WILD FIRE is book 5 in the Firehawks
series by the
fabulous M.L. Buchman, military romance author
extraordinaire. The Firehawks
series focuses on the
badass firefighters of Mount Hood Aviation. There are also
loose ties to Buchman's Night
Stalkers series about a
Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the best of the best
in helicopter aviation fliers. Each of Buchman's books works
just fine as a stand-alone, with one couple getting their
Happily Ever After. Some of the most enjoyable parts for me,
however, are reading about the growing group of characters
that I already know and love from previous books in both
series.
Buchman is the best military romance author out there, in
my opinion. This expertise translates well laterally into
the world of firefighter aviation. Mount Hood Aviation not
only fights fires, but also uses those firefighting skills
to insert themselves into places where the formal military
can't go. So we get the military spy subplots to liven
things up in addition to the heart pounding action of
fighting fires. Buchman's books feel highly realistic in
terms of equipment and tactics. I expect that there is some
considerable latitude in how likely all these intra-unit
romances would be, but that's an area in which I have no
problem willingly suspending my disbelief!
WILD FIRE follows Buchman's now-familiar pattern of two
individuals in the Mount Hood Aviation group discovering
that the only thing better than fighting fires is fighting
fires with your best friend and lover next to you. Gordon
Finchley is a helicopter pilot whose MHA helicopter crashed
into a lake when a civilian's drone takes out his engine.
Just-arrived Ripley Vaughan from almost sucks Gordon up into
her snorkel intake when she shows up seconds later in her
massive helicopter to get a payload of water from the lake
to drop on the fire. Ripley has the obligatory belief that
she will never find love, but Gordon rapidly falls for her,
and stealthily convinces here to take a chance on their
love.
While the bones of the story are cliché, the tale is
anything but. Buchman knows how to leverage details to keep
the tension rippling. When MHA travels overseas to fight
not only a fire but also foreign enemy combatants, the
stakes are doubled. The sexual tension keeps pace with the
hair-raising physical adventures the heroic couple face.
Buchman's WILD FIRE is wild ride of adrenaline and love.
When Gordon Finchley crashes his wildland firefighting helicopter through burning trees into a remote lake. He knows he’s toast. Moments later, when newly-arrived Ripley Vaughan nearly slices him in two with her massive Erickson Aircrane helicopter, he discovers a whole new reason to fly. In this riveting wrap-up to the Firehawks series, the entire Mount Hood Aviation heli-attack squad needs all their skills to not get burned by the Wild Fire.