The Anti-Social Season

August 19, 2024
The Christmas season heats up in Buck’s steamy second First Responders romance (after Fake Flame). After 10 years working as a firefighter in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Thea Martinelli is rattled when a fellow firefighter is seriously injured on the job, and she jumps at the chance to take a breather as the new social media manager for emergency services. To train her, the department brings in the local library’s social media manager: total hunk Simon Osman. Simon is shocked to see Thea, his distant, unattainable crush all through high school, and can tell she doesn’t quite remember him from their teenage years. Sparks fly as these two spend more time together, and Simon discovers the vulnerable side that Thea always used to hide behind humor. But their budding relationship is complicated by Simon’s controlling sister’s demands that he spend more of the upcoming Christmas holiday with her in California. Sex scenes sizzle while the pressures of the holiday season keep the plot moving swiftly. Readers will cheer for Simon to find happiness with the girl he never forgot. Agent: Katie Shea Boutillier, Donald Maass Literary.

September 15, 2024
Thea Martinelli has spent the last decade working as a firefighter, but after her colleague is injured, she decides it is time to lay down her helmet. As luck would have it, the Emergency Services Department is looking for a social-media coordinator to start ASAP. As the busy holiday season is ramping up, Thea agrees to give it a shot. She knows everything about fire safety, but social media? Not so much. So she is paired with