High Heat by Annabeth Albert is a must must read. Hot, Sizzling Romance from the Author will make you crave more. I Couldn't put it down for a second.

Highly Recommend it to all readers.

Garrick is recovering from injuries sustained on the job as a smoke jumper. He is hell-bent determined to recover and return to the job he loves, but he has a long road ahead of him. One day, a stray injured dog shows up in his life, something he is definitely not prepared and something he never knew he needed. Thanks to his neighbor’s grandson who is staying the summer to help, a solution is presented – Rain will help take care of the dog if Garrick agrees to keep her until they find her owners.

What ensues is a growing friendship borne out of mutual interests – initially the dog, but Rain also has aspirations of joining the Smoke Jumpers as a front line firefighter. Garrick helps repay Rain by training him which also helps exercise the dog and allows him to be more active thus aiding in his own recovery. Sounds like a win/win to me!

Garrick and Rain do hit a few road blocks along the way. Garrick must deal with his situation as far as his health and returning to the work he knew and loved as he faces the fact that he needs to accept his new role, just as he must deal with Rain being in that position with him being on the other end of things. Rain is trying to make the team and is offered a chance at exactly that when the summer runs out. So, there is also Garrick not wanting to hold him back, as well as the age difference, etc.

Thankfully, Rain doesn’t let Garrick sulk for too long. He was a fabulous character who goes after what he wants, realizes when those wants/needs change and makes adjustments accordingly. Perhaps that is his youth speaking, but either way, his confidence and persistence pays off in the end. This was a really enjoyable installment to this series, and I’m looking forward to the next one.

I liked this very much. This was a quite kind of slow book but not it a bad way. These two guys become friends and fall in love all while communicating like adults and not being drama llamas. I also really loved the way the author handled the way they learned to modify their day to day living and their sex lives based on Garrett's injuries. It was a unique situation and I really appreciate that this author regularly writes books with all kinds of characters and all kinds of lifestyles. I don't think any other author includes as much diversity in this way and I really love it.


**ARC received through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I really like the characters and themes in all of Annabeth Alberts's books and I really enjoyed the hot action in this title as well.

High Heat by Annabeth Albert is the second installment in the Hotshots series, which follows members of a fire crew in Central Oregon as they fall in love. This book features Garrick Nelson, a smoke jumper who is recovering from an injury, and Rain Fisher, his neighbor's grandson.

Garrick and Rain's meet cute is so adorable! Garrick discovers an abandoned dog and Rain helps him take it to the vet. They agree that Garrick will keep the dog until they can locate the owners, and I loved that the shared responsibility and caretaking is something that brought them together.

Garrick is also experiencing erectile dysfunction in the aftermath of his injuries. This is something I've only seen explored once before in a romance (Aftermath by L.A. Witt - one of my favorites that I've read this year), and I really hope we see more authors taking this route and showing that intimacy can look different (but no less exciting) for different couples. I really liked the way Garrick and Rain navigated their physical relationship to explore what felt good for both of them.

Though their chemistry is undeniable, Garrick worries about the age gap between them and when Rain is offered a position in California, Garrick fears holding him back. The issues they face felt realistic, and I really liked the way Albert resolved it all in the end. I'm excited to read more from this series!

Hotshot Garrick Nelson is recovering from an injury obtained while on the job, that has left him having to use crutches and a wheelchair. He's determined to recover enough to be able to rejoin the Hotshot crew.

Rain Fisher is known for not taking things too seriously, and for not staying in one place for too long. When a stray dog introduces Rain to Garrick, it looks like he might have found his place.

High Heat by Annabeth Albert is an fun read that features: a super cute doggo that brings our characters together, an age-gap relationship, and a lot of steamy scenes.

Garrick is doing his best to recover from his injuries and get back to being a smoke jumper. In the past year, he’s made a lot of progress, but he still can’t walk without crutches and not for an extended length of time. When Garrick finds a stray dog on his porch, the poor pup is scared of the crutches, and even more scared of his chair, so Garrick has no choice but to ask his neighbor across the street for help. But his older neighbor isn’t the one who answers the door, but rather her pretty grandson, Rain.

Rain is spending the summer in Painted Ridge to ostensibly help his grandmother, but she doesn’t seem to need him much. When Garrick shows up asking for help for a stray and wounded dog, Rain jumps at the chance. And then makes it his mission to get Garrick to agree to at least foster the dog, whom Garrick calls Cookie. Rain makes himself available to help Garrick with the dog, even as he tries to figure out what to do with his own life.

With every interaction that passes, Rain and Garrick grow closer. The attraction between them is instant, but Garrick worries he’s too old for Rain and that Rain won’t stick around. Rain, for his part, isn’t hung up on their age, and doesn’t even bat an eye at Garrick’s physical limitations. In fact, he’s a sincere support for Garrick in whatever Garrick needs, and encourages Garrick to get additional help. The more they get to know each other, the closer they become. The physical side of the relationship grows as well.

