Hot As Hell, Vivian Wood

I really love redemption stories.  This is subtitled as a second-chance romance but really Cade's on his third and it's more a redemptive story than trying to win back lost love.  I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  The synopsis had me thinking this would be at least a solid 3 star review but I was more than impressed by the development of the characters and the sweet, tender ending.

Cade is struggling, to say the very least.  His whole life he's been passed off from home to home, family to family, and woman to woman.  The last is of his own choosing, though, so that one's all on him.  When he has no real anchor life can be a real trial.  Except he has the fortune of finding friendship and brotherhood with Elijah, Aiden, Lily, their father, and later his fire crew.  They save him in more ways than one.  Until he couldn't save them.  One moment of tragedy and he's lost his brothers and himself.  He goes home and finds more than he anticipated.  Looking into the eyes of his biggest regret he's realizing that their fire hasn't yet burned out.

Lily never thought she'd see Cade again, at least not more than a rare visit to her brothers, but there in her cafe she's face-to-face with the man who left her burning, yearning, and confused all those years ago.  There's no avoiding the fire burning in his stare, though, and try as they might, they just can't deny what's between them.

Together they find passion, peace, and a glimpse to a future Cade never thought he could have.  He didn't think he deserved it, not with his past and his part in the demise of his crew.  Lily sees his pain and just like when she was eight, she acknowledges it and then offers him comfort, support, and respite.  Hoping that something will finally click, something will help him heal she offers herself.  She gives his heart a home, a place that accepts him for all that he is.  Her fears of his career cause a small stumble but she's willing to wait for him, she knows he's worth it.  Cade slowly begins to accept everything Lily offers him and faces his greatest challenge to their relationship, her brothers.

Watching all of them work their way through pain, frustration, forgiveness, and healing is moving.  I was impressed with the elements of drama included in the story.  There was angst, yes, but no triangles, no back-stabbing, no subversive plots, no unnecessary complications to decrease the enjoyment of the story or to detract from the depth the story achieved.

Like I said in the beginning, this is more about Cade's redemption.  He's saved from his past, his perceived fault in his crew's death, his anger, his loneliness.  Lily is the key to that reclamation, her love and acceptance provides the path for him to find liberation.  This was much more than a second-chance romance and was well-written, memorable, and a truly good story.

*$3.00 on Amazon, or FREE on KU!

*Get the FREE prequel on Amazon

Smolder takes you back to give insight into just how deeply 

Cade and Lily have roots...

To set a fire, you need a spark.

Lily and Cade always had one, but her brother -- Cade’s best friend -- kept the tinder damp. Besides, Cade’s a manwhore. When a man is that hot, someone’s always going to get burned. Lily should have learned her lesson the first time she touched fire, when he left town the morning after they finally hooked up.

Yet all these years later, the ember’s still smoldering...