Series: Bachelor Firemen (Book 4.5)
Fire Captain Jeb Stone and incredibly successful press secretary Nita Moreno have both been burned by love before. That's why neither of them is looking for more than a few steamy nights of passion.
When circumstances find them stranded on an island together, babysitting a cross-dressing senator and the very pregnant wife of San Gabriel's most famous captain, they allow the sparks they feel to take center stage. But as their feelings grow, can they each allow the other past the barriers both have built to protect their hearts?
Good story about new beginnings. Nita and Jeb met at the wedding of Brody and Melissa (The Fireman Who Loved Me). There was a zing of attraction, but Jeb was married and Nita was with someone, so they didn't pursue it. Three years later, Jeb has been divorced for six months (very interesting backstory on his marriage) and his eighteen-year-old daughter is pushing him to get out there and date.
Jeb is simply enjoying life as it now is. We see him driving a rented sports car on a gorgeous day, headed on vacation to nowhere special. Then he gets a phone call from his good friend Brody, asking for a favor. It seems that his wife Melissa has gotten a hot tip for a story on a scandalous senator and has taken off to pursue it. The problem is that she's eight and a half months pregnant and Brody is out of his mind with worry over her. So he begs his buddy Jeb to follow Melissa to Santa Lucia Island and just keep an eye on her. He does not expect to run into Nita on the island.
Nita is the press secretary for the senator, who is hiding out on Santa Lucia. She's talked him into giving an exclusive to the only reporter she trusts - Melissa. However, she didn't know that Melissa was pregnant. Nita's work with the senator has pretty much become her whole life. Her relationship with her ex ended when she got pregnant. She was devastated when she lost the baby and has been fighting feelings of failure ever since. She is surprised to see Jeb get off the ferry with Melissa.
It's obvious from the start that the zing between Jeb and Nita is still there - and now both are free to pursue it. I loved how Jeb made his interest clear from the beginning. Not just to get her into bed, but also to get to know her. He was an amazingly sensitive and observant guy, and I loved how he saw the sadness in her eyes. His ability to get her to open up to him was fantastic and I loved how he was immediately on her side regarding the situation. Nita is a woman who likes to stay busy and there wasn't much for her to do on the island. She got involved with helping the old lady who owns the inn and quickly involved Jeb in helping also. There's a terrific scene involving Jeb, the tea room, and an apron that had me laughing out loud.
Jeb and Nita spend a lot of time together, and the heat between them continues to grow. The intensity freaks Nita out a little bit, as she doesn't have a lot of confidence in herself as a woman. Everything comes to a head on a wild boat ride during a storm when Nita tries to tell Jeb she isn't worth his time. I loved Jeb's reaction, which gave Nita a lot to think about. Nita's "aha" moment was deeply emotional. The ending was fantastic, with a solution that I did see coming, but was perfect nonetheless.
I liked the secondary characters also. Catching up with Brody and Melissa was great. It was sweet to see Brody's overprotectiveness for Melissa during her pregnancy. I loved seeing him as a brand new daddy. Nita's boss, the senator, was a real piece of work. At first, I thought he was just a bit on the clueless side regarding his extracurricular activity, but he turned out to be obnoxiously selfish. I was very happy to see Nita stand up to him. My favorite was young Charlie, the island firefighter, and an all-around good guy. I loved his respect for Jeb as a firefighter and his determination to get Jeb to help out the young crew at the fire station. He was amazing during the effort to get Melissa off the island and to the hospital.
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