Review: Ignite (Firefighters of Montana #3) by Nicole Helm

Book Blurb:

Lina McArthur has spent her life in Marietta, Montana, in the shadow of her doctor father. But now that she’s finally broken free and moved away, she is determined to figure out who she is out of her scrubs. Then she meets the first man to ever tempt her to let him take them off…

Dean “Ace” Clark has been on the run from a troubled and tragic past. When a work-related injury sends the smoke jumper to the hospital, his wounds are tended by the beautiful Dr. McArthur. Just one problem. He knows the McArthur name, and she’s connected to the past he desperately wants to stay one step ahead of.

Ace has never been afraid to jump into a dangerous situation, but falling for Lina might just be the biggest leap of courage he’s ever faced... 

My Review:

In Ignite by Nicole Helm, Ace is a smoke jumper who unexpectedly runs into his past...a past he ran from and has stayed away from.  Lina is the Dr. who treats an injured Ace, a man who seems so familiar to her.  Both of them left Marietta, Montana for different reasons, but Ace is determined to stay away and not be found.  Lina is sure she knows him from her past, and the attraction she feels towards him is only one of the reasons she wants to get to know him better in her present world.  The attraction is on both sides, and as they spend more time together they leave the past alone, and instead focus on the here and now.  Their relationship grows and the chemistry between Lina and Ace is hot, but unresolved issues on both sides are still there in the shadows...and when the past confronts them, can it be as bad as it seems?  Will it bring destruction to not only their relationship but their relationships with others, or will they find the strength to face the past, and maybe have a chance at a future together?

Ignite was a fast paced story about two people finding their own way in life, then finding each other.  I was glad to get to know Ace better, having seen him in previous Firefighters of Montana books.  His youthful ideology and ideas of right and wrong drove him away, but even as an adult they've kept him away.  He made me feel different things as I got to know him.  Frustration because of how he continued to hide, sadness for what he had come from and went through, and hope that he'd open his eyes and see the future clearly.  I'm undecided how I felt about him because he has held onto the past tightly and it's impacted his entire way of being.  I could understand Lina a lot better.  She left Marietta to make it on her own, away from a powerful family with a lot of influence.  It would take a lot of courage to do this, to stand up to her father in particular, but she does it with no regrets.  She's doing what she wants to do to make her happy.  Lina and Ace seemed to spend a lot of time in their own little world, and I was intrigued to see what would happen when the outside world finally broke in.

I liked the secondary characters we did see in Ignite.  In particular Ace's sister who I could really feel for.

I liked the characters, but didn't develop a strong connection with them, and this made it more difficult to feel invested in their future.  The plot is good, I just had a hard time with Ace for a lot of the book.  

I'd recommend Ignite to romance readers.

3/5 stars

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