Review: Hot to the Touch by Jaci Burton

Hot to the Touch
(Brotherhood by Fire #1)
by Jaci Burton
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: May 7, 2019
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Firefighter Jackson Donovan doesn’t look back—as a rule. So when his past comes roaring back to life in the form of not-so-damsel-in-distress Becks Benning, the last thing he wants to do is relive old times. No matter how tempting she makes it seem…

Now thanks to his two interfering brothers, Becks is living with them while she looks for a new place and tries to pick up the pieces of her tattoo business that went up in flames. Which means a grown up, smokin’ hot Becks is in his house, sharing meals, and digging up old wounds. And despite his better judgement, the more time he spends with this smart, artistic, incredible woman the more he wants her in his bed—and his future.

Becks always had it bad for Jackson. Unfortunately for her, not much has changed—he’s still honorable, hard-working, sexy as sin—and closed off. But there’s more than one way to get to a man’s heart and if Jackson doesn’t want to recall old memories, she’ll just have to help him make new ones. Because now that she’s found Jackson again, she’s not letting him go.

Hot to the Touch is a new romance series by Jaci Burton revolving around firefighters. In this installment we meet Jackson, his brothers, and Becks. When they were all just kids, they were homeless, and living on the streets together. They had banded together and created a sort of camp group full of younger kids who looked out for each other, and Jackson was sort of their leader. However, one night Jackson and his brothers are separated from the rest of the group and are later adopted out. Now, almost a decade later, Jackson and his brothers reunite with Becks when her building fills with smoke, resulting in the fire department being called in. Jackson’s tried hard to forget about his past, but having Becks living with them, while she finds another place, is like ripping open the wound all over again.

If you’ve read Jaci Burton, then you are familiar with her Play-by-Play series which was more of an erotic romance featuring athletes. Well, Hot to the Touch was a much slower romance, with a different feel. Not only is the romance a lot slower to take off, but their behind closed doors scenes didn’t dominate the story like some of her previous books did. So, it allowed readers a chance to get to know the characters and feel them out before they became a couple. Which, for me was a good thing. I don’t like it when my characters get together immediately after I meet them. I feel like I’m missing something and I’m trying to play catch-up. So I really liked that the author took her time with Jackson and Becks and really allowed them to not only get to reconnect, but also get to know the people that they’ve become.

I really liked that the author focused on the two very different ways these characters have dealt with their past. For Becks, she returns to the encampment that she grew up in and brings food and other things to the kids. She always makes it a point to bring each of the kids something special whether it’s books, clothes, or a toy. She knows what it’s like to grow up on the streets and while she can’t help everyone, she does what she can to make the kids lives a little easier. Meanwhile, Jackson wants no part of his past. He wants to forget that time in his life and instead considers his life starting when he and his brothers were adopted. So, there were times when these two didn’t see eye to eye and it all had to do with the way they viewed their past.

Hot to the Touch was a solid story. I really liked the backstory on these two and how they were both homeless kids on the street together. I also really liked that the author showed some behind-the-scenes of Jackson and his brothers on the job. This story wasn’t as heavy on the romance and some of the author’s previous series, but I thought it worked really well for these characters. There was a lot of deep, and rich story behind these characters and I can’t wait to see Jackson’s brothers paired off.