Book Review: The Fireman Who Loved Me

Author: Jennifer Bernard

Publication Date: May 20, 2012
Publisher: Avon
Series: The Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel # 1

Fearless, smoking hot, and single: meet the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel. These firemen might be heroes, but it's their bad luck in love that makes them legendary.

News producer Melissa McGuire and Fire Captain Harry Brody couldn't be more different, though they do have one thing in common: they're both convinced they're perfectly wrong for each other. But when Melissa's matchmaking grandmother wins her a date with Brody at a Bachelor auction . . .

Sparks fly. Passion flares. Heat rises. (You get the picture.)

Add a curse, a conniving nightly news anchor, a stunningly handsome daredevil fireman, a brave little boy, a couple of exes, and one giant fire to the mix, and Melissa and Brody's love may not be the only thing that burns.

First things first, I love the dog on the front cover! It is a beagle mix and I have a beagle. This dog looks almost identical to my dog and I know that sounds like a crazy far out reason to pick up a book but it was enough to draw me in. Secondly, the dress that the girl on the front cover is wearing; I have one almost identical to it! I know this is crazy right? It was meant to be. So once I started reading the actual storyline I was drawn in as well. The colors on the front cover really pop and that it the best marketing strategy to use with me. The whole back side of the book is hot pink with yellow writing as well. How can anyone pass up a story about firemen? They are devilishly handsome and save lives too!!  

Melissa McGuire finds herself at an auction where her grandmother is bidding on a date with a sexy, hot fireman, for her!! However, she completely objects to this claiming that she can find her own date. Her grandmother, who is one of the best little kicks about this book, is stubborn and comes up with the craziest schemes and refusing to take “No” for an answer from Melissa. Nelly ends up winning Melissa a date at the cost of $3,000! And thus the story begins.

Melissa ends up going on a date with the Captain of the San Gabriel Fire Station, Harry Brody. At first they are like thunder and lightning. Everything that comes out of Brody’s mouth Melissa has to object and vice versa. On the first date Melissa makes the statement, “One thing’s for sure,” she said. “We are not compatible, not one bit” (48). Their chemistry or, the lack there of, makes this book that much more interesting to read. They would fire off rude remarks to one another and then turn right around and be slamming each other into a wall with their lips locked and their hands all over one another. Another statement that Melissa makes sums up their relationship pretty well, “Every time I think I have a handle on you, you throw me a curve” (41).

Melissa is a news producer for the local news and she has a little resentment built up towards her job. She was a big time producer for a station in Los Angeles, but had to give up her job when she had her heart broken and her grandmother, Nelly, got sick. Her job creates a lot of tension in her life because she wants to write and produce stories that matter and problems that really need the community’s attention, while everyone else does not always agree with her on this matter. Her job really brings out her sincere characteristics. She finds stories that can really almost break your heart and she doesn’t stop until she has solved the problem and accomplished whatever it was that she originally set out to. A lot of times Melissa’s job gets the best of her and she allows her co-workers and boss to use her as a doormat. This is one of the things she and Brody argue over, and I love that Brody continually pushes her to stand up for herself more.

Brody, on the other hand, is the Captain of the San Gabriel Fire Station, most of which who have a reputation for being bachelors. His masculine ability to demand for respect from his men is enough to make any woman drool. Everyone in the entire station admires Brody for his excellent work as a Fire Captain and the fact that he is so young and has already reached the Captain position. He takes his job very seriously and tries not to let other things interfere, except when he meets Melissa. One of my favorite aspects of the book was watching them struggle with the idea of one another. Could it work? Would it work between them? They challenge each in a way that compliments them both.

I really did enjoy this story. Bernard wrote some pretty awesome stock characters. The different parts of the story fit together like a puzzle and today I will be heading to Barnes and Noble to buy my copy of the second book in the series, Hot for Fireman. I am hoping that there will be more firemen to come from this fire station in San Gabriel. I loved getting lost in Melissa and Brody’s story and I hope you will too!!