed is book one in the brand new Firefighters series by J.R. Ward. I am a new reader to this author. I’ve been trying forever to start her Black Dagger Brotherhood series and haven’t been able to get to it yet. So when I saw that she was starting a new contemporary series, I thought that it would be perfect for me since I had no predetermined opinions about her books. It was the best decision I have ever made. This book completely rocked my world. I did read two of The Wedding From Hell prequels and I feel like it really helped to set the stage for Danny and Anne’s relationship.

Anne Ashburn has been with the New Brunswick station 499 Fire Department for a little over two years. She and Danny Maguire have been dancing around each other from the start. Then there was “the night” of Moose’s wedding when “it” happened. It’s been three weeks since then and the chemistry is still sizzling between them. Then everything changed. It was the night of the warehouse fire when she made a decision that would change both her and Danny’s lives forever.

Danny has been in love with Anne from the start. The night of his best friend’s wedding only cemented the knowledge that she was the only woman for him. Then came the night of the fire. The night that everything changed. The night that he saved her, only so that he could lose her.

Anne can’t fight fires anymore so she trains to be a fire inspector. Just like she does everything else, she accepts the challenge and jumps in. She begins looking into a recent fire and also some previous fires and finds what she thinks is something that ties them all together. It’s been ten months since the last fire she fought. Where she fought to overcome every obstacle in her path, Danny took a different route to dull his pain. He did it with drinking and taking crazy risks at work. But one thing doesn’t change. As soon as they come face to face again it’s obvious that the chemistry they once shared is still there.

I can’t tell you enough how amazing this book was. It starts out right out of the gate stealing your breath away. After everything that happened in just the first few chapters I asked myself how the author could keep up this pace but somehow she managed. There is love, steamy sexy times, some smiles, and plenty of danger. Anne is one tough woman. But she’s also soft when she needs to be. And Danny, my oh my I love that man. He was so broken but still had so much love to give.

I don’t know anything about the next book in the series. Only that I will read it whenever J.R. Ward writes it. This book swept me away. I was completely immersed into this community of men and women and their fight for survival. I can’t wait for more.

“Sometimes strength rested not in resistance, but in the release of arms against a foe of one’s own creation.”

Unfortunately Consumed was a DNF for me. While I normally don't review DNF books, Consumed deserves a review.

**Spoiler Warning**

Let's start with what I really liked about Consumed. At the beginning of the book there is a big fire, Anne and Danny are at the scene. Anne makes a bad call and gets trapped, Danny comes to her rescue. In most contemporary romances there would be a big magical "I saved you" moment of unrealistic proportions, I absolutely LOVED that while Anne was rescued it came at a cost. While my heart hurt for both Anne (for the injury) and for Danny (for having done it) I appreciated that there wasn't a magical rescue.

I am a person that is able to suspend belief while reading books. I know that it's necessary for authors to take certain liberties to move the story along, or add some flair to a story and I usually have no issues with this. However in Consumed that wasn't the case.

I'm not a firefighter, but I do know one so I know some stuff and I just couldn't handle all these things that were happening. It was just too much for me and felt like the author didn't do any research on firefighting before writing this book. Pretty much every firefighter we encountered were irresponsible, childish and/or insubordinate. While I can buy that there is a person or two that behaves that way, I can't buy that every single firefighter does. The main hero runs back into a fire without his mask on, and while at first it seemed like he was going to suffer the consequences of his actions but then the chief lets him come back after one therapy session and against the recommendation of the therapist. At that point it was just too many things for me and I decided not to continue with the book.

With that said, I would still recommend Consumed to those who are looking for this type of contemporary romance. It was well written and I loved that it featured a non traditional heroine.

4.5 The title says it all. I was "Consumed" by this book. I had to finish it. Anne seems bitter and hard headed, but just like in real life - there is a reason. Danny was um um good. I did feel like I came in the middle of their relationship so to speak. This book took me up and dropped me low, it made me shake my head in wonder, and cringe in pain. It made me step back and think about firefighters, all our first responders. There is a lot of angst in this book from most of the characters, and the twist at the end,....well I didn't see that coming. I think I have an idea who will be popping up in book 2, and I am hoping we are there watching Anne and Danny grow. I would recommend this book with the caveat to buckle up its a bumpy ride.! Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC, all opinions and thoughts I freely volunteer.

Anne Ashburn is a fighterfighter-turned-arson-investigator, after an incident leaves her unable to remain a firefighter.

Danny McGuire is a firefighter, still working at the old station that Anne used to work at, tormented by what happened to Anne, and still dealing with his own trauma.

After not talking for ten months, Anne and Danny team up to investigate someone who’s starting fires around town, which might endanger their relationships, and their lives.

consumed-9781501194900_hr

Rating: 3/5 Stars

I’ll probably read everything J.R. Ward writes. Even though I know almost nothing about firefighters, it was interesting to learn about them.

Sometimes, authors will write in different subjects, but it’s basically the same story with different characters. I think that this series especially will be different from the BDB.

Finally finishing this book now, I think that I was a little bit disappointed. I can “see” the mystery continuing on, and other characters that will have romances. There were no women in this book, so that was bizarre.

There wasn’t a resolution for the fire mystery, but I’m sure someone else will figure it out.

I’ll read the other books because I like J.R. Ward, but I didn’t love this.

The book doesn’t come out until October 2nd, so think about if it might be a fit for you.

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me for review by Netgalley. All opinions are my own, and I wasn’t paid for this review.

This must have been a record for me; by page 2 I knew it was not what I wanted to read. Too much drama, too many stupid choices, too much yelling, too much unnecessary swearing. I only read a few chapters of this fire department story and it was reinforced that the more I read, the less I liked it so I stopped.
Thanks NetGalley for the chance to read an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.