Lukas Wolf has no desire to have a partner. He doesn't need any help, especially from some young graduate with no field experience, to catch a serial arsonist who is escalating in the county.
Austin Kinsley moved to Tampa Bay to reconnect with his cousin, Thomas Flame, and to apply for an arson investigator position with the county. Of course, getting his dream job is the easy part. Working with his new partner, Lukas Wolf, and finding what he needs to satisfy his craving for pain might be more difficult.
This book contains M/M & BDSM sexual situations and is intended for readers of legal age in the country in which they reside.
Brenda is an Amazon and ARe best-selling author and resides in Tampa, FL with her husband, six cats, a dog, a turtle named Tammy, and a rabbit named Alice. She is active in the Tampa Bay GLBT, kink, & leather communities, and the owner of Florida Leather & Fetish Pride Weekend event which includes a Mr. & Ms. title contest. When not putting the voices in her head on paper, Brenda is attending book and fantasy/Sci-fi conventions to meet fans. She also attends leather/kink events as Ms. Florida Leather & Fetish Pride 2016 and teaches about the leather and kink lifestyle.
She would love to hear from you! Visit her on the following:
Website: www.bcothernbooks.com (Where you can find several FREE reads!) Facebook: Brenda Cothern Books Facebook Fan Page: Brenda Cothern Books, Inc. Goodreads: Brenda Cothern Smashwords: BCothernBooks Google+: Brenda Cothern Books Twitter: BCothernBooks Authorgraph: BCothernBooks
For signed digital autograph, please send her a request through Authorgraph! A personalized autographed PDF for the book will be signed and sent to you! If you enjoy her books, please show your support by giving them stars and/or writing reviews on the various online sites where they can be purchased.
This didn't work for me. I'll admit that BDSM is not one of my favorite genres, but the BDSM aspects don't affect the 2 star rating.
The story is told from Austin's pov. He's a hotshot, fresh out of grad school fire investigator and he's also Flame's cousin. Austin decides he wants to work in Florida where Tom is to be near family. Austin is heavily into the bdsm lifestyle. He's an experienced masochist up to and including blood play, breath play, and CBT.
Lucas Wolf is the veteran fire investigator in the Tampa department. He's surly, standoffish, and he does not want a partner. He especially doesn't want the brown-nosing pretty boy with no field experience as a partner, and the fact that he is immediately attracted to Austin just serves to cement his no partner stance.
Austin and Lucas may not have hit it off when they met, but it's a different story when Austin visits a BDSM dungeon and finds out that Lucas is an extremely experienced dom with a heavy taste for sadism. Austin is wearing a mask when he first notices Lucas and he continues to wear a mask when he and Lukas start meeting each other for play sessions.
This is where my problems began. After meeting several times and engaging in S/M scenes both publicly and privately, and after having beginning a sexual relationship as the meetings progress, I find it extremely hard to believe that Lucas doesn't recognize Austin mask or no mask.
I didn't care for Austin as a character. He's selfish, immature, and the whole smug attitude about his "secret" identity turned me off. Eventually Lucas finds out that his playmate is actually his partner and the relationship begins. This felt false to me. You meet a few times to beat the crap out of someone, or to get the crap beat out of you and suddenly you're in love? I couldn't see it.
My last minor niggle is the role Flame played in this book. He turns into an unrecognizable character that calls Austin "Austie" and he mothers Austin like an overprotective mother Hen. That was disappointing.
Overall I don't feel like this was a strong addition to the series.
I have become a huge fan of Brenda Cothern’s writing and the latest book in the Guns and Hoses universe hit the spot.
Lukas Wolf is an alpha male in all areas of his life and doesn’t see why anything about him should change. He has been an arson investigator for 10 years, he lives and breathes his job, and he doesn’t need or want a partner as he works alone just fine. The fact that he is getting a partner pushed onto him is making him grumpy and a little stressed and he makes it clear to everyone around him that he isn’t happy.
Austin Kinsley has recently relocated to Tampa to spend time with his cousin Flame who he hasn’t seen for years. He has also applied for a job with the local fire department as an investigator and it looks as though he is in with a good chance of getting it until he is interviewed by Lukas who is rude and unprofessional.
This book cleverly intertwines two stories until they are forced to collide and Lukas and Austin have to face the truth. These two men clash from the start, their relationship both in and out of the office is explosive, but for very different reasons.
