Paula Hrbacek's Reviews > Informed Risk

Men in Uniform Series by Silhouette Books
Sex level: mild
Five Stars
Chris is a divorced mother of two, working at a grocery store and living in a seedy rented house in Sacramento CA. She’s been trying her hand at writing a young adult novel, and only has a few more pages to go on the manuscript. She’s sure that this is the manuscript that will sell.
So when the smoke alarm goes off, and she sees smoke pouring out of the heating vents, she wakes her kids and gets them outside. Then she remembers her manuscript, and goes back into the house to save it. Unable to carry all her research outside, she crams her books and laptop into the refrigerator, hoping the insulation will protect her valuables from the fire.
Mike Cavanaugh is a big, burly Irish fireman. He’s first on the scene. Noting the flames coming out of the building, the children inform him that their mother is inside. He rushes in to save her, finding a woman with her head stuck in the refrigerator. Is she hungry?
After the fire is over, he invites her to stay a few days at his place. They soon learn that both of them are really hungry; hungry for love, hungry for acceptance, hungry for family.
Mike comes from a large Irish Catholic home. While the discussions with his parents aren’t exactly “religious” they are centered on faith, God’s will, and acceptance of things you can’t control. There’s a focus in this part of the book that is warming in a different type of way. You’ll want to curl up on Big Mike’s lap just like the children do, and listen to what he has to say in a gruff voice that doesn’t quite mask the way he feels.
The point, learned on Big Mike’s lap, or by Little Mike in a fire, or by Chris when her past comes back to haunt her, is that people always come first. A fireman is always concerned with life as a top priority. The rest of it can always be replaced.
The book is nicely written, with good pacing, and believable characters. I like it when a book has a point to make, as this one did, that makes you glad you read it, and a little stronger in your faith for having done so.