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Island Fire #6

Up in Flames

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Her dedication to her job robbed him of his beloved career.

Firefighting is everything for Penn Griffin—his job, his family, and his friends. When a hurricane roars toward San Amaro Island, he’s called on a rescue and ends up face-to-face with Nadia, the gorgeous but frustrating woman he went on one interrupted date with months ago. Now, in one fell swoop, she’s altered his life irrevocably.

Nadia Hamlin eats, sleeps, and breathes her career at her family’s beachside hotel. As the storm approaches, she thinks nothing of making a last-minute stop at the hotel on the way out of town—until it’s too late. Thanks to her careless decision, Penn’s beloved career is over.

Nadia wants to make it up to him. Penn wants nothing to do with her or her well-intentioned “help.” But the attraction that once sparked between them isn’t easily extinguished, and soon Nadia wants more than her career—she wants a second chance with Penn. Can he find his way toward forgiveness and acceptance and a future with Nadia?

Up in Flames is a stand-alone novel with a happy ever after in the Island Fire series.

Dive into this sexy, engrossing series today!

274 pages, ebook

First published October 3, 2012

251 people are currently reading
529 people want to read

About the author

Amy Knupp

148 books606 followers
Amy Knupp is a USA Today Best-Selling author of contemporary romance and a freelance copy editor. She loves words and grammar and meaty, engrossing stories with complex characters.

Amy lives in Wisconsin with her husband, and has two sons, four cats, and a box turtle. She graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in French and journalism. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, breaking up cat fights, watching college hoops, and annoying her family by correcting their grammar.

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5 stars
300 (46%)
4 stars
190 (29%)
3 stars
117 (18%)
2 stars
28 (4%)
1 star
9 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
Profile Image for Marija.
708 reviews46 followers
April 10, 2018
This is another great book about two people that are attracted to each other for some time, but she is running away from a date. Penn is the island's firefighter who loves and lives for his job but during a hurricane he is injured while saving Nadia. After that he becomes angry and all the emotions he is feeling is taking out on her because he is blaming her for his job threating injury. Nadia is feeling guilt and tries to help him. In all that rollercoaster they have growing attraction, but is it going to blossom or the anger will prevail you will have to read the book.
I've finished reading in one sitting just because I had to see what will be next and after that, until I came to the very last page.
Another great read in the Island Fire serial written by talented Amy Knupp
Profile Image for Sláinte Wanderlust.
892 reviews385 followers
November 2, 2012
Cover & Title - 4 out of 5.
Favorite Character - Nadia

I liked the story & the idea/concept was really unusual. It is a quite a deep book, more so than most romances i have read. I like the characters & it was interesting reading about their jobs and how seriously they both took them.
I have one complaint.. i didn't actually "feel" the love. I am totally not sure why but it just never came for me. I did enjoy the book so it is surprising that i couldn't connect to the relationship *shrug*

Profile Image for Mandi.
2,369 reviews732 followers
October 29, 2012
The blurb of this one really caught my attention so I thought I’d give this new to me author a try. Nadia Hamlin lives on a small island near Texas. She is the definition of a workaholic, and ignores the hurricane evacuation warnings and runs back to the office to grab more files. As she is leaving, a big sign slams into her car. Scared, she calls the fire department. The first firefighter on the scene is Penn Griffin. She has known Penn for awhile, and recently went on a disastrous date with him, where she ended up leaving before the food even came because work called. Nadia’s family owns a hotel on the island and she manages events. It is a very demanding job, and when she leaves during dinner, it doesn’t sit well with Penn. But they put those feelings aside as Penn starts to get Nadia to safety. Unfortunately, a piece of the parking garage falls off onto Penn, severely injuring his back.

Penn lands in the hospital and has surgery. His firefighting career is basically over and to say he is devastated is an understatement. He is also pissed at Nadia, blaming her for being stupid during a hurricane. Nadia feels horrible and guilty and decides she needs to help Penn get through his recovery. Breaking through his anger and defensive barriers will be a great challenge for her.

I really like this one. Penn is a jerk for a lot of the book but I think him acting this way is a realistic aftermath of his injury. He is so bitter and has so much self loathing as he goes from the high adreneline job to laying in bed all day. And he has so much anger towards Nadia, yet I still feel like their relationship develops at a steady pace. Nadia is stubborn and pretty strong when Penn blows up at her multiple times. I think she understands the depth of his pain, both physically and mentally. She has patience, maybe a little too much, but I liked that about her.

