Title: Fire and Rain
Series: Carlisle Cops 03
Author: Andrew Grey
Narrator: Randy Fuller
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 6 hrs, 19 mins
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press LLC (24th February 2016)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖 5 Hearts
Reviewer: Prime
Blurb: Since the death of their mother, Josten Applewhite has done what he’s had to do to take care of his little brother and keep their small family together. But in an instant, a stroke of bad luck tears down what little home he’s managed to build, and Jos and Isaac end up on the streets.
That’s where Officer Kip Rogers finds them, and even though he knows he should let the prop-er authorities handle things, he cannot find it in his heart to turn them away, going so far as to invite them to stay in his home until they get back on their feet. With the help of Kip and his friends, Jos starts to rebuild his life. But experience has taught him nothing comes for free, and the generosity seems too good to be true – just like everything about Kip.
Kip’s falling hard for Jos, and he likes the way Jos and Isaac make his big house feel like a home. But their arrangement can’t be permanent, not with Jos set on making his own way. Then a distant relative emerges, determined to destroy Jos’s family, and Kip knows Jos needs him – even if he’s not ready to admit it.
Purchase Link: Audible US | Audible UK | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Review: Fire and Rain is the third book in Andrew Grey’s Carlisle Cops series. You don’t need to have read the previous book in the series. I’ve read and listened to the two series Carlisle Cops and Carlisle Deputies completely out of order. And while the characters from previous books pop up and you know that they are together, there is nothing vital mentioned that I found difficult to put together on my own. But that being said, it’s such a great series, it probably would be easier to start from the beginning and work your way through. I completely arsed it up, but no reason why anyone has to do that. I honestly think I was just too excited about the book itself I didn’t care and am familiar enough with Grey’s writing to know I can usually read (or in this case listen to) his series out of order.
That leads into the fact that I am a massive fan of Andrew Grey’s writing and I’m not ashamed to admit it. He has a great knack for mixing romance with kids. I connect to his writing style and the great way that he manages to includes kids in many of his books, they are not there for decoration and are a very important character along with the two romantic leads. Much like the previous book in the series, Fire and Rain is a great book for anyone that loves a good romance mixed up with a cop drama and includes a heart wrenching story with kids.
The narration of this book was by Randy Fuller. I am not unfamiliar with Fuller’s work. Fuller has performed the narration for Carlisle Cops and Carlisle Deputies, so I have quickly become accustomed to him being “the voice” of the series. His voice has a gravelly timbre that really suits the dangerous and raw emotion aspects of the plot line. In addition, he has a very reasonable, well-paced tone in his voice when it comes to portraying level-headed characters. (It is actually the latter trait that makes Fuller’s narration of The President’s Husband one of my favourite books to re-listen to, but that is not the point of this review).
Since I listened to this book and then went back to book 2, I did note that there is some similarities in the overall themes of the book. However, Grey uses this to his advantage in how the main cop character interacts with his colleagues and gets advice. But that isn’t me saying that it is identical, because it isn’t.
Officer Kip Rogers is on patrol and takes a call about a homeless person loitering near a shop which is the best place for protection out of the rain. That man is Josten Applewhite and Kip is horrified to see that Josten has his little brother Isaac, who is barely a toddler. With the local shelters already full, in part because of the terrible weather Kip’s protective instincts kick in and he wants to help the handsome young man with his adorable brother. However, Josten, aka Jos, isn’t trusting. After the death of his mother and losing his job and then being evicted out his apartment, Jos is understandably suspicious of anyone who wants to help him and Isaac without getting anything in return.
Now that he has met Kip, though, it seems that the two men are fated to be thrown together. Kip is also mindful that he doesn’t want to take advantage of Jos’s situation and for a start just wants to keep the man and the little boy safe. Kip is kind and gentle, as well as being strong, he is everything that Jos needs before we even get to the romance. As they begin to fall in love and Jos begins to get back on his feet, a threat comes in the form of an estranged aunt with ulterior motive. The whole story with the aunt, admittedly, wasn’t hard to work out before it fully played out but it was still a well-executed aspect of the story.
As I said earlier, I really love this series and hope that there will be more in future. At any rate, I know I will happily re-listen to this audio.