However, both men have hang ups that keep them from fully committing to each other. And when things get really serious, they both fall back on their own misconceptions and listening to others. But it quickly becomes apparent that the men truly want to be together, and it’ll take some real communication for them to get back to a good place with their relationship.

This second book in Annabeth Albert’s Hotshots series is, in my opinion, better than the first. Garrick and Rain are both some interesting characters, and I really loved the way their personalities really meshed well together. While I definitely wished there was better communication about certain aspects, I thought Albert did a good job of making both these guys believable and relatable.

Rain is straight up full of sunshine, and a really big hearted guy. On the surface, he almost seems too good to be true. But it actually works. Part of that is his unconventional upbringing, but he’s truly just a wholly accepting and wonderfully supportive person. Garrick is so well drawn as well. I really liked him, and how he accepts his injury and his recovery, even as he hopes and strives for more. He’s also just a genuinely accepting person, and loves taking care of others, especially Rain. I loved their relationship, and loved the way it progressed. It felt organic and real, especially with how supportive they were of each other.

Which is why, I think, the miscommunication between them rankled a little more than normal. It’s not my favorite black moment in a romance anyway, but here it was frustrating. I will say that the baggage Albert gave the MCs made their issues make sense, so I have to give the author credit there. However, Garrick and Rain’s relationship was relatively easy in the best possible way, and they were good about talking about a lot of things. So for this one thing to be a roadblock—throughout the book, but especially in the final quarter—definitely got under my skin. I so badly wanted these guys to talk things through instead of having time apart. I wanted them to talk to each other instead of listening to others. And I really wanted them to lay their feelings and concerns on the line with each other instead of pushing each other away.

But it was great to see Garrick’s story, and I thought Rain was his perfect counterpart. These guys have a beautiful relationship, and I was on board with them from the start. I’m a fan of Albert’s writing, and her narrative style and character creation definitely works for me. I’m looking forward to see what else she has in store for the series.

I loved Garrick and Rain. Rain was just enough of an unusual protagonist compared to what I expected in this book/series that it was like a breath of fresh air appeared every time he was on the page. And Garrick and his slightly-unfounded optimism was a great part of the book as well and then when he was dealing with the fact that things sadly will never be the same? Awesome.
I also ADORED Cookie and everything about her COMPLETELY.

Full review to come soon.

I think I liked this one even better than the first. Maybe it was the fabulous narration by Iggy Toma, but I was absolutely in love with both Garrick and Rain and loved seeing their relationship develop. This book is pretty low on plot, it’s very character driven, but Albert has a great way of writing characters you just can’t help but root for.

This is the second book in Hotshot series. It was ok. It wasn’t as slow for me as the first book was in this series.
Garrick and Rain’s story was nice. Rain came into Garrick’s life and shook him out of the funk he was in from his horrible accident. Rain slowly show Garrick that he still can have and do things in his current situation.

I loved how rain was so open and free. He wasn’t pushy with Garrick. I liked how he made Garrick feel relaxed with him when they were having sex.

The reason for the 3 star is even though I liked this book better than the first. It was a little slow for me. And it did take me a little bit to get into. I loved the ending.

And I’m really looking forward to the next book in this series.

*ARC provided by HARLEQUIN - Carina Press via Netgalley.*

This was a sweet, next door neighbour and May/December romance from established author Annabeth Albert that I thought would have fit more into the Carina Adores line. However, it is instead the second novel in the Hotshots series, after Burn Zone. I was excited about this novel because I couldn't wait to hear what happened to Garrick after the accident towards the end of the last book.

And also, hippie commune love interest Rain seemed like a stunning character to add to the mix.

I'm not sure what it was that disappointed me about this novel. The two of them were perfectly sweet together. The side plot with Cookie the lost and then rehomed dog was adorable. But there just wasn't anything that stood out and grabbed me about this one. I didn't feel pulled towards Garrick like I had when he was a side character in the previous book. And Rain, I felt at times, kind of deserved better.

The two of them are both shown off a little bit as commitment phobes at the beginning, or at least that Garrick enjoyed hooking up with anyone that moved before the accident and Rain couldn't settle down, always looking for the next adventure before coming to live with and support his grandmother Shirley who is Garrick's neighbour.

I feel as though it could have been condensed a great deal as there wasn't a great deal of plot in this one, however.

As with all of Annabeth Alberts books, I loved High Heat. Her writing perfectly balances emotional connections and heat. I loved every page.

