Review: Love's Secret Fire
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 14, 2012
I'm a pushover for a good romantic suspense and in Rena Koontz's debut novel, Love's Secret Fire, I was not disappointed.Valerie Daniels did not have an easy childhood. Between an absent father and an alcoholic mother, she could only rely on her twin brother Vince. Now she is working hard to be taken seriously as a reporter at the radio station where she works. When a rash of fires start happening in the town where Vince works as a firefighter, Valerie starts investigating.Adam Michaels is an FBI agent who works undercover more often than not and does not have a serious woman in his life. The number one rule he has to follow is to not break cover for anyone. Currently, he and his partner Gina are posing as an engaged couple. Normally this wouldn't cause a problem until Adam is thrust into Valerie's life. He is attracted to her immediately, but he can't let her know that he is available. Of course, conflict and misunderstandings abound.Sometimes, romantic suspense is heavy on the mystery and light on the romance, but this was not the case for Valerie and Adam. Many of the strongest points of the book include Adam's attempts to help Valerie recover from a traumatic experience (don't want to give too much away here).I really, really liked Adam. He is an agent, so he could handle himself, but isn't over-the-top-alpha for me. He was endearing. Maybe it was the fact that he is a country boy who lives in the city. My opinion is well-fitting jeans and a pair of cowboy boots can be in any type of story, especially on an attractive and sweet hero like Adam.I would have finished this book in one sitting if I didn't have to get up to go to work the next morning. As it was, I stayed up until midnight reading it and went bleary-eyed to the office. That to me is the sign of a good suspense book.Oh, and since this book is about stopping an arsonist, there are also firemen too! Come on, how can this not be a winner!