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Force of Nature
Disaster brought them together and, despite desire, may ultimately keep them apart. Wind. Fire. Ice. Love. Nothing for Gable McCoy and Erin Richards seems to go smoothly. From the tornado that sets its sights on them, to the perils they face as volunteer firefighters, the forces of nature conspire to bring them close to danger, and closer to each other. From the author of the acclaimed intrigue/romance Hunter's Pursuit.
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2005
11 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
About the author
Kim Baldwin
32 books241 followersKim has made her living as a writer for more than three decades, working as an Emmy-winning journalist in network news for twenty years before she began penning fiction. She resides in a national forest in Michigan, with few neighbors and a long drive to get to the nearest airport, movie theater, or ethnic restaurant. She never imagined herself a novelist, her first book, Hunter’s Pursuit, was written as a way to fight off cabin fever during a long winter and was sent off to a publisher at the encouragement of friends. The positive feedback she received from readers hooked her to continue writing more romantic lesbian adventures.
Travel is a major obsession. Kim first went to Europe at age fourteen, traveling with her parents on a five week excursion through a dozen countries. Four years later, she returned as part of a singing and dancing troupe, performing in town squares and castles and staying with local families.
The decades since have been filled with many more far-flung excursions... riding a camel at the Pyramids of Giza, crossing the U.N. green line at Cyprus, dogsledding above the Arctic Circle in Alaska, watching Paris awaken from atop Notre Dame Cathedral, motorcycling the Blue Ridge parkway, watching shuttles launch from a kayak near Cape Canaveral, skiing Whistler/Blackcomb, British Columbia, climbing Diamondhead in Hawaii. Her travels and journalism background provide great fodder for her novels. And her younger years in community theater have paid off in her new passion--narrating audiobooks.
Kim is a member of PAN (Published Author’s Network), Romance Writers of America, and the Rainbow Romance Writers, Chapter #217 of the RWA. She's also a 2008 Recipient of an Alice B. Readers Appreciation Award The Alice B. Medal: This award is given annually to living writers who have careers distinguished by consistently well-written stories about lesbians. The award is given once, only, in appreciation of career achievement. (from the author's website)
Travel is a major obsession. Kim first went to Europe at age fourteen, traveling with her parents on a five week excursion through a dozen countries. Four years later, she returned as part of a singing and dancing troupe, performing in town squares and castles and staying with local families.
The decades since have been filled with many more far-flung excursions... riding a camel at the Pyramids of Giza, crossing the U.N. green line at Cyprus, dogsledding above the Arctic Circle in Alaska, watching Paris awaken from atop Notre Dame Cathedral, motorcycling the Blue Ridge parkway, watching shuttles launch from a kayak near Cape Canaveral, skiing Whistler/Blackcomb, British Columbia, climbing Diamondhead in Hawaii. Her travels and journalism background provide great fodder for her novels. And her younger years in community theater have paid off in her new passion--narrating audiobooks.
Kim is a member of PAN (Published Author’s Network), Romance Writers of America, and the Rainbow Romance Writers, Chapter #217 of the RWA. She's also a 2008 Recipient of an Alice B. Readers Appreciation Award The Alice B. Medal: This award is given annually to living writers who have careers distinguished by consistently well-written stories about lesbians. The award is given once, only, in appreciation of career achievement. (from the author's website)
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 20, 2020
Initially I found the romantic chemistry between the main couple weak. When they first got stuck together and talked for hours from favourite movies to their childhoods and everything in between, they made an instant connection which I didn't feel at all. I found their conversation mundane and ordinary. Their chemistry did grow over time and they had lots of cute scenes like the piano/confession scene but still something was missing.
February 18, 2018
3.5 Stars. 3 Stars for the book plus 0.5 stars for the narration by Charley Ongel. Its one of those audio books that I feel was enhanced by an excellent narrator. I loved the soft southern accent that she gives Gable.
This is a first person as told by 46 year old Gable, a pharmacist and a first year volunteer firefighter. She meets 31 year old music teacher, Erin, when she finds Erin trapped in her basement after a freak tornado. As they wait for hours for help, they bond, killing time talking about everything, discovering they have a lot in common. Gable finds out the one thing they don't have in common-Gable is gay and Erin is not. They become close friends, but Gable is reluctant to tell Erin she is gay. Unfortunately, Gable is also falling in love with Erin. Erin also has secrets which Gable assumes the worst. But of course they don't talk about it...
