Eight-time Lambda Literary Award finalist and president of Bold Strokes Books has released the second book in the First Responders series that introduced Mallory “Ice” James, a year-round forest ranger, wildland firefighter, and smokejumper. Mallory is also a trained paramedic and search and rescue member, who serves as a training manager for the U.S. Forest Service.
Surviving and succeeding in a traditionally male environment, Mallory faces demons at the start of a new training season as she lives openly a small town near the base and her work. Comfortable in her skin, Mallory has managed to get herself under control after losing two members the previous year.
Control, that is, until a new recruit is added through nontraditional channels. Jac Russo is the lesbian and embarrassing daughter of political bigwig Franklin Russo, a rightwing senator from Idaho. An Iraq veteran and trained S&R member, Jac throws off Mallory’s sense of order and rules, bringing romance to her life.
Mallory eventually thaws to Jac’s romantic overtures, falling in love just as Jac draws away into her own protective shell at the provocation of Jac’s father and his political entourage. Characters in the book are not always who they seem to be in this page-turner.
Filled with politics, romance, and detailed realistic experiences of training and working as a fire jumper and S&R member, this novel will appeal to the adventurous and romantic, those who enjoy the steamy sex scenes characteristic in Radclyffe’s novels.
With today’s rising interest in the lives for “first responders,” Firestorm is highly recommended for any adult collection. The novel also raises awareness of the implications of family, politics and love on those who do not fit into the traditional mold.
Reviewer: s.n.