The Amazon from Chicago's Engine Company 6, Alexandra Dempsey would like nothing more than to find "The One," but he's proving to be a very elusive creature indeed. Every hot-blooded male wants a piece of "America's Favorite Firefighter," but not for the long haul. Alex is still having a rough time with men not believing she can do the job, least of all the Mayor, the metrosexual, gorgeous, perfect Eli Cooper, with whom she has a ferocious lust-hate relationship. Eli's campaign for re-election is going downhill fast, because after an incident in which Alex was implicated, public opinion slowly turned against him. How could things get any worse? When a fire breaks out in a hotel where Mayor Cooper is holding a charity event, he faints, and Alex rescues him, or is it the other way around?

PLAYING WITH FIRE is a book I awaited with bated breath, and Kate Meader does not disappoint! This second book the Hot in Chicago series is as entertaining and as sexy as I hoped. Alex is a very relatable character as she struggles in a man's world, but sometimes she's her own worst enemy. She is impulsive, hot-tempered, and her take-no-prisoner attitude gets her in trouble, but it's also why I like her so much. Eli is a politician to the core, but he loves taunting Alex because he finds her entertaining, and to his horror he is attracted to her in a way he finds unsettling. He is so unlike Alex in almost every way, and their banter is even more hilarious this time around. We had briefly met them in book 1, and although PLAYING WITH FIRE does refer to events that happened previously, Ms. Meader recaps concisely so that even a new reader can easily follow.

It is so much fun to watch Eli and Alex try to fight a losing battle against the sexual chemistry they don't want to acknowledge but that keeps pulling them together. Kate Meader's unique, witty and lively prose makes reading PLAYING WITH FIRE a breeze. The author's colourful descriptions always bring a smile to my face, all the while giving her characters depth that makes them very real. PLAYING WITH FIRE is a book that is guaranteed to banish the blues away!