High Heat follows smoke jumper Garrick after a major injury, one that has potentially changed his career forever, as he is working on recovery, and needs a hand around his place after he accidentally adopts a stray dog that just...shows up one day and never leaves. In comes Rain, the grandson of Garrick's neighbor across the street, Rain is the kind of personality that jumps from one temp thing to the next, and is in town right now to help out his grandmother and figure out what he wasnts to do next. It's an interesting dichotomy between one character that is permanently stuck in the past, and another who is constantly looking at tomorrow.

The romance is basically fling-turns-feelings, which I enjoyed, but there were several moments of "I am making a decision for my partner because I know what they need and would make them happy" that got frustrating. Overall, though, I did enjoy.

I love learning new things when I read and this series is chock full of details in regards to smoke jumping. What an incredible job that is and am thankful for all those who risk their lives to do it.

Garrick's determination to get back to jumping was a bit heartbreaking. He wanted it so badly and worked so hard to heal from his very serious injury (I cried when I read the accident scene). I'm a sap. Adding in a young free spirited Rain helped lift his spirits Him helping Rain get in shape gets Garrick out of his house and working on getting himself back to his old self.

I loved their interactions and the flirting! Oh the flirting. I thoroughly enjoyed these two together and look forward to more in this series.

Annabeth Albert is a must read for those looking for MM/LGBTQIA books.

I am LOVING this series!

Garrick Nelson was injured on the job at a pivotal moment in the first book ( Burn Zone ), but if you haven't read that one yet, you should have no problem jumping in (see what I did there? ;)) here. High Heat takes place months later, when the most intense of Garrick's rehab is behind him--though he still isn't close to where he wants to be, back on his smoke jumping crew. He's determined to make it back, though--and no one can tell him he won't. For now he's stuck in limbo, doing his physical therapy and isolating himself from much of his former life, seeing his dad weekly and his neighbors occasionally.

Enter Cookie, a stray dog, who decides to adopt Garrick and Rain Fisher, the grandson of Garrick's closest neighbor, who makes it his personal mission to make sure Cookie has found her forever home. Soon the two men are spending more and more time together--on-to-the-next-adventure Rain asks for Garrick's help with a training regimen in exchange for help with Cookie--and their attraction to each other becomes harder and harder to ignore.

I adored Garrick and Rain together--they were fabulous! Rain's upbringing and personality made him more sensitive to the needs of others than most people, and he was the perfect guy to be there for Garrick in many ways as he came to terms with his disability and the possibility that it might be a permanent thing. Rain himself is just so unabashedly, well, 100% himself, and he did a great job of drawing Garrick back out into the world of the living. And got him started knitting, of all things. (OMG! I loved that part...) Truly, I couldn't put this one down--I read it in a single day, and I regret nothing!

There's a teaser chapter for the next series book ( Feel the Fire ) at the end of this one, because Ms Albert clearly wants to make sure that we are counting the days until its release...

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I enjoyed High Heat! Some of the other books in this series didn’t work as well for me, but this one worked for me. It’s a slow burn, but the characters are well developed and the pacing was good. 3.5 stars (4 for netgalley)

The second in Annabeth Albert's series about smoke jumpers in the Western U.S., Garrick and Rain's story deals sensitively with how you reconstruct your sense of self and how you (re)learn intimacy with others after catastrophic bodily injury.

I read this as a stand-alone, and while I don't think that mattered, in retrospect I wonder if I would've been a bit more invested in Garrick's story if I had gotten my hands on Book 1 first. There were a lot of elements I enjoyed here: both characters felt nuanced and unique, rather than like cookie-cutter versions slotted into a story the author wanted to tell; what sex and relationships can look like with disability; the scenes where we saw either/both of the MCs at work in the field; the dog adoption (!!!). But like many other readers, the story lacked urgency. I'm usually an "in one sitting" kind of romance reader, but I set this one down several times, once for a few weeks. I didn't NOT enjoy it when I picked it back up; reading it never felt like a chore. But I wasn't dragged along on the emotionally intense wave that I associate with some of Albert's other books.

This was a fun story featuring an injured smoke jumper and finding his way back to a life that works for him and the love that saves him. The story itself was great and I thoroughly enjoyed it once I gave it a real chance.

I just love this series and the worlds and stories that Annabeth Albert writes.

I always fall super hard and fast for the main characters in this case Garrick stole my heart, I really liked him on the first book but in this one he was AMAZING!

His thought process, growth and acceptance throughout the book were my favorite parts of the book.

Can't wait to see what Annabeth comes up with for her next book.

Four and a half steamy stars with a bonus credit for honest and realistic depiction of life after traumatic injuries and dealing with really hard life challenges- threats to ones sense of self included. Also all the sparkly joy for boys who are so self-confident. I really enjoyed this one and need to read the first book about these smoke jumpers!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for this unbiased review.