Fiona Nelson made one bad decision several years ago and has been paying for it ever since. She had a simple decision really -- boob job or conversion serum -- and Fiona chose conversion serum. Conversion serum was all the rage at the time, it was taken from an asteroid that had fallen to earth near Las Vegas and when taken, it was believed it would magnify a latent power that lay dormant within you. For most people who took the conversion serum, nothing much happens. For Fiona, and a select few others known as the Corrupted, the conversion serum causes serious changes. Fiona is essentially a fire starter. Her hands heat to incredibly high temperatures and she becomes a human flame flower.

Ian Jones is a scientist who has been researching the Corrupted for years. He has dedicated his life to trying to pinpoint a way to tie the residue of the aftermath from a Corrupted attack to one particular Corrupted. He thinks he has finally made a breakthrough when he runs into Fiona. Again.

Ian and Fiona new each other in high school and each had a major crush on the other. They tried but failed miserably at the time to have a relationship. Fiona turns to Ian for help when another of the Corrupted is trying to frame her for crimes he has committed. Ian finds he still has feelings for Fiona after all this time and is willing to throw all his science away to help her.

PLAYING WITH FIRE is a quirky, playful short story that delves into some rather deep subject matter, but still manages to keep things from getting too serious. I enjoyed how Ms. Morgan explored the topic of accepting people for who and what they are by introducing the conversion serum. She did a great job with her character development and covered a lot of ground in just 140 pages. This was a great story and one I highly recommend.