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Burning It Down (2012)

by Christopher Koehler(Favorite Author)

3.66 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1623802318 (ISBN13: 9781623802318)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Dreamspinner Press

series

CalPac Crew

review 1: I'm mostly agreeng with the other readers.I really liked the first half of the book: I loved both Owen and Adam, their stories were great and sad and I'd hoped they'd be a good match together - both being 'damaged goods' and having some strong issues to overcome. I was also happy to see Nick and Morgan as well as Brad and Drew - I loved the first two CalPac books :)By the time Owen and Adam became a couple things started being too sugary sweet for my liking. Don't get me wrong - I love fluff, but here it was too much with all the crying on each other's shoulder and excessive use of the 'boyfriend' term. But that was still okay and I've been waiting to see the Jordan story to unfold and when the time came it was too much :/First of all Jordan's being apparently some kind of... more super-duper criminal mastermind, who doesn't leave any traces and clues - it's unrealistic, imo. I don't believe the police wouldn't have found a single evidence of his many crimes! And then again his attack on Owen (btw the testicle ripping's WAY over the top, imo, too gross) - they're having his DNA for God's sake, and Owen can identify the attacker, so why don't just press charges against him - plain and simple? With that kind of overwhelming evidence they'd be able to put Jordan behind the bars without any hassle. But then they're stalling and Adam's got that brilliant idea, that he has to return to Jordan 'to save Owen'. Really? I mean - REALLY??? I don't even know where to start explaining why it's a fundamentally bad and stupid idea.And the amount of misfortunes, dropping on Owen's head (or rather on his leg) seems too much for one person. After the initial injury he first fall on that leg again and then Jordan's maimed it too :/ I dunno, I wanted for him to more or less be able to overcome his problems, like Drew'd had in the previous book, and to return to his work, which he loved so much. It seems to me that was his primary motivation to do PT and rowing, it fueled his desire to heal. And then it looked like he's just gave up on it and it's sad. I'd've liked to see him handling the troubles of being the chief, which were outlined in the beginning of the story. I liked Owen's attitude about prefering to be as healthy and fit as possible and be able to work to support himself rather than having a disability pension. So the outcome of his hearing seemed like a disappointment to me (( Like he gave up or lost a fight or something (((But their reunion was really sweet and touching and after that it was all good and satisfying. I also LOVED the animals, especially T'Pau! I'm often talking with my cat like that ))))All in all I'm glad I've read this book, I love the guys and I'm waiting for the sequel, whether it'd be about Mike and Steven or Joye and this rower guy :)
review 2: I read the first two books in this series, and i was looking forward to this one. The characters in the first two books were well developed and written in such a way that I cared what happened to them. I thought this new book would continue the character development from the first two books, but I was mistaken. In this sequel, the main characters from the first two books are merely in the background. The two main characters are Owen and Adam -- a fireman and a vet. Like the other books in this "rowing" series, the characters are initially drawn together at a rowing club, and then they develop a relationship. There is an undercurrent in this book about one of the characters who has been the victim of domestic violence -- this character changes his names, closes down his business, changes his licenses with the state licensing board, and moves out when the abusive boyfriend is out of the house. He tries to start life anew, although he remains petrified about the abusive relationship that he was in. Much of the first 200 pages of the book involves the victim's fear of his former boyfriend. There is no foreshadowing whatsoever that this victim would have the guts to protect his new boyfriend by going back into an abusive relationship with the old boyfriend. About 2/3 of the way through the book (starting at page 216), the story takes a turn for about 40 pages that just doesn't fit with the characters' development.This 40 page diversion is the reason why I can only give this book 4 stars. If the story was a little tighter, it would have earned the final star.If this series continues, I sure hope that the author returns to some of the characters from the first two novels in the series and develop those characters some more. less

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