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Chasing Fire

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Rowan Tripp loves being a smoke jumper and fighting fire with her fellow jumpers. But this year things are different. Last season her jump partner died in a fire and his death is not so easy to deal with. And then there's Gull Curry, a rookie smoke jumper, who seems to be seriously interested in Rowan. Normally she doesn't mix work and play but Gull is not that easy to discourage and pretty tempting. When a murder happens and Rowan is in danger, she realizes that maybe leaning on Gull and letting him into her life might be not such a bad idea.
Will Rowan and Gull's relationship make it through the fire season and will they be able to stop the murderer before he kills one of them?

When I get a new book by Nora Roberts I always feel a bit like a kid in a candy store. She is my favourite author and once again created an amazing novel. "Chasing Fire" is about a group of smoke jumpers and after reading the book I think that what they do is amazingly brave and absolutly crazy.

At first I needed some pages to get into the language used between the smoke jumpers because it's a bit different from Nora Robert's usual style. But after the first ten pages I appreciated the way the book is written because I felt that it fit to the smoke jumpers and the constant danger they are in.

I loved reading about the main characters Rowan and Gull. Rowan is strong woman, she is hard but also fair. She is a good trainer and team leader. I loved the scenes in which she trained the new smoke jumpers. The way she supported them and joked with them was admirable.
Gull is a hero after my own heart. He's intelligent, interested in a lot of different things and seems to live his life exactly the way he wants to. Together he and Rowan make a wonderful pair. Their banters were very entertaining and I loved the scenes in which Rowan let him into her heart.
I also liked that there is a second, smaller love story between Rowan's father and a woman he meets. Their relationship is so sweet and shows that you are never too old to find love.

Besides the two main characters I especially loved reading about the camaraderie of the smoke jumpers and about their missions. The smoke jumpers are like a small family, they love to rib each other and there are a lot of funny scenes between them. To read about them fighting the fire was thrilling and made this book a fast read. I was always interested in reading about their operations and I was impressed that with every jump into the flames they risked their lifes.

The suspense part of the book fits to the fire theme. The first murder is like a spark that sets the murderer on fire and makes him unpredictable and dangerous for everyone. I had a suspicion about who the killer might but was never sure about it.

covers
I like both the UK and US cover, they fit to the fire them and look interesting.

final appraisal
"Chasing Fire" has everything a great romantic suspence novel needs. The story is thrilling and fascinating, there are two wonderful love stories in the book, the camaraderie between the smoke jumpers is amazing and their fight against the fire is breathtaking.

Rowan Tripp ist eine "Smoke-Jumper"in, heißt, wenn es irgendwo in der Wildnis einen großflächigen Waldbrand gibt, der droht sich auszubreiten, kommen sie und ihre Truppe zum Einsatz und springen aus Flugzeugen über dem Brand ab und versuchen, diesen zu löschen. Ein sehr aufreibender, anstrengender Job, weswegen Rowan, die noch am Tod eines Kollegen in der vergangenen Saison laboriert, sich auch auf keine feste Beziehung einlassen möchte. Doch da hat sie die Rechnung ohne den charmanten "Rookie" Gull Curry gemacht, der es sich von Anfang an zur Aufgabe macht, Rowan zu erobern. Kein leichtes Unterfangen, treibt doch auch irgendjemand auf der Basis und in der Umgebung sein Unwesen und will sich an Rowan und den anderen Smoke-Jumpern rächen. Defektes Equipment, blutige Streiche und zu guter Letzt auch Leichen machen Rowan und Gull das Leben schwer.

Ein gut erzähltes, aufregend geschriebenes Buch, das mal einen etwas anderen Hintergrund hat, als die üblichen 0815-Romanzen, die man heutzutage leider so häufig findet. Die Beziehung zwischen Rowan und Gull, sowie Rowan's Vater und einer Schuldirektorin, die er bei einem Fallschirmsprung kennen lernt, sind das eigentliche Hauptthema in "Chasing Fire", doch die Krimi-Handlung drum herum ist spannend und halbwegs interessant geschrieben. Ich muss zugeben, dass ich meine Vermutung, wer der Mörder ist, mehrmals im Laufe des Buches geändert habe und mir generell sehr unsicher war, obwohl sich am Ende mein allererster Verdacht dann doch bestätigt hat.
Es ist kein tiefschürfendes Buch und man verpasst nichts, wenn man es nicht gelesen hat, aber es ist auch kein schlechtes Buch und man kann es durchaus lesen und genießen. Ich rate weder zum Kauf, noch rate ich davon ab! So oder so, man kann nicht falsch liegen.

Rowan Tripp loves what she does along with her fellow smoke jumpers, which are firefighters in the wildlands that parachute into remote areas to combat wildfires. It's the beginning of a new season which means, new rookies including one Gulliver (Gull) Curry, who is attracted to her instantly and doesn't waste anytime hiding it. Rowan has a rule about not dating any fellow smoke jumpers, but Gull isn't going to let something like that get in his way. While out in the field, Rowan stumbles across something horrible that might be connected to the following sequence of events that put her and the team in danger.

Rowan is a strong woman both physically and mentally who cares about the people in her life, but doesn't believe a romantic relationship can last and prefers to keep it fun and on the surface. The banter between her and Gull were one of my favourite parts. He's very intelligent and loves innuendoes, which always made me smile. That doesn't mean he as a one-track mind as he shows through sweet gestures that catch Rowan off-guard and the thought he puts into figuring out who is risking all their lives before it's too late.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There is always something new for me to learn in a book by Nora Roberts. You can tell from all the details that she does her research, making everything so realistic. My heart pounded in my chest every time they parachuted out of a plane and felt as exhausted as the crew after another long fight against wildfires that were described in such a beautiful and terrifying way. The life of a smoke jumpers is thrilling and dangerous. I think you have to be as brave as you are out of your mind to do what they do.

My one critic not related to the story is the price. The ebook, hardcover and paperback are too expensive and not a price I'd be willing to pay regularly. It might even turn people off reading it and from some comments I've read online has done just that.

I'm an avid Nora Roberts reader. She never disappoints, all her books have substance and a certain standard. Chasing Fire however is average at best. This is the first Nora Roberts book that I didn't read from start to finish. I skipped through a lot of sections because I found all the details about fire jumping simply boring.

Rowan Tripp is a fire jumper. When her partner dies in a jump she becomes the target of a killer who believes her responsible. There is a romance with a new jumper, the romance didn't quite capture me. Rowan was a bit too touqh in my opinion, she was like one of the guys, the rest of the jumpers. I guess that's why the romance didn't click with me.

Overall it's not a bad book. In my opinion it just doesn't live up to Nora Robert's usual high standard.