Beth Davenport has no interest in getting involved with another man for the foreseeable future. To say her last relationship ended in disaster would be a colossal understatement. The only reason she agrees to put in an appearance at Serpent’s Kiss, a private kink club in downtown St. Louis, is because her best friend, Nicole, won’t quit nagging her. When she walks in the door that night, the last thing she expects to do is meet a man who will have her reconsidering her ban on men.
As a captain with the St. Louis Fire Department, Drew Parker is used to being in charge. His crew relies on him to make sure they know what they’re doing and return home to their families after every shift. It isn’t, however, what he wants in a relationship. Drew decides to join Serpent’s Kiss to see if what appeals to him in fantasy is something he wants to explore in the real world. He’s also hoping that he’ll be lucky enough to meet a woman with whom he can explore his desires. The night Beth walks into the club, he is intrigued. Drew has to get to know her better.
After what happened to her, Beth is reluctant to get involved with Drew. It doesn’t matter that he is sweet and charming. She’s been burned before and Beth doesn’t think she can survive having her heart crushed again. Drew, however, won’t take no for an answer. He wants a relationship and is determined to chip away at her defenses until she relents. Will she give him a chance, or did her ex leave her with scars too deep to heal?
Research for this book
Over the last few years since I’ve been writing fiction, I’ve done a fair amount of research—none more so than what I did for Burning For Her Kiss.
After sending a handful of chapters to my beta reader, we realized that since my hero, Drew, was a captain in the St. Louis Fire Department and not just a generic firefighter that I was going to need to do some detailed research. I needed to know what the life of a firefighter in St. Louis was like.
We started by looking at the official website. To be honest, there wasn’t that much there. At least, not the kind of information we were looking for.
The next step was to call their headquarters and try to talk to someone. It took a few calls and I was transferred several times before getting forwarded to a voicemail. I left a message and waited. One evening, I was on my way home from shopping when my cell phone rang. I answered it and was surprised to realize that it was the St. Louis Fire Department calling me back. Our conversation was brief, but he told me he was going to forward my contact information to another captain in the department. He said that Captain Mosby did a little acting on the side and would get a kick out of this kind of thing.
A few weeks later, I received another phone call. This time it was from Captain Mosby. Over the next six months or so, he and I spoke off and on. He helped me to get a feel for what it was like to be a captain in the St. Louis Fire Department, what their day and duties were like, and even what they do in their downtime. During our last phone call, he told me that when he’d taken his new position, as PR rep for the department, he had no idea how many different things he’d get to experience.
Review by TinkNCognito
I want to start by saying I am a HUGE fan of Sherri Hayes. Her writing speaks to me whether is it Brianna and Stephan in the Finding Anna series or all her boys in the Daniel Brothers series so I had high expectations for this book. And I adored the prequel, Welcome to Serpent's Kiss, so I was very anxious to see where she took the series. Man oh man, she didn't disappoint.
Drew is a firefighter and new to the BDSM world. He has to be in control for his profession, and craves the release of submission to tune out and turn off. Now he needs to find the right Mistress.
Beth is a Domme who has been badly hurt - betrayal in one of it's worst forms. She isn't looking for a new sub, and feels she may never be ready for a new relationship. Thank heavens for her best friend Nicole, who is pushing her back to the club-Serpent's Kiss.
Drew is drawn to Beth from the start. He knows she has been hurt but works to build her trust and get past her defenses. Beth is drawn to Drew but wants to protect her heart.
The story develops naturally and organically - Drew gaining her trust and Beth opening up. They start as friends and work from there. The chemistry is palpable and wonderful to read. As a reader, I could literally feel it coming off the page.
But the question was - would Beth get past her hurt to let him in? As I enjoyed the story, I was rooting for Beth and Drew to find a way to be together. They are both strong characters and I really loved that about the story. The auxiliary characters - Nicole, Tommy, Ben, and others were all well developed, which isn't always the case with minor characters. The scenes from the firehouse were fun, funny, interesting and felt very real. I just found the book hard to put down.
Now that I am done, I just want more of these characters! I am glad this series is in its infancy as I know I have more books to look forward to. I give this one 5 stars!!!
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