The novels Flashpoint and Flashback and the short story All He Wants for Christmas in the anthology Heating up the Holidays are all about firefighters in the beach town of Santa Rey.
Flashpoint: Firefighter Zach Thomas has a lot on his mind. Santa Rey is experiencing a rash of suspicious fires. Zach is convinced that there's a serial arsonist on the loose, but he can't get the department's arson investigator to take him seriously. He's also dealing with a powerful attraction to temporary EMT Brooke O'Brian. Zach isn't looking for anything permanent so the fact that Brooke will only be in town for a short time seems perfect. As time passes Zach has to consider the possibility that he's wrong about the fires and about his relationship with Brooke.
Flashback: Aiden Donnelly and Mackenzie Stafford had a brief, hot affair years ago but Aiden broke it off because he wasn't interested in commitment. Kenzie left town to pursue an acting career and Aiden hasn't seen her since. Now Kenzie's soap opera has been canceled and she's back in town to regroup and to clear her dead brother's name. Aiden regrets his past actions, but can he convince Kenzie to give him another chance while keeping her safe from the trouble she refuses to run away from?
All He Wants for Christmas: EMT Dustin Mauer has been in love with tough firefighter Cristina Lewis for a long time. They spent one hot night together, but Cristina insists that she has no interest in a repeat performance. All Dustin wants for Christmas is to convince her that she's wrong about that.
These stories worked much better for me than Shadow Hawk did, but I still just didn't love them. There is something about Ms. Shalvis' writing style that I can't connect with. I found myself nitpicking character motivations and plot points in ways that made it impossible to fully enjoy the reading experience. Unfortunately I can't even pinpoint the problem well enough to offer a critique that could be useful to other readers.
The one exception to that is the short story. I didn't enjoy it because I didn't care about the couple and couldn't root for their HEA. Dustin was fine, but Cristina was frustrating. I certainly understand someone with a difficult past being guarded and hard to get to know. However, for me Cristina crossed the line and was just mean. Other firefighters talked about how much everyone at the station cared about her and Dustin was sure he wanted to be with her, but I didn't really understand why. The things she did seemed less like quirks and more like nasty selfishness.
A note about the other 2 stories in Heating Up The Holidays:
Although written by other authors both of the stories are also set in Santa Rey.
My Grown-Up Christmas List by Jacquie D'Alessandro: Because of a bad experience in her past Toni Rizzo has no interest in having anything to do with firefighters. She also has no time for a relationship because she's putting all her energy into establishing her independence by making her florist shop a success. She has no intention of dating firefighter Brad Griffin no matter how hot he is. Brad has been interested in Toni for months and has no intention of giving up on her without a fight.
I liked this one. The characters were appealing and their conflict and its resolution were believable. The same can't be said for the last story.
Up on the Housetop by Jamie Sobrato: When Dr. Lorelei Gibson gets stuck on her roof without any pants on she's mortified when she's rescued by her former high school crush Ryan Quinn. Ryan treated her very badly in high school and Lorelei is determined to use his remorse to play him and dump him, just like he dumped her. After not having seen each other for years & years they have one conversation and have sex and they're in forever love. I didn't buy any of it for a second.
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