This story felt very full. We get the budding relationship between Nadia and Penn, which turns out to be quite sexy. We get Nadia’s journey through her life as she is faced with an exhausting job and maybe an unsteady future with her mother. Penn’s mother and sister come to help with the recovery and they work out issues between them. We also get some comic relief from Cooper, Penn’s roommate and fellow firefighter. I really like him. I felt all of these different storylines really worked well together and brought forth a very engaging story.

My complaint is that I wish Penn had showed Nadia a little bit more remorse at the end for all of his awful behavior. A bigger apology as I think that part is rushed. Otherwise, I liked this one and I’ll be reading the next from this author.

Rating: B
2,325 reviews38 followers
October 29, 2012
After the Storm by Amy Knupp
4 STARS

I picked the right day to read this story, since the East Coast is under evacuation orders for Sandy right now. It brings it to my attention all those who are risking thier lives to keep others safe or too rescue them. So Thank you all for the work you do everyday and everywhere.
Nadia Hamlin is still at work trying to gather up files that she might need away from the hotel. Her 15 minute job took over an hour with trafic. She is the last one out of the hotel. Nadia found that the weather had turned worse while she was inside. As she struggled to her car a sign from up a block crashed into the car. Nadia scared and realized what a mistake she had made called 911.
Penn Griffin was the first firefighter on scene to help her. She had one date with him and had to leave for work in the middle of dinner. Penn got hurt trying to rescue her and had to be rescued himself. Penn because of Nadia decision had to have back surgery and loose his job as a fireman.
Nadia feels bad at being the reason Penn got hurt. She visits him in the hospital and is thier when he was told he could go home. Penn refused to go home with her and waited in the hospital till a friend got off work.
Penn is struggling even to walk,can't bend down,drive a car,sit on a couch or recliner. He is angry,frustrated and trying to get over how he blames Nadia's obsession with work caused all of his trouble. He is still attracted to her but not wanting to see her again.
Nadia is so sorry and she wants to help Penn but he won't let her. Nadia is also fighting with her mother at same time.
I felt that Amy did a good job dealing with the hard emotions of blame,frustration and anger these situations can cause. I like the other minor characters in the book too and would love to see more of them in the future.
Thier are some love scenes in the book that I skipped over.
I would be willing to read more of Amy's work in the future based on this book. A nice story no real twists to it that were unexpected.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest reviews from Netgalley.
10/30/2012 PUB Harlequin Imprint Harlequin Superromance 288 pages
Profile Image for Mariann {at} Belle's Book Bag.
549 reviews167 followers
November 29, 2012
After The Storm was a little different than I thought it was going to be but I really enjoyed it. I was captured instantly by the well written story and lovable characters.

Wow....Penn really knew how to hold a grudge against Nadia~I understood it but still. Yikes!! lol I think that Nadia should have stood up for herself way before she did. Penn slowly progressed through the story but he still struggled with the outcome of his injury and Nadia's roll in it. He was still dealing with these issues at the close of the book. This is what made the story and characters more "real" to me because even though there was a HEA, everything wasn't perfect and resolved in a pretty little package. Loved that. I just wish that there was an epilogue~hopefully they will return in future books in the series.

LOVED Cooper and Zoe~so stinking cute!!! I am crossing my fingers that they get their own book. Oh...Joe and Faith *sigh* It was so great to read about them again and see how their relationship was progressing. They are my favorite couple in this series. LOVED their little story in this book~so sweet!! I am definitely hoping for more of them in the series.

When I first started reading After The Storm, I was immediately drawn to Joe and Faith. I hadn't realized that I had already read their book last year (Burning Ambition) until I looked the series up searching for their book. I was so excited to learn it was them because their book was my favorite and I so wanted more. Now I want to go back and re~read their story from the beginning. lol

After The Storm is filled with all my favorite things. Love, laughter, tears, a broken~injured~sexy~firefighting~hero with a HUGE chip on his shoulder, a sweet~workaholic~guilt ridden~heroine, other sexy firefighters, angst, conflict, a little bit of sexing and a HEA. See all good!! :) I would definitely recommend this cute but emotional read. 4 out of 5 rating.

LOVED this cover!!