Austin wants it all. He craves pain and needs an outlet. He wants to succeed in his job and prove to Lukas that he is more than capable and he needs Flame to back off and let him live his life. Lukas has a role to play in all of this whether he realises it or not.
I so loved the first book and was quite excited when I saw we were getting another look at the Guns & Hoses crew.
My excitement is over.
Austin came across as a smug little jerk to me. His "I know a secret" smirks completely got on my nerves. I kept reading how they both thought the other was HOT but I felt no chemistry.
At least I still have flag football frottage to remember fondly.
Cothern is one of THOSE authors. We all have them. The authors whose books we cannot get enough of. The authors who when I’m asked if I want to review their latest book I don’t even bother to ask what it’s about or when it’s due (because I will give up sleep to read it). The authors whose writing pulls you so fully into the story that you’re perturbed when you have to return to your dull and boring life (at least compared to their characters’ it is). You know, THOSE authors. The latest novel from Cothern’s Guns & Hoses series was no exception as I found myself so completely wrapped up in Austin and Lukas’s lives that I stayed up way too late to finish Fire & Ice.
For those who have read Guns & Hoses, you will be delighted to know that we get to catch up with Tig and Flame as Austin is Flame’s cousin and he is trying to get a job as an arson investigator in Tampa. While Austin is more than happy to stay with his cousin as he’s always looked up to him and credits him for making his high school years survivable, Austin finds it hard to tolerate Flame’s heavy handedness when Flame’s protective instincts are triggered. And it turns out that Austin’s new partner Lukas sets off all of Flame’s protective instincts. Fortunately, Austin is more than willing to tell his cousin to back off and mind his own business, even if he’s not willing to share his biggest secret with his cousin. But Flame isn’t the only person Austin is keeping secrets from and I found his deception with Lukas rather entertaining. Normally I wouldn’t consider Austin’s deception appropriate, but Cothern makes it work because Austin’s intentions are good and not coming from a place of malice. That didn’t keep me from worrying about the fallout that was sure to accompany his secret being exposed, but the author does something that was so unexpected that the fallout was practically nil.
I loved almost everything about Fire & Ice and I’ll get to the teensy weensy issue that I didn’t enjoy momentarily. The chemistry between Austin and Lukas is intense, but Lukas spends so much time fighting against it that when they do connect it is explosive. And it’s even more intense when they scene together. The BDSM scenes are off-the-charts hot. I seriously enjoyed that it took Lukas so long to figure out Austin’s secret and that it was his denial of his attraction to Austin that kept him from seeing what was right in front of him. I loved the serial arson investigation that Cothern included in the book. It not only elevated the novel’s level of realism, but it also provided Austin opportunities he needed to prove his mettle as an investigator. But the arson investigation also brought in the teeny tiny part of the story I didn’t enjoy. Cothern does such a good job of bringing in the FBI and utilizing their reputation for taking over local cases that I was a little let down with how that scenario played out. For once, it was more realism than I wanted simply because I wanted to see Lukas and Austin break the case. But that’s just me pouting and it wasn’t enough of an issue to reduce my rating because I loved the way Fire & Ice played out in the end. I cannot wait to see what Cothern has in store next for the Guns & Hoses series.
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!
I loved the first one of this series. . My problem with this one was the ending. Obviously the two MCs are going to end up together. But most of the book is about them working toward that and the ending was like, "ok, so one offers the other to move in, and they live HAE, the end." It felt, well, dropped or rushed. No real closure. The story itself was good, though.
Oh, and Flame was a complete dick. I spent the whole story wanting to smack him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Even better than the first book in the series! I love how flirty Austin is toward Lucas while trying to get to him. The back and forth between the two of them made them coming together sizzle even hotter. Flame wasn't my favorite in this one but, I get he is just a little overprotective. Not a book Brenda Cothern has written that I have read that I haven't loved!
In true Brenda fashion she uses too much of his partner, his lover et.c. (I don't really remember the exact words she uses, since I've read a few more books of hers after this one) instead of their names and sooo much of them when their not needed.
I read it as an audiobook and what I remember of him is that he wasn't good at all. But that goes for all of her books I've read so far. But I try to judge the book as if I had read it as a regular book.
Good. I was a bit let down that the story skipped over Wolf and Kinsley’s transition from secret play partners to acknowledged work/boyfriend/kink partners. There was a good scene where Wolf didn’t yet know who Pain Junkie was, but none after Wolf knew. I wish the reconciliation between Kinsley and Flame has happened on the page too.
