Cold Fire

by Keegan Kennedy

We all know the formula, and we all love the stories. Boy meets boy – one’s a closeted jock and the other’s a sweet college student with a heart of gold. The jock is always cautious and worried how others will perceive him. The gay protagonist is always too good to be true, and dare we say, dumb? Then it’s all forbidden glances, angst, and misunderstandings, right? Well, this isn’t one of those stories. Brennan Martell is an angry, guarded narcissist with a violent streak. Warner Carrington is an obsessive, dominant football player who’s a borderline sociopath. However, things are seldom black and white. In this steamy romance novel, these anti-heroes collide, and their chemistry ignites like a nuclear warhead. But is this a match made in heaven or somewhere farther south?

Genres: M M Romance

426 pages, Paperback

Published June 29, 2017

About the author

Originally hailing from Mississippi, Keegan Kennedy is a writer based out of Memphis, TN. As a child, sometimes his active imagination was the only friend that he had. Following a degree in History from the University of Southern Mississippi, Keegan floated around the corporate while dreaming of telling stories. His first novellas were in the arena of male-for-male erotica and romance. His earlier efforts were soon followed by success when his novel, Homecoming, went to Number One in on the LGBT charts in four countries: Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has a knack for uncovering love and romance in the darkest of places. With a tendency toward the melodramatic, he does more than arouse or excite the reader - he engages them.

His current release is the epic novel: The Harbinger – a chilling, apocalyptic tale of survival that decimated stereotypes and shocked his fans. Upcoming works include – a TBA romance between two anti-heroes. And by popular demand, he is re-mastering his older novellas into his new anthology series, the cheekily-named: Smooth Jocks and Gruff Jocks.

"I want to sincerely thank all of my readers! Because of you, I have spoken to and made new friends from across the globe on every continent with the exception of Antarctica - to my knowledge. Your kind words and encouragement have meant the world to me. I answer all emails, so feel free to contact me."

Reviews

[Theresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at one point and then skimmed to the end. College campus soap opera. Disliked Warner - wanna be predator. Not very focused and wishy washy wimpy. Really liked Brandon - true survivor and strong. Disgusting secondary characters. Not at all steamy. Too political with anti-Trump. Returned to KU @ 0%.

[Girlnextdoor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Over 13 hours of listening to the audiobook for the MCs to hook up in the last two, but it’s cyclops that killed it, just killed it fucking dead. I didn’t care for the political crap, although it felt like Thanksgiving all over again, and one MC was a grade A asshole know it all who calls all gay men queens...m’kay...but damn...cyclops...fuck me with your giant cyclops....I just noped the fuck out.

[jennifer Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting story

WOW, this story had me spellbound. It is intense, exciting and sometimes dark. As the blurb promises, it is so story about obsession, possession and strong love without the typical HEA we have come to expect but that in no way detracts from the power of the story. After all, life is seldom wrapped up and tied with a pretty little bow.

[Guy Venturi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Secrets destroy lives and dreams for everyone.

Trust and friendship are more important than fame, fortune, or happiness. Love makes the world go around, but it also creates hate, jealousy, and dissention. Each person tried to achieve honor and greatness by putting others down to feel more important. But the true hero overcomes the chaos and discontent focused on innocence of others and helps them achieve their dreams.

Politics, religion, government, military, legislation, justice, and business all try to get their way for themselves and their followers by taking unfair advantage of the poor and less empowered populations.

But sometimes a real hero can change people, especially family and friends, for the good of everyone. A ring of love and trust is a good start.

[Ed Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read this book last year and forgot to review it. Consequently I’ve tried to start it again because I really enjoy Keegan Kennedy’s books. I remembered it immediately.

These two are truly anti heroes who have an explosive love story.

[Fay MMBookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story for these guys, it had me at the start both guys are hiding who they are inside themselves but somehow Warner has a connection to Brennan that they both feel.. Yah the story has some politics attached but that didn't worry me it added to the storyline. Warner is very deceptive through this with his wooing Brennan and thinks he can have him for himself. I was waiting for the ending but wasn't expecting that to happen with Lydia, and I'd guessed right for the very end even with factors involved. I'd love to love to read the sequel if there is one.
Brennan was graduating soon and planned to move away.. he'd split from bf Jack and his gran had passed to the angels. Brennan is a angry man who acts indifferent to everybody. He has two friends Sage and Scotty.
Brennan was to be partnered up for a speech debate and gotten a guy named Warner Carrington.
Warner was a football jock who'd was crushing on Brennan since 4 years ago. His time was running out to start anything with Brennan and he wasn't above bribery to get what he wants and then some.
Things aren't easy between them with a bitchy girlfriend,  Warner's parents, even some Uni students are a danger. Scotty is in danger too. Can they survive to graduate and the important question are they still together? I loved this.

[David Shuler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smoking

This is my first Kegan book. It was well thought out. The story line was spot on. He brought up issues facing the lgbt community. I look forward to reading another book.

[Kosh Gott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A college campus soap opera with an m/m (gay/bisexual) theme, featuring cardboard villains and tropes galore and no shortage of subplots. The main characters are parodies of the usual jock-vs.-nerd stock characters. There are some meta scenes and breaking of the fourth wall. The two main romantic interest characters are both antiheros that vacillate between being endearing and unlikable.

Taken altogether, this is a good but not great story. There were too many subplots and some extraneous characters that didn't exhibit a sufficient reason for being in the story. However, I did like the novel.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cold Fire is the second Keegan Kennedy piece for me. I listened to the audio version and loved the narration. The storyline was chock full of over-the-top soap opera plot points and wacky characters. I enjoyed ColdFire, but as I noticed in the first book I read, Homecoming, Keegan uses verbiage that can be off-putting and detract from sex scenes. In this story’s case, one MC refers to his penis as his “Cyclopes.” This is the least sexy term I’ve heard. Despite the distracting language, I enjoyed Cold Fire and will continue read/ listen to Keegan’s work.

[Kk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a multi character plot with just as many povs...I liked that Warner was dominant yet not so overbearing. The plot was tempered with love more than aggressive sex. The side character Hunt was a distraction more than an interest for me..

A good story but the ending was weak

[Guilherme · Rating 5 out of 5]

What kind of end was that?

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kind of terrible. Also terribly entertaining. And ridiculous.