***ARC provided by NetGalley and Harlequin~Thank you so much!! :)
Profile Image for Angel.
140 reviews4 followers
April 11, 2018
Nadia and Penn went for a date months ago and it didn’t go well. They meet up again during a hurricane and Penn is badly hurt. Most of the book deals with Penn learning to cope with his new reality. Nadia tries to help him, despite him repeatedly pushing her away. Ms Knupp deals with some sensitive issues in this book – pain, loss of self-esteem, guilt/blame and depression – and in my opinion she does it well. Penn was formerly an active, easy-going guy, but he becomes quite nasty while recovering. We get a glimpse into his mind set and know why he acts this way, but I really felt for Nadia. Being the thin-skinned person that I am, I would have crumbled and left him to himself after some of the things he says and does. In the end, both Penn and workaholic Nadia grow and mature. We see the start of a love interest for Cooper and Faith has some shocking news. You’ll have to read it to find out the rest. This book is a little darker than some of Ms Knupp’s previous novels, but I thoroughly enjoyed the whole story and look forward to the rest of the series.
I received an ARC and am providing an honest review.
260 reviews
April 16, 2022
Nope

I have to admit this rating is directly related to my feelings on people who are simply TSTL. She deliberately ignored the warnings to get out of the danger area for some files…files? Have you heard of the cloud? The firefighter gets injured rescuing her TSTL hide and she can’t understand why he is resentful. I liked the first one in this series and I ordered this one for free off of Bookbub, but if most of her heroines are like this? I’m done.
Profile Image for Kye.
6 reviews1 follower
June 4, 2017
Both characters seemed really immature and self absorbed. I get that the hero was upset and had devastated due to his large loss, but the way he treated her for most of the book was abusive and he admitted it several times.

I just didn't seem to be able to like either character all that much.
Profile Image for Carley.
71 reviews
September 26, 2018
To me personally, I couldn’t stand Nadia. She made a stupid and selfish decision, and they compounded it by forcing herself on to someone else. She was selfish, annoying, and honestly I would have snapped at her like Penn. She had no respect for his boundaries at all. For me, she ruined the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for pageswithpayten.
623 reviews76 followers
October 20, 2022
QOTD: Have you ever seen an out of control fire up close?
My A: Yes! When I was younger the house across the street started on fire and burned to the ground. They ended up rebuilding an exact replica of the house so all is well.
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I’ve had this book downloaded on my Kindle for what feels like forever after coming across it for free on Amazon. I don’t read very many firefighter romances. I’m not sure why, they’ve just never been my thing, but I really liked this one! Be warned though, this is book SIX in the series, so I definitely missed some world building going on, but all in all, I had no issues reading!
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It started with two people who could not be any more different. Penn and Nadia are forced together by an act of god and from there, a friendship forms slowly. I loved that Nadia didn’t let Penn push her away and kept showing up for him. I also liked how they handled his job. I feel like with romances we always get the best case scenario, hero’s ending. This felt like a realistic look at the consequences of a dangerous job! I think their chemistry was strong, but their overall connection lacked a little bit, but by the end of the book I was sold! I’m such a sucker for the grumpy/sunshine trope and this book fits perfectly into that category!
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BLURB:
Her mistake will change his life forever.
Firefighting is everything for Penn Griffin—his job, his family, and his friends. When a hurricane roars toward San Amaro Island, he’s called on a rescue and ends up face-to-face with Nadia, the gorgeous but frustrating woman he went on one interrupted date with months ago. Now, in one fell swoop, she’s altered his life irrevocably.
Nadia Hamlin eats, sleeps, and breathes her career at her family’s beachside hotel. As the storm approaches, she thinks nothing of making a last-minute stop at the hotel on the way out of town—until it’s too late. Thanks to her careless decision, Penn’s beloved career is over.
Nadia wants to make it up to him. Penn wants nothing to do with her or her well-intentioned “help.” But the attraction that once sparked between them isn’t easily extinguished, and soon Nadia wants more than her career—she wants a second chance with Penn. Can he find his way toward forgiveness and acceptance and a future with Nadia?
Profile Image for Lorie - Bookaholic.
385 reviews19 followers
October 31, 2023
'Men and Fire'

Romance is what Amy Knupp knows best. I love the Island Fire series is one of my favorites next to the North Brothers and the Hale Street series. If you haven't read any of her books - you need to.

I always like to share a passage from each book I read:

'After staying with Nadia at the Silver Sands most of this past week, he'd come home to get his pills and then decided he was too tired to go back. That'd been a mistake. Sharing his twin bed had apparently been the wrong decision. In spite of his cautious, he'd managed to twist wrong, sleep wrong, God only knew what else wrong, and he felt as though he'd been compressed into a too-small box all night long. The physical aches had seeped into his mind and put him in a foul mood even before he was fully awake.'

