Exclusive Excerpt: Feel the Fire by Annabeth Albert

Posted October 29, 2020 by Dale

Hi! I’m so happy to be on one of my favorite blogs celebrating the release of FEEL THE FIRE. I so appreciate everything Queer Books Unbound does for the broader reader and writer community. FEEL THE FIRE is book 3 in my Hotshots series which centers around smoke jumpers and wildfire fighters, but the series can also be read as standalones! We met Tucker briefly in book 2, HIGH HEAT, and you’ll see small easter eggs from the couples of books 1 and 2 in FEEL THE FIRE. In FEEL THE FIRE, I celebrate the people behind the scenes in Wildfire Fighting, such as those calling the shots, arranging logistics, and deciding how best to approach a fire season. These people are so vital to the success of wildfire fighting efforts. This year my state of Oregon has been in the news with a very active and heartbreaking fire season that claimed over a million acres. While FEEL THE FIRE includes a number of the realities of fighting wildfires, it’s also a love story at its heart as it features a reunion romance of two childhood sweethearts meeting again as adults and coworkers. There’s lots of family and feels and sexy tension!

Speaking of sexy, I know how much readers of this blog love the sexy, so I brought you a little sexy tease. I love the build up to a great love scene almost as much as the love scene itself! Enjoy!

Tucker’s hand shook as he unlocked his front door. Luis was right behind him, close enough to feel his warmth and smell his intriguing aftershave, and he wanted him more than he’d ever wanted anything. He waited until the door shut quietly behind them to pounce on Luis, but it was a near thing.
“I was this close to kissing you on my front lawn,” he confessed as he backed Luis against the wall.
“Me too.” Luis’s grin was feral as he tugged Tucker forward with hands on his waist. “But you had a neighbor out watering.”
“True.” Flipping on the lights, he brushed a kiss against Luis’s temple, heart hammering, every muscle ready to dive headfirst into losing himself in this man.
“Don’t want to end up the talk of the neighborhood social media group.” Grinning, Luis seemed to sense both his urgency and his contrasting need to go slowly, savor this.
“Can’t have that. But the whole dinner I kept thinking about this.” Forcing himself to not rush, he claimed Luis’s mouth with a gentleness that surprised even himself. Luis tasted sweet, like the half glass of wine he’d sipped at dinner, and Tucker mimicked that lazy pace, little tastes and sips. But even with the caution, he still was rapidly getting drunk on Luis’s taste, on his nearness and warmth.
“Mmm. Those are some nice thoughts.” Luis stretched against him as he pulled back to let his heart rate decrease. “I never thought of family dinner as foreplay before, but it kind of was for you, wasn’t it? You seem more…relaxed somehow.”
“Yeah.” The back of Tucker’s neck heated. “It’s hard to describe, but I like feeling connected to you, almost as much as I like kissing you. And having you with me at dinner, yeah, I liked that.”
“Tucker.” Luis’s voice had a warning note to it, a pained edge.
“I know, I know. You’re leaving.” He didn’t need the reminder. Time was slipping away, even now. That feeling at dinner, like they were something solid and real, was fleeting at best. But he also wasn’t going to lie about how it made him feel. “And I’m not going to stop you. All I mean is that I like the connection part while I have it. It enhances everything else, and I’m not going to apologize for enjoying that.”
“I don’t want you to.” Blessing him with a soft kiss, Luis stroked his jaw. “I like it too. Probably too much.”
“Same. But I don’t want to stop, not when it feels so good.”
“Then don’t.”

Don’t want to stop? Don’t! Get your copy of FEEL THE FIRE today!

The third installment of Annabeth Albert’s Hotshots series—the emotions and intensity of Chicago Fire with the raw, natural elements of Man vs. Wild.

When their career paths bring two high school sweethearts together again, the forest isn’t the only thing ablaze…

Fire behavior specialist Luis Riviera goes where his job takes him. But when he’s assigned to an arson investigation in Central Oregon—the place he left his broken heart twenty years ago—he’s afraid of being burned all over again.

Tucker Ryland had planned to join his first love, Luis, in LA after high school graduation, but life got in the way. Now a fire management expert and a divorced father of teen twins, Tucker’s thrown for a loop when he finds himself working side by side with his Luis, now all grown up and more intriguing than ever.

Though consumed by a grueling fire season and family responsibilities, the two men discover their bond has never truly broken. Tentative kisses turn to passionate nights. But smoking sheets aside, old hurts and new truths stand in the way of this time being the start of forever.

Danger lurks everywhere for Central Oregon’s fire crews, but the biggest risk of all might be losing their hearts. Don’t miss the Hotshots series from Annabeth Albert: Burn Zone, High Heat and Feel the Fire.

Annabeth Albert grew up sneaking romance novels under the bed covers. Now, she devours all subgenres of romance out in the open—no flashlights required! When she’s not adding to her keeper shelf, she’s a multi-published Pacific Northwest romance writer.

Emotionally complex, sexy, and funny stories are her favorites both to read and to write. Annabeth loves finding happy endings for a variety of pairings and is a passionate gay rights supporter. In between searching out dark heroes to redeem, she works a rewarding day job and wrangles two children.

Genre: Contemporary Genre: Romance Orientation: Bisexual Orientation: Gay Pairing: M/M Publisher: Carina Press Tag: Guest Post Tag: Part of a series Tag: Second Chances Annabeth Albert Feel the Fire Hotshots series