He Loves Her, and I Love Them!
In Finding Focus book 3, Fighting Fire, Jiffy Kate circles back to book 1's hero, Micah Landry. He and older brother Deacon have run two restaurants, Grinders and Pockets, in tiny French Settlement, Louisiana since college, but when Pockets burns and Deacon has recovered from his fire-related injuries, Deke wants to rebuild Pockets immediately. Micah, however, has received an impressive offer from Alex, one of his many former flings--putting a new restaurant in a building she's inherited in New Orleans--and Micah goes ahead despite Deacon's strong opposition to his solo venture and the woman behind it. Dani, his girlfriend from book 1, also doubts Alex's motives but supports the business venture Micah is obviously excited about.
Deacon is so angry, he reschedules the shifts at Grinders to make sure he and Micah don't need to talk. They even come to blows at Thanksgiving dinner, a grade-A offense for their mama, Annie. The only thing worse would be messing up Christmas, and Micah does that inadvertently as well, by inviting Alex (whose family is away) to the family dinner. Only Annie's Southern hospitality allows her to ask Alex in...and she still (graciously) gives him a piece of her mind for upsetting everyone else. Dani, naturally, decides to get a ride home from Deacon and tells Micah to entertain "his guest" and then spend a few days at his cottage while she "takes time alone to think". It's the worst Christmas of his life--the worst six months of his life!
The restaurant build is progressing, but Alex keeps holding things up, forgetting to fax permits to their silent partner, a lawyer, and breezing in looking, Micah thinks, like she "just stepped out of Saks with daddy's credit card". He has her number and doesn't respond to any of her flirtatious overtures. He even introduces her to Dani and ignores Alex's patronizing attitude. He wants Dani, not Alex, and he wants both of them to know it!
Dani, as a freelance photojournalist, has an assignment in Birmingham and must drive home through a nasty storm. With no other cars on the road and the sky turning black, she takes shelter at a closed gas station with an old man and his fat cat. A panicky Micah calls Tucker, who speeds to NoLa with Deacon and begins searching for Dani, who fortunately rented an easy-to-see bright red sedan. When they spot it, she's not inside, but they find her in a bathroom with Frank (the man) and Maw (the cat). Drawn together by potential tragedy, Micah makes up with Deacon and Dani.
Meanwhile, the new restaurant has had a visitor--an IRS agent looking for Alex. If she's short on cash, which might have brought the agent to the restaurant, Micah can buy her out and own the restaurant with the silent partner, who as a lawyer knows the terms of the contract Micah and Alex signed and can advise him.
Alex refuses at first, but getting the IRS off her back wins against pride, and she agrees to sell. As sole owner (the lawyer is again silent), Micah prepares for the soft opening and notifies the staff that Alex is gone. No surprise, they like the news! So do the family members and friends who attend the soft opening--including Deacon, the first to walk in! Of course, no large gathering can end without a grand gesture, and Micah obliges by proposing. Sigh!
As much as I liked Deacon in book 2, I thought he overreacted by scheduling shifts so they wouldn't run into each other and by punching Micah at a family dinner, and as annoyed as I was by Micah's womanizing in book 1, I sympathized with his excitement about opening up a restaurant in New Orleans. Both of them were stubborn, and neither would apologize even though both were in the wrong. Dani was insane, trying to drive through a tornado, but her "tough love" approach to Micah on Christmas made them both consider what they want in their future: each other! Jiffy Kate did a great job making these flawed characters come to life, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
Spice Level: explicit description of Micah and Dani's intimate encounters; lots of F-bombs and other profanity from the brothers (and even a few from Mama Landry, who apologizes to her grandson when he calls her on it)