Review: A Charitable Fundraiser Tests Their Relationship- Strong Sequel
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 3, 2012
I was so pleased to discover that there was a sequel to Redeemed by Fire because I wanted to spend more time with the characters and there was a certain story thread that hadn't been tied up.  But it got even better when I started reading and realized that this story switched points of view so now I could get inside Lee's head for a while.The story continues about Dirk and Lee with the situation of not enough funds to not only renovate their old historic fire house, but to keep all of the firehouses open.  Their house is one of the ones on the chopping block so the captain asks the firefighters to toss out ideas to save their house and jobs.Nobody is coming up with anything until Lee has an epiphany in the shower.  He shares his idea privately with Dirk after a hotter than 5 alarm fire bout of passion and is shocked when Dirk slams his idea down hard.  Lee is hurt and then loses confidence in his idea until at a meeting the captain pushes him to share because he obviously has something on his mind.Lee shares his idea about 'beefcake' firefighters going shirtless and serving a chicken dinner with a few other smaller ideas to generate funds.  He knows that Dirk is livid with him.  Even while he works to make his idea succeed, Lee worries that things will never come right again with Dirk.This story was a little longer than the first and it was interesting to see how the emerging couple would deal with this major difference of opinion.  It was also enjoyable to read the build up of suspense to see how Lee's idea would pan out particularly since there was opposition from some of the town residents and council members.  It was also good to see the ongoing saga of Dirk and his dad still working at their troubles.  The growth in Dirk from the first book was a good thing to see though at times Dirk is still Dirk.Looking forward to the next story in the series.