The book does show its age. It was published in 2005 - the time of landline phones and answering machines and not everyone had or wanted cellphones. Amazing how fast technology changed.
This is a first person as told by 46 year old Gable, a pharmacist and a first year volunteer firefighter. She meets 31 year old music teacher, Erin, when she finds Erin trapped in her basement after a freak tornado. As they wait for hours for help, they bond, killing time talking about everything, discovering they have a lot in common. Gable finds out the one thing they don't have in common-Gable is gay and Erin is not. They become close friends, but Gable is reluctant to tell Erin she is gay. Unfortunately, Gable is also falling in love with Erin. Erin also has secrets which Gable assumes the worst. But of course they don't talk about it...
The book does show its age. It was published in 2005 - the time of landline phones and answering machines and not everyone had or wanted cellphones. Amazing how fast technology changed.
April 29, 2018
Another good effort by Kim Baldwin. I enjoyed the firefighter angle which did add to the action in the story although I felt like those dramatic pivots needed a bit more attention. The beginning had me going not knowing where the story would go. The underlying mystery of Erin character could have been told earlier in the story, I wanted to know what was up earlier and have the characters deal with it sooner. All in all a good read.
February 4, 2021
This was a sweet story with issues.
Gable was a sweet, dedicated, hardworking woman who didn't have a mean bone in her body. She had a love for nature and was an expert at building fires as well as putting them out. When it came to relationships and putting out any fires there, she came up short. Erin was wishy-washy for me. Some moments I liked her. Her infectious energy and fun attitude was pleasant, but then there were moments where she drove me crazy. As Erin and Gable's friendship furthered, Erin's actions at times made me cringe and ask, "why?" Just when I wanted to hate her, I couldn't because it was partly Gable's fault for not verbalizing her interests and sexuality. So, they were both at fault. Seeing Gable fall in love to a woman who was oblivious to the butch, very gay woman, and dating men, was torture for me as much as it was for Gable. When their friendship turned romantic, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief, until Erin ruined it by clamming up and taking off in one of those annoying dramatic-like ways that I just cannot stand. When characters act like that, I have to ask if they're even aware of their asinine behaviour and if they think they're going to get away with it. I hate, hate when characters shut up and shut down in front of the person they're intimate with, with the notion that everybody is just gonna let it go. Like, seriously? Screwy romance aside, the firefighting scenes were good, but what really had me on the edge of my seat was the river rescue scene. Wow. That's all I'll say about that.
Force of Nature had inconsistencies all throughout the book that ruined moments for me and I didn't like how abruptly the story ended. I wanted a little bit more after the rescue/hospital scene. Erin had revealed her past life in basically one quick rush of breath to Gable while Gable was recovering from near death and then it just ended. It needed another page or two, in my opinion.
All in all, I did enjoy this story. Baldwin has a knack for writing descriptive action, and/or harrowing, oh-my-gawd-I'm-gonna-die, scenes which kept me bouncing in anticipation. And I can't end it here without mentioning Gable, the sweetie butch for a soft spot for kitties :)
Gable was a sweet, dedicated, hardworking woman who didn't have a mean bone in her body. She had a love for nature and was an expert at building fires as well as putting them out. When it came to relationships and putting out any fires there, she came up short. Erin was wishy-washy for me. Some moments I liked her. Her infectious energy and fun attitude was pleasant, but then there were moments where she drove me crazy. As Erin and Gable's friendship furthered, Erin's actions at times made me cringe and ask, "why?" Just when I wanted to hate her, I couldn't because it was partly Gable's fault for not verbalizing her interests and sexuality. So, they were both at fault. Seeing Gable fall in love to a woman who was oblivious to the butch, very gay woman, and dating men, was torture for me as much as it was for Gable. When their friendship turned romantic, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief, until Erin ruined it by clamming up and taking off in one of those annoying dramatic-like ways that I just cannot stand. When characters act like that, I have to ask if they're even aware of their asinine behaviour and if they think they're going to get away with it. I hate, hate when characters shut up and shut down in front of the person they're intimate with, with the notion that everybody is just gonna let it go. Like, seriously? Screwy romance aside, the firefighting scenes were good, but what really had me on the edge of my seat was the river rescue scene. Wow. That's all I'll say about that.
Force of Nature had inconsistencies all throughout the book that ruined moments for me and I didn't like how abruptly the story ended. I wanted a little bit more after the rescue/hospital scene. Erin had revealed her past life in basically one quick rush of breath to Gable while Gable was recovering from near death and then it just ended. It needed another page or two, in my opinion.
All in all, I did enjoy this story. Baldwin has a knack for writing descriptive action, and/or harrowing, oh-my-gawd-I'm-gonna-die, scenes which kept me bouncing in anticipation. And I can't end it here without mentioning Gable, the sweetie butch for a soft spot for kitties :)
August 9, 2016
Light Spoilers ahead...
I would give this a 3.5 easily because while it was predictable as many of these lesfics are, this one had an honesty and tenderness to it that was endearing. I liked how Kim Baldwin showed the wide range of emotions that Gable went through, first with meeting Erin, then discovering she liked her, and then falling in love with her. There were many sweet and corny moments, but otherwise this book had a nice romance to it. I especially liked the "piano" scene the best. I thought it was a classic way to go about bringing everything out in the open, something I've seen done in older romance movies. For those reasons I enjoyed it.
You have to be willing to suspend reality here because we are dealing with an openly gay older woman, and a straight women discovering she's gay for the first time. I found their first sexual encounter a bit too easy, how did Erin "know" what to do without guidance and some level of insecurity? It was a bit too perfect for Erin to just "know" how to bring Gable to orgasm.
I was also grateful and surprised that the author did NOT mention any friction between the man that Erin was dating before Gable, and who she later stopped seeing when she realized she had feelings for Gable. No backlash/confrontation from him at all after finding out Erin was gay? They were all volunteer firefighters in the same crew and nothing? I actually expected he would be a complication for them, but his character basically disappeared after Gable and Erin got together. Don't get me wrong, I was happy that he was not causing drama, but it seemed awfully unrealistic that he WASN'T causing drama all the same.
Finally, the ending seemed rushed, we finally find out in the end (literally the end) that Erin's ex-husband was an abusive bastard. Gable and Erin agree they will revisit the marriage conversation, they say "I love you" and then the book is over? Very disappointing ending. I was surprised it ended so abruptly, it could have used at least 1 more chapter and an epilogue.
I would give this a 3.5 easily because while it was predictable as many of these lesfics are, this one had an honesty and tenderness to it that was endearing. I liked how Kim Baldwin showed the wide range of emotions that Gable went through, first with meeting Erin, then discovering she liked her, and then falling in love with her. There were many sweet and corny moments, but otherwise this book had a nice romance to it. I especially liked the "piano" scene the best. I thought it was a classic way to go about bringing everything out in the open, something I've seen done in older romance movies. For those reasons I enjoyed it.
You have to be willing to suspend reality here because we are dealing with an openly gay older woman, and a straight women discovering she's gay for the first time. I found their first sexual encounter a bit too easy, how did Erin "know" what to do without guidance and some level of insecurity? It was a bit too perfect for Erin to just "know" how to bring Gable to orgasm.
I was also grateful and surprised that the author did NOT mention any friction between the man that Erin was dating before Gable, and who she later stopped seeing when she realized she had feelings for Gable. No backlash/confrontation from him at all after finding out Erin was gay? They were all volunteer firefighters in the same crew and nothing? I actually expected he would be a complication for them, but his character basically disappeared after Gable and Erin got together. Don't get me wrong, I was happy that he was not causing drama, but it seemed awfully unrealistic that he WASN'T causing drama all the same.
Finally, the ending seemed rushed, we finally find out in the end (literally the end) that Erin's ex-husband was an abusive bastard. Gable and Erin agree they will revisit the marriage conversation, they say "I love you" and then the book is over? Very disappointing ending. I was surprised it ended so abruptly, it could have used at least 1 more chapter and an epilogue.
October 25, 2016
Incomplete
I really like the author, the book and the characters. It was building up to a huge ending. I was looking forward to it. But all of a sudden it ended! It's as if the writer either got tired of writing or just needed to end it because there was nothing else to say. And the disregard to Erin's past was disheartening. She confessed what happened to her and than it was the end!!!
