Let Me Burn: A Small Town Firefighter Love Story (Angel Sands Book 1)

This cookie-cutter romance follows a familiar recipe. Take an idyllic small town, add one handsome hero, one pretty heroine, a sprinkling of kindhearted local folks, a few friends of the hero and heroine (for future books in the series), stir in a dash of drama, add some heat with a few sex scenes (but not too steamy), and frost it with a sugary Happily Ever After ending. Voila! Despite having the necessary ingredients, this book fell flat for me. It needed something more to spice things up a bit. A touch of suspense or conflict, maybe?Here's the plot. (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!) Handsome Lucas Russell takes mandatory leave from his job as a lieutenant in a big city fire department and retreats to his small hometown on the California coast, where he volunteers at the local fire department. His first "rescue" includes helping a pretty first grade teacher (Ember Kennedy) climb down from the roof of a playhouse when she "freezes" at the top of the ladder. (Seriously?) Naturally, sparks fly between them as soon as he puts his hands on her body, starting a slow burn.From that silly beginning, we're gradually introduced to his best friends, her best friends, and various folks planning the Angel Day Fair--the town's big annual celebration. Lucas and Ember go to the fair together and end up having sex that "engulfed her whole body in flames . . . until the fireball building inside her began to explode." (You'll find numerous allusions to fire in this story, including Ember's name!)They begin an affair. Lucas tells her about the tragic, accidental death that led to his mandatory leave. (I shudder just thinking about that horrible death.) Ember "freezes" again, collapsing in shock when they attend a party and she sees her ex-fiance with his new (and pregnant) fiancee. (What the heck? The guy ditched her after six years together. She doesn't even like the jerk, so why the big scene? I suppose the book needed a dash of drama.)Lucas is called back to duty to help fight a wildfire. When he returns safe and sound, he and Ember have sex and declare their love for each other. They realize the "flame between them couldn't be extinguished" and decide to "let it burn."Readers who enjoy a sweet romance will probably like this book and the rest of the series. There's no foul language, and the sex scenes aren't overly explicit. The book needs another round of proofreading to correct some punctuation errors. Three stars overall.

I have to start by saying that I'm a huge fan of Carrie Elks, I think she's an amazingly talented story teller. I've really enjoyed her books in the past, but this one exceeded my expectations!!! I think she gets better with each book!Ember Kennedy is the heroine and she's such a relatable character. She could be any of us. She's dealing with a lot of loss in her life, but she thinks she has to keep it all in to figure out how to deal with it. She internalizes everything!!! Even though she has an amazing support system.Lucas Russell is the hero, literally!! He's a fire fighter in a larger city who thinks that he only has time for his job. It defines him, it's who he is. Unfortunately, he has to respond to a horrific scene on a highway that he just can't seem to get out of his mind. It starts to effect his performance, so he is sent on a 2 month sabbatical to try and regroup. This sends him home to Angel Sand, his hometown, to fix up his grandparents old beach house. This is where he and Ember first cross paths.Both Ember and Lucas were more alike then they realize, at first. They keep bumping into each other which leads to a casual relationship. I loved watching their connection grow and evolve! They were so right for each other, it just took them awhile to see what everyone else saw.The secondary characters were amazing!!! Ember's mother and sister were great. Her 2 BFF's were "the bomb"!!! Amy and Brooke have been friends with Ember since school days and their bond is still strong. They are 3 very different personalities that completely work together!!! Lucas's friends, Griff and Jackson, are his voices of reason, even though Griff hasn't seem to grow up yet. The towns people all play a major role in Ember and Lucas's story.I loved this book!!!! I highly recommend it to EVERYONE!!! It's a heartfelt story that seems real and genuine. I felt like I was in Angel Sands and knew these characters. I can't wait to read Amy's story now!!!

Endearing small town romance that shows sometimes we have to endure some pain before finding our place in the sun.Ember is a beloved first grade teacher in the small California town of Angel Sands. She is also trying to come to grips with the double heart break of first suddenly losing her fiance, then the sudden death of her dad. Lucas is a fireman in nearby White City. He is dedicated to his job and feels that he is better off alone because the danger and time constraints of his job. But after an incident on the job he is told to take two months off and suggested he return to Angel Sands to work on the beach cottage he and his sister, Caitie, inherited from their grandparents. Helping the AS volunteer FD, he is called to assist a student stuck in playground equipment. This is where Ember & Lucas meet for a second time, and a spark begins to grow. Ember is helped by her long term friends Abby and Brooke. Lucas likewise has two surfing buddies, Griff and Jackson. The two also are on the fair committee, so see each other weekly. What happens after the fair? What revelation at an anniversary party sends Ember into shock? What happens when Lucas is called back to work early?

This story is so romantic, sweet, and warm. Lucas is a firefighter who has been ordered to take some time off. He doesn't want to but doesn't have much of a choice. Ember has been through so much in such a short time. Her fiance broke up with her and then a few months later her father passed away. On the day of her mom's birthday Embet runs to get a propane tank. When she's trying to get the tank into her car she encounters Lucas. He can't believe someone would be so careless to roll a propane tank in the ground. After that afternoon fate seems to be bringing them together. Lucas decides to take action and ask her out in a date. What they aren't expecting is for thinking to get so complicated when Ember's past comes back to haunt her. Is Ember going to be able to get through all her past pain to start a future with Lucas?

I really enjoyed reading this book and this is the first in this series and I cant wait to start reading book #2. I love how this author written this story line and how it flowed perfectly, I loved reading it . Once I started it I couldn't put it down and this small town romance is a great read.This is Ember and Lucas's story journey.Ember is a teacher and a really good person, she loves her job and her small town and has great friends. Ember has been through a lot recently to especially with her ex and she is in need of a distraction and her friends try and help.Lucas is a hot fire fighter and he first meets Ember on a call out at the school, because he is also volunteering at their fire department. His chief at White City tells him to take some leave from work after something happened on a call out and this is how he ends up at Angel Sands working on renovating the house his grandmother left to him. Once these two meet things will never be the same because the connection they have is beautiful.I absolutely loved the characters that this author has written and as the reader I really connected with them and they were really relatable too. They connection they had the sizzle between them both was hot and I was rooting for them both. I loved all her friends to and wish I had great friends like these they were so real. This story was lovely, sweet, with little drama and I loved reading it. This author is awesome at helping the reader to visualise the place that is angel sands and the beach cafe too and I loved how she brought it to life it was awesome. This book is a nice romantic, small town romance of two people that weren't expecting anything at the moment and I recommend that everyone goes on reads it. Awesome start to the Angel Sands Series.

A lovely story where we meet Lucas and Ember, both with a troubled past come together although, like life, it's never easy. Carrie is a great storyteller. She has the ability to write in a way that you just don't want to put down, want to turn the page, and want to know more and more. There is a wonderful flow to her books and never a dull moment.

Big city firefighter returns to his hometown Angel Sands (small town) to renovate his late grandmother's seaside cottage a chance meeting at the hardware store with teacher Ember (propane girl) leads to true love with a HEA.Great story from start to finish everyone needs a Lucas!

This was my first book I read by this author. Well what a lovely surprise it was. I didn't want to put the book down. I got sucked right in. Great story, I like the characters and their stories. Definitely will read more books in this series.

This is a charming, heartwarming read. It follows Ember, a teacger fresh out of hearbreak not looking for love and a hunky firefighter Lucas who returns to his hometown to come to terms with his demons. They meet and chemistry heats up. But can they keep the flames alight. A lovely read, highly recommended.