The First Time At Firelight Falls
by Julie Anne Long
Series: Hellcat Canyon Series
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Avon Books
Publication Date: May 29, 2018
Single mom Eden Harwood has a lively daughter, a blooming business—and a juicy secret she’s hung on to for ten years. She doesn’t mind a bit that there’s no room for romance in her whirlwind life . . . until six-foot-infinity, smoldery-eyed, bass-voiced Gabe Caldera reminds her of what she might be missing.
The principal of Hellcat Elementary is usually knee-deep in fawning PTA moms, but Gabe only has eyes for the fiery, funny, skittish redhead who barely knows he’s alive. But this ex-Navy SEAL never fails to get what he wants. And what he wants is to fan those sparks between him and Eden into the kind of bonfire you can see two counties away.
The passion is explosive . . . and the tenderness has them thinking about forever. But when Eden’s past waltzes into town for a reckoning, her secret blows them apart. Still, Gabe will never back down from a fight . . . especially if the ultimate prize is Eden’s heart.
“Julie Anne Long’s writing glows with emotional intensity.” —New York Times Bestselling Author Jayne Anne Krentz
Amazon | Avon Romance | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | iBooks
Excerpt:
She was a devil woman.
“I’ll kiss anything you want me to.” He made it sound like a blood vow.
She gasped when he slid his hand up through her hair and held her fast. This time he went in for a take-no-prisoners kiss, designed to melt bones, stop time, erase the memories of all kisses that had come before, what-the-fuck-did-they-have-to-lose kind of kiss. Molten, savage, skillful. They were on
the clock.
He was a guy who knew how to make a point, and he never half-assed anything. Clearly, neither did she. Silk, heat, tongue, lips—the taste of her roared through his bloodstream, tightened all his muscles.
He curled one hand into the edge of his desk, a reflex against floating up to the ceiling, because suddenly whatever boundaries he’d once had melted away. And damn, she gave as good as she got. It was a hot, deep, dangerous tangle of tongues, the slide of lips. When she moaned softly, low in the back of her throat, guttural, helpless pleasure, he slipped his hand from her hair and sank backward into his chair.
One second before the bell rang.
Review:
Ohmygoodness, loved.
It’s an interesting coincidence that the last Julie Anne Longbook I read also featured a single mother heroine ( It Started With a Scandal ), but OMG, no one else quite writes single mothers the way Ms. Long does–or the why-is-this-guy-only-fictional heroes that they find their HEA with. I mean, just read this bit of evidence here:
“You will be willing to fight ugly, and risk failure and embarrassment or anything else that makes you wake up sweating, heart racing in terror, in the middle of the night, to make sure someone you love is safe and happy. And you’ll know it’s love when you do it without even thinking.”
Mr. Gabe Caldera, ladies and gentlemen.
Sigh.
In case you can’t tell, I absolutely adored Gabe and Eden’s story from start to finish. From their absolutely adorable–yet somehow also totally hot–long game that involved interrupted Q & As that got decidedly more risque as they went on and included more than one bare chested moment (“It’s so cool! His stomach has squares. You could play checkers or tic-tac-toe on it!” ahhhh, from the mouths of babes…) to their eventual, very hard won HEA, it at turns made me swoon, come to near tears, and laugh out loud.
Somehow I knew Ms. Long would be as amazing at writing contemporary romances as she is historical…
First Time at Firelight Falls is the fourth book in the Hellcat Canyon series, but it worked just fine as a standalone. The prior book in the series ( Dirty Dancing at Devil’s Leap ) is loosely connected, since it features Eden’s younger sister Avalon, but you definitely don’t have to have read it already to enjoy this one. (I make no promises about how quickly you’ll be adding it–and the two books before it–to your TBR, though. Be careful of possible whiplash, though…)
Fingers crossed that Eden and Avalon’s annoying cardiac surgeon brother Jude gets his own book, though–surely he can make me snort-laugh as much on his own as he does trapped inside Eden’s head? (“Lust isn’t measured in kilowatts. For Christ’s sake, Eden,”–Dr. Jude Harwood.)
My copy of this book has So. Many. Highlights. 🙂
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Tour Wide Giveaway!
To celebrate the release of THE FIRST TIME AT FIRELIGHT FALLS by Julie Anne Long, we’re giving away five paperback copies of HOT IN HELLCAT CANYON!
GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS: Open to US shipping addresses only. Five winners will each receive a paperback copy of HOT IN HELLCAT CANYON by Julie Anne Long. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Avon Romance. Giveaway ends 6/10/2018 @ 11:59pm EST. Avon Romance will send the winning copies out to the winner directly. Limit one entry per reader and mailing address. Duplicates will be deleted. CLICK HERE TO ENTER!
About Julie Anne Long:
USA Today bestselling author JULIE ANNE LONG originally set out to be a rock star when she grew up (and she has the guitars and fringed clothing stuffed in the back of her closet to prove it), but writing was always her first love. Since hanging up her guitar for the computer keyboard, her books frequently top reader and critic polls and have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Rita, Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice, and The Quills, and reviewers have been known to use words like “dazzling,” “brilliant,” and “impossible to put down” when describing them. Julie lives in Northern California.
Author Links:
This promotion is brought to you by Pure Textuality PR.