Check out Island Fire (10 book series) Kindle Edition if you haven't already. Who doesn't love a firefighter? Enjoy and happy reading!
887 reviews9 followers
July 12, 2024
Forced to start over again

Penn's life was shattered along with his back when Hurricane Jezebel barely missed the island. Now he hasn't the faintest idea where to start to piece things together, and isn't sure he even wants to try. He is not the only member of the San Amaro Island fire department whose life is getting turned upside down.

I really felt Penn's pain and despair. I understood his need to grieve his lost identity. Nadia and Faith are also facing big changes in their lives and careers; decisions need to be made about how to cope and embrace their life moving into the future. Each character had to find the choice that worked for them.

I purchased a copy of this story from Amazon and voluntarily chose to share my review.
Profile Image for Angie Ryan.
192 reviews7 followers
April 13, 2022
Talk about two high driven people! But what if one of them suddenly is horribly injured and can't do the job they love any longer? How will they cope? That is the story of this book and it gets even more complicated when one is involved in the injury of the other and while it really isn't their fault, they take responsibility. The war between the two is just beginning and it is unknown how it will turn out. Will more blood be drawn? It is a crazy battle to the end with the backdrop of a gorgeous hotel resort on beachfront property.
550 reviews2 followers
December 27, 2020
Very enjoyable

He is so angry at his condition and loss of ability to ever be a firefighter again. She feels guilty for his injury because he was helping her during a hurricane in the island. Both main characters were interesting and likeable. Wish the author should do an epilogue!
70 reviews3 followers
April 29, 2022
So far, I have enjoyed the ISLAND FIRE series. Up In Flames #6 is not one of my favorites. Nadia is so wrapped up in her job, she has almost no outside life. Penn's situation is a difficult one to handle and he handled it poorly. Nadia is beyond patient and over the top with guilt when dealing with Penn.
*Amy Knupp is still one of my favorite authors.
1,161 reviews3 followers
August 6, 2023
Penn directed his anger at Nadia so man times, she was a saint for not walking away. Thankfully, she could see and understood that he was in great pain for his injury and over loosing his career. Slowly and I mean very slowly, they worked through and came out on the other side in love. Penn also repaired his relationship with his mother and gained her respect for his career choice.
Profile Image for Mary.
976 reviews8 followers
January 5, 2024
Firefighter Forever

When Penn was injured rescuing Nadia after her delay evacuating the island during a hurricane, he reacted with more anger than he knew how to handle. Nadia had been buried in work at the hotel that was her family owned business. She didn't know how to help Penn but she loved him.
787 reviews1 follower
April 7, 2022
3 1/2*

Good book. Not sure I bought into Penn’s turn around at the end after being such an a$$ to Nadia during the whole story. I’d also be leery about his anger issues going forward if he has any other setbacks. Overall a fun read
Profile Image for Eve Gaddy.
Author 88 books175 followers
May 10, 2022
This is my first Amy Knupp book. I really enjoyed it. Very much a how-in-the-world-do-they-get-together? book. She did a great job making that believable. This was book six in the series, but it read just fine as a stand-alone. That being said, I'll be reading the rest of the series.:)
401 reviews2 followers
January 3, 2024
up in flames

Although Penn is an alpha hero firefighter, this story shows his struggle when his future becomes unsure. Nadia is a tough cookie with a soft heart. I enjoyed their story and Penn’s vulnerability.
Profile Image for Bookworm .
816 reviews7 followers
February 2, 2024
A touching story about two people who, after dedicating their lives to their work, encountered adversity together and learned to appreciate each other before falling in love and supporting each other!
Profile Image for Glenna Stubblefield.
351 reviews1 follower
May 15, 2019
Nadia and Penn are a storm to be reckoned with. Stubborn meets I can't deal with you. Enjoy the ride.
627 reviews
April 7, 2022
I like the storyline but, the book ended too abruptly for me. Still a good book.
Profile Image for Katie Pickering.
18 reviews
April 8, 2022
Lovely book I enjoyed it from start to finish this would be the perfect holiday read didn’t want to put it down will be reading more by this author
694 reviews3 followers
April 10, 2022
WOW…you’ll have whiplash by the time you finish reading this book, but Nadia and Penn are well worth it! A great read!!
506 reviews
April 11, 2022
Unrealistic. No one heals that quickly. So many issues could have been developed more to make the story interesting, instead, all were left hanging.
,
1,046 reviews5 followers
April 17, 2022
Fantastic read.

Really liked this story. To think it all started with a hurricane and took off from there. Cut it sure does take him awhile to getting it going the right way.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews