Liam O’Neil simply
wants to make it through the day. His son is depressed, his beloved wife
died three years ago and he’s lonely! Enter, Sophie Tyler, a
firefighter who lives on the edge and likes it that way. Though she
carries some of her own baggage, she’s the total opposite of Liam.
However, when she begins work at the family pub, they’re drawn to each.
Then they fall in love. But nothing can erase the biting fear Liam—and
his kids—feel about the danger Sophie is in every day. Eventually, an
arsonist upsets the delicate balance of their relationship and they
realize they can’t be together. Or can they?
Comment: This is the third book in the O'Neill series by author Kathryn Shay. What I have enjoyed the most with these books is how they are pretty simple, the characters interact, they have some issues and the story is on them, on their actions and how they deal with things. The drama is more internal than from an external source and sometimes it does feel good to simply focus on the characters.
In this story the focus is on the middle brother, Liam. Now a widow after the death of his wife Kitty, he does feel some loneliness despite his children and the love of his family.
His interest in dating again hasn't been met with much success but when the new waitress of the pub starts there, he can't help but like what he sees. Also interesting is how she, Sophie, seems to reciprocate the visual interest and they start talking and spending moments together, to the point they decide not to ignore their attraction anymore.
The problem is that Sophie's main job is to be a firefighter. Can Liam accept the risks inherent to the dangerous life Sophie leads? Can he cope after already losing a woman he loves? Can he be with someone his children might get attached to as well and then lose?
This was a good enough story. I think the majority of it was successfully done and I had a good time reading it. I'd change some details, though, and that is why this didn't feel more perfect for me.
The writing isn't new since this is not the first book by the author I try but it does seem to be a tactic of hers to allow the reader so much time in the character's heads. This can be good but at the same time, it makes several situations feel repetitive.
The biggest conflict in the book is how Liam and Sophie deal with her job. I think the author did a good job portraying the doubts and the anticipation people must have for their family members/loved ones who work in such dangerous fields. I understand why the book went this road and the often dichotomy between expectations and reality was interesting to follow.
One could conclude it's not fair some people have to put their lives in jeopardy so much but...if not them, who would?
Before this notion is repeated constantly and the reader has to decide if Liam isn't being understandable or Sophie is intransigent in her choice, the romance develops in a good way. They seem to barely talk to being sort of too focused on one another. It's not that this is a bad thing and the fact we can follow both their POVs makes things better for me, I liked to understand both characters instead of just assuming by behavior or dialogue.
I think the biggest issue is that as quickly as they would be supportive of each other, a new problem would happen and this would go round and around and not be really dealt with.
In the end of the book, things just get temporarily solved but I can't really be happy with how it was, especially thinking about the emotional aspect of the protagonists and how this related to Liam's children as well.
The best part of the book for me was how amazing the interactions between characters happen and how we get to savor the family bonds. It's really nice to see how the family is supportive and there for their members.
Liam is a good protagonist, very caring, very reserved, the kind of hero I like and he cooks. I get his fears and for the most part, I sort of agreed with his way of thinking. But it does get to a point it feels he is just repeating himself.
Sophie is a sweet heroine, she works a difficult job and I do applaud her because she wants to do her job and not have it easier once she falls in love.
I also could understand her side of things so it was complicated to think of a solution for them that would not mean one would have to compromise all the time for the other.
There's a little bit of suspense -which I find unnecessary - regarding an arsonist, there's the children's personalities which the author tried to develop a bit, there's the minor notion of how the secondary characters are dealing with life... there's quite a lot in the author's books to think of, they certainly feel rich. However, this one dragged a bit and when everything is close to be solved, it's as if the big issues were always passable to be easily solved. I don't think they actually were, though.
I'm still curious about the next book.
Grade: 7/10
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