I really like the author, the book and the characters. It was building up to a huge ending. I was looking forward to it. But all of a sudden it ended! It's as if the writer either got tired of writing or just needed to end it because there was nothing else to say. And the disregard to Erin's past was disheartening. She confessed what happened to her and than it was the end!!!
June 27, 2015
Enjoyable read. One of my favorites. The piano scene, cute as well as romantic.
January 4, 2016
I really enjoyed this one and will read it again.
December 28, 2019
I'll stretch to a 2.5. This is an older publication and the author's writing has improved since this was first out, so don't take this as a true example of her skill. I found this read rather paint by numbers. It wouldn't surprise me if this originally started life as an uber fan fiction.
I enjoy books centred on rescue services and disasters but I couldn't quite get into this one. It felt like it was missing its heart. The dialogue seemed stilted and the running internal commentary made me feel like the author thought the reader was too stupid or the writing too weak for the reader to figure out how the characters felt. It's one of the things that made it feel like fan fiction where everything is handed to the reader on a platter. The whole first part was basically a giant dialogue based info dump.
I also felt the tension could have be turned up a few notches during the action sequences and particularly around Erin's past. That was dealt with far too swiftly and easily for it to have the effect it was supposed to on the reader. The obstacles they faced did not seem very hard on them because I couldn't find the emotion in the writing.
I think I liked the idea of this story more than the actual book. There were a few spots where I got sucked in but overall it felt kind of bland.
I enjoy books centred on rescue services and disasters but I couldn't quite get into this one. It felt like it was missing its heart. The dialogue seemed stilted and the running internal commentary made me feel like the author thought the reader was too stupid or the writing too weak for the reader to figure out how the characters felt. It's one of the things that made it feel like fan fiction where everything is handed to the reader on a platter. The whole first part was basically a giant dialogue based info dump.
I also felt the tension could have be turned up a few notches during the action sequences and particularly around Erin's past. That was dealt with far too swiftly and easily for it to have the effect it was supposed to on the reader. The obstacles they faced did not seem very hard on them because I couldn't find the emotion in the writing.
I think I liked the idea of this story more than the actual book. There were a few spots where I got sucked in but overall it felt kind of bland.
March 3, 2021
Volunteer firefighter Gable McCoy finds Erin Richards when a tornado destroys her trapping her in a basement bathroom. Gable and Erin talk through the night until more manpower can arrive to rescue Erin. Erin, a school teacher, decides to join the volunteer firefighters unit and starts training. Gable who is very private enjoys having an outgoing easy new friend. Erin also enjoy the friendship and tries dating one of the fireman. But she likes Gable more. There are some very sweet scenes but and a couple heroic moments. But overall the chemistry wasn't there for me and the ending felt very rushed. It could have used an epilogue. (published 2005)
September 10, 2018
So I have a weakness for firefighters and disasters. This book has both and a pretty good love story as well. The characters are likable and real. The setting is amazing, I want to live there. The plot flows really well with a slow burn romance. Nothing to cheesy or contrived. It just seems to happen because it is meant to be.
May 12, 2023
Oh god so I have recently listened to all the previous books and I really liked hunters pursuit and breaking the ice etc but this one I could not stand it at all like everything between the main characters felt disconnected for some reason and I had to skip some of it because it was so annoying and unrealistic
June 19, 2017
I enjoyed it. I'd read the three shorts it's based on, the last which provides that ending everyone else is looking for but wasn't in the book. Most of the book is that first short, but very fleshed out with some changes, most for the better.
June 27, 2021
Ricci can tell a extraordinary story.
April 28, 2024
A definite 3.5 based on the sheer number of injuries sustained by the main character, Gable. Not sure how she could survive since she's not a super hero. But, all in all, not a bad romance.
April 20, 2014
wow, the turmoil for Gabe when she had to watch the object of her hearts desire start to date a guy in the firehouse...ugh. I really felt for her. It's that slow torture of unrequited love...with a straight chick. Loved it.
September 24, 2009
Volunteer Firefighters Gabbie Mc Coy and Erin Richards needed a Communication Skills Workshop! Everythng conspires against them, before they come together with a BANG!
A HOT Lesbian book!
A HOT Lesbian book!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews