HOW TO TAME A WILD FIREMAN – Jennifer Bernard
A Bachelor Firemen Novel , Book 4
Avon
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-227365-9
October 2013
Contemporary Romance
San Gabriel and San Diego, California; Loveless, Nevada – Present Day
Dr. Lara Nelson is working in the pediatrics ward at San Diego Hospital when the Chief Resident says a lawyer needs to speak with her. It seems her aunt sent her a video before her death giving her the surprise of her life. She was giving Lara the one place in the world she hates more than any other, the Haven for Sexual and Spiritual Healing in Loveless, Nevada. After her parents died, Aunt Tam took her in, but the teasing of schoolmates and the reaction of the town told her exactly what they thought of the Haven, an old brothel. The “Goddesses” who lived there gave seminars and classes on sexual and spiritual healing, just what every teenager wants to talk about. Lara put Loveless behind her as soon as she could to become a doctor, and with her residency almost over she has her wish, but now she must go to Loveless and try to sell the Haven, or see if the “Goddesses” would like to buy it from her. As she enters Loveless, a fire is almost surrounding the town, and houses are in jeopardy. Years ago her best friend in high school, Liam Callahan, and his older brother Patrick got tattoos together; at least Lara and Patrick did, Liam, who was mildly autistic and deaf, would have nothing to do with it. After Liam and Patrick left, they were involved in a horrendous accident and Liam was left in a coma and Big Dog, their father, ordered Patrick to leave his house and never return.
After the accident when Big Dog kicked him out of the house, Patrick became a firefighter and is known as Psycho for his daring and crazy approach to his own safety. When Captain Brody tells Psycho about the wildfire in Loveless, he informs him he volunteered him to be a heli-rappeller, one who enters fires from a helicopter. The Captain knows he's from Loveless, and perhaps Psycho would like to save the city as well as his family's ranch. Captain Brody gives Psycho the choice of going if he wants, and Psycho thinks just maybe it's time to face his past head-on. Almost the first person he meets by the medical tent where the firefighters and support staff are working is Lara, and he remembers everything she used to mean to him, even though he never said anything to her. Lara can't believe it's Patrick, she always felt funny around him, not like with his brother Liam. As they re-discover each other, they both realize the ideas they had of their old relationship is different now that the years have passed. But still between them is the ghost of Liam, who left home months ago and never told anyone where he was going. Big Dog still hates Psycho, his personality seeming even more fierce than before.
Jennifer Bernard is continuing her series about the Bachelor Firemen in San Gabriel with Patrick “Psycho” Callahan. Ten years after the accident, Psycho is a fireman, and is regularly called crazy by the other firefighters. He's always the first to jump on a burning roof, rappel from a helicopter, the more dangerous the job the better. Told from Psycho's and Lara's points of view, Psycho has tried to put out of his mind his family and his beloved brother and hidden himself away in his craziness. The exact opposite, Lara has tried to become as mainstream as possible to erase the taint of the Haven for Sexual Healing. Though her Aunt Tam loved her and encouraged her to do whatever she wanted, the loss of her parents was something she could never overcome, and the Haven didn't help by making her stand out in the town.
Secondary characters and hunky firefighters are always a treat, especially Vader and Captain Brody. Behind Psycho's every thought is Big Dog, his father, and his complete rejection of him even after ten years. His sister Megan is trying to smooth things between them, and his mother has now reached her limit with Big Dog. Lara sees the “Goddesses” at the Haven with new eyes, but old memories still remain.
HOW TO TAME A WILD FIREMAN follows the other stories in the series, THE FIREMAN WHO LOVED ME, HOT FOR FIREMAN and SEX AND THE SINGLE FIREMAN. Each story is not necessarily about firefighting, but the men themselves, and the different traumas in their life they have fought through to get to where they are. Always an intense and involved subject, HOW TO TAME A WILD FIREMAN will burn through your fingers as you read it this month—don't miss out!
Carolyn Crisher