Was a solid 3 until the end, and that’s the problem. There wasn’t one.
Interesting characters. Solid story. OK kink. Conclusion so dang rushed it makes you wonder if a couple chapters got deleted.
I decided to read the next book in the series in hopes of gleaning at least some of the resolution development I was looking for but didn’t get from this one.
Ich lese Brenda Cothern Bücher wirklich sehr gerne, aber was sie echt nicht kann, sind smoothe und zufriedene Happy Ends, die ihre Leserinnen mit einem "Ach, wie schön" erfreuen. Eher denke ich (fast) immer: WTF!
Finally another Guns & Hoses book! I was super excited to see this book and be able to carry on the story in the first book of the series. This time the story turns to Austin Kinsley, the cousin of Thomas Flame from the first book.
Austin has recently received his Master’s Degree with highest honors and is looking for a job. He has been offered positions with the FBI, Homeland Security and other government agencies, but he isn’t interested in working for the federal government.
Instead he wants to work in Tampa, FL, where he can reconnect with his favorite cousin, Tommy Flame. Things are great, he interviews for the job and things are going as planned. That is until he meets the man who would be his partner if he is hired. Instant dislike from both sides, but more so from the side of Lukas Wolf. He doesn’t want a partner, doesn’t think he needs a partner, and especially doesn’t want a wet behind the ears college graduate with absolutely no experience!
Things get worse when Austin gets the job. Will Wolf ever thaw towards Austin? Will Tommy figure out there is something “off” about his cousin? Will Austin be able to hide the huge tattoo on his back and his love of BDSM?
What will happen when Austin runs into Wolf in a BDSM club in Orlando? Things are about to get real! How will it affect their work relationship? Will Wolf figure out that Austin is the man in the mask? Enough teasers, you’ll have to read the book to get the answers!
I highly recommend this book and this author. I’m not usually into books with a lot of BDSM, but this one was good. A couple BDSM scenes and some discussion, but not in so much detail that it would cause anyone to be squeamish. This book could easily be read as a standalone, but I’d recommend you read both anyway! Brenda Cothern continues to deliver very readable stories that keep the reader enthralled from cover to cover. Fire & Ice is no exception, and personally, I can’t wait for her next one!
This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
Lukáš is the best friend who didn't know his work partner was gay until it was too late. He spent years pining away for him only to discover that his heart was taken by another. That was all pay if the guns and hoses book.
This sequel is about him and a new partner who just happens to be the cousin of his one true unrequited love.
I liked this book just not as much as the first book. The storyline that ran along side of the enemies to lovers build up was more intriguing for me.
This author genuinely dislikes romance and writing a decent ending. Her books walways fall apart as soon as MC's start to have feelings. It's like it's repugnant to her to write. She's happy with the set up, raunch, sex. But as soon as feelings start. Nope rush. Gaps, finish. And her readers are what? Did chapters fall out. What did I miss. I annoyed me first couple of books. But it's her style. Which is a frustrating anx I'm going to stop wasting my time. Because honestly it's just as bad as reading a book to 60% and then reading the last page. It's the same experience with this author.
Oh my. This didn't work for me. I didn't like Austin at all and while I liked Lukas, I couldn't believe he didn't realize who his pain slut was. He's a trained investigator whose job is to spot details. It just didn't fly. What really bothered me was the end. Without spoilers, it was way too rushed and ended too abruptly.
And the Flame in this book was not the same Flame that was in book 1. Oh, and the book ended at 93%. Nope.
This was another one of those books where I was more interested in the plot and not the MCs. They just didn't do it for me. I didn't feel there was a connection between them to have such an intense relationship. Oh and I really didn't like Austin. At all..
Because I was more interested in the plot I was left hanging like a teenage girl with her first sexual incounter. No closure..
I loved Lukas and Austin, and it isn't often that you see a pure sadist/masochist match-up without it also being a D/s relationship. My only complaint is that this book was going along nicely and then it felt like it just abruptly ended. There wasn't a satisfactory resolution too any of the side conflicts that were introduced in the book.
I really liked this book.....until the end....I feel like it was going along and then bam it's over. The ending was wrapped up too quickly. But other than that I liked it. I really liked Austin & Lukas.....and would have loved a little more of them.
He's the cousin of a character in the previous book, Guns n' Hoses, who's into bdsm-- but no one knows. Especially not the new partner he shares an office with-- and who put those welts on his back! Good D/s story but I liked first story better. No cliffs but HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.