Nora Roberts, Chasing Fire

Chasing Fire

Nora Roberts

Putnam, Apr 12 2011, $27.95

ISBN: 9780399157448

A chip off the old block of her legendary dad, since she turned eighteen, Rowan Tripp has been a Missoula, Montana Zulies smoke jumper who parachutes from a plane with her comrades in arms to land in the middle of an out of control blaze. She loves her job, loves being on the edge and the adrenaline rush, but mostly she relishes helping to save lives and property.

This year is different as there are more fires, deaths including her partner, and injuries than since she joined. It is also the year in which she meets rookie Gulliver "Gull" Curry, who falls in love with Rowan. She has feelings for the newcomer with an Ivy League vocabulary, but fears them because love hurts and he may not have the staying power she would need. Yet together they share danger and desire while trying to end the fiery reign of a maniacal arsonist with a vendetta against the Zulies

Once again Nora Roberts affirms she is one of the best romantic suspense authors on the market for the past two decades even with a theme used many times before (see Deadly Heat by Cynthia Eden). A major part of the freshness comes from having the lead female as the experienced mentor and the male as the rookie in training; however the key comes from the author's ability to tell an exhilarating tale in which readers will be jumping from planes into an inferno. Loaded with action especially the drops into the infernos and filled with a fiery romance, fans will believe they are in Big Sky country as a smoke jumper.

Harriet Klausner