Friday, July 11, 2008

Review: Light my Fire by Jane Graves

Last month, I bought, read and enjoyed Tall Tales and Wedding Veils by Jane Graves. I enjoyed it so much that I tried looking for her back list... and only could find one: Light My Fire. So here is what I thought of it...


Light my Fire by Jane Graves
published by Random House in October 2004


HE WAS TOO HOT TO HANDLE . . .

Defense attorney Ethan Millner is paid handsomely for his ability to charm a jury while ruthlessly slashing the prosecution. He’s living life in the fast lane, until he’s slapped with a reckless-driving charge and sentenced to forty hours of community service on a crime-watch patrol. Now he’s under the thumb of the chairperson of the city’s crime-watch council–a beautiful but no-nonsense woman determined to make him pay his debt to society...

SHE COULDN’T RESIST THE HEAT

Sandy DeMarco is familiar with Ethan’s cutthroat character in the courtroom, as well as his notorious bad-boy reputation with women. Still, when the quiet of Sandy’s neighborhood is shattered by a brutal murder and an employee of hers becomes the prime suspect, Sandy knows the accused’s only hope is the man who will win at any cost. Working alongside Sandy, Ethan begins to feel sparks of attraction that ignite into love–even as a killer burns to silence those who threaten to uncover his secrets...

Genre: contemporary romance
Series: DeMarco siblings, book #3 (?)

The Story: The back blurb does a good job as a synopsis, so I won't be adding more.

My Opinion: This book was an okay read. It wasn't as funny as I expected and was quite predictable. On one hand, you had Ethan - a disillusioned defense attorney who's completely disgusted with himself and is not sure how long he can keep doing his job without losing his conscience. On the other hand, you have Sandy - the goody, goody woman, always ready to believe in people. So already, readers know grossly what is going to happen between them... and it's exactly what they get. I didn't love the characters, but didn't dislike them either. In my opinion, nothing really made them stand out... I did enjoy their chemistry and how they interact with each other however... although I thought that Sandy fell for Ethan a bit too quickly. That to me was a bit unbelievable. I also liked how Ethan needed Sandy as his conscience and when he walked out on his father at the end.

The murder and the investigation were really interesting and kept me guessing. It was quite a good intrigue and made the book better. The only negative thing about it is I kept wondering why Ethan and Sandy were the ones investigating though. I mean, Ethan is a defense attorney... so yeah, it can pass... but Sandy is a florist!!!

My Grade: B. All in all, Light My Fire was an okay read and could have been better if the characters stood out a bit more.