Burning for Autumn – On Call series by Freya Barker

 

Published on January 8, 2019

271 pages

Back Cover

When Autumn McCoy accepted a temporary work contract in Durango, she thought it would be a safe way to add some spark to her existence. She may be getting more than she bargained for when she finds herself the target of impending danger. The outspoken forty-two-year-old isn’t prepared for that spark to ignite flames threatening to engulf every aspect of her life.

Buried under the weight of responsibilities, all interim Chief of Police, Keith Blackfoot, wants is to get back to good old-fashioned detecting. He gets his chance when an encounter with a feisty redhead seems to incite a wave of arson cases. Although a visit from friend and firefighter, Roman “Chief” Proudfit, provides some direction, he’s left to battle an invisible menace fueling fires that could leave his town—and his heart—in ashes.

My Review

This is the second book I read from this author and she amazed me every time. The cover catches my eyes and the back cover seems interesting, so I though I should give it a chance. I am getting closer to her characters age and I felt I had more in common with them than characters in their 20’s. They might not be perfect, but you connect more with them because of that reason. Once you discover her writing, you might get addicted to it.

Autumn might get on my nerves sometime because of her indecisions and she is a picky woman, but the more you learn about her, more you start to care. She got me when I learned she was taking care of 5 cats and she always there for her neighbour and her friends even though they don’t live in the same city anymore. I just wish we knew more about why she was so scared to open to Keith. There is a lot of up and down, but not a lot of explanation.

Keith is also an interesting character, maybe over protective, but since he is a cop, I understand why he is that way. While I was reading, I tried to understand who was behind the fire and the author surprised me. She did not let much clues during the first chapters, so if you guess who it was before the end, you are really great! I also love the fact that Keith will do everything on his power to protect Autumn’s life.

The suspense was my favorite part. It’s making me want to keep reading and I could not put the novel down. Once the intrigued started, I just wanted to read the other chapter to know what was going to happens next.  I found a few slow moments, but the author is great to keep the tension and make the readers to keep going until they read the end.

I recommend this book if you love romance with suspense. It’s not a 100% suspense novel, but it takes a huge part of the story. I used to read lots of books in that genre, so I wasn’t completely out of my element. I just decided to concentrate more in romance and chick-lit genre.

This book is part of one of Author Susan Stoker’s Operation Alpha World, I never read a book from her and I only know this author by name, but I keep the door open to discover more about that world.

Excerpts

I know Stan wants me to take on the job permanently – he told me himself-but I thought I’d made It perfectly clear there is no way in hell I’ll do it. I was perfectly happy in my job before the chief’s responsibilities landed in my lap. These days, I hardly have any time for real police work, I’m buried in bureaucracy and politics. No Thanks (p.7)

Five cats, Christ, what was I thinking? If anything screams lonely spinster, it’s a house full of cats (p.20)

"I’m not sure. I like it here; it’s not that. Remember when you were in school and the prospect of starting a new year, with new teachers and friends would be as exciting as it was terrifying? This is like that. As much as I think I could love it here, I’m also afraid of leaving the safety of the life I knew behind. What if I l like it better here? " (p.45)