She lifted her gaze to his once more. “You know we want each other.”

His entire body went stiff. Especially his dick.

“You know I’ll do whatever you want, whenever you want,” she continued. “Wherever you want me.”

Delilah “Dee” Moore has had a thing for Lane Gallagher since she was a teenager. Since before she dated his brother West. Ten years later, nothing has changed. Actually, her feelings for him have only grown deeper, her physcial desire for him, stronger. West has long moved on from Dee and is currently deep in love with his girlfriend, Harper. (Their story was told in Ignite, the first book in the series) Nothing serious ever really occurred between Dee and West. But because she’s West’s ex, Lane rebuffs every one of her sexual and romantic overtures.

The reason Lane tells himself he won’t start anything with Dee is weak. And I think he knows it too. His brother and Dee dated when they were sixteen and they never even had sex. And West encourages him to go out with her. Still Lane resists. I’m honestly surprised that Delilah didn’t throw in the towel long ago and move on. I mean she literally throws herself at him—only to be rejected again and again. What a stubborn stubborn man, and she’s either in love or a sucker for punishment. Surprisingly enough though, I wasn’t irritated by the whole back and forth. It helps to ratchet up the tension and adds a bit of angst to their romance, and the eventual payoff is some sizzling hot lovemaking.

There’s a subplot that involves an arson investigation. From what I gathered, this is a continuation from the first book, Ignite. Since there’s no resolution to this thread, I assume the mystery of the arsonist will be solved in the next book, Torch. And it’s pretty clear that Wren (Lane and West’s sister) and Tate will be the hero and heroine in that book. Tate is a gorgeous firefighter and Wren can’t stand him. That pretty much says it all.

Except for a bit of family drama on Lane’s side, Smolder is a pretty good romance that focuses pretty tightly on Dee and Lane. I like my romances that way. I expect that Torch will have a bit more fire to it, so I’m really looking forward to reading about Wren and Tate.       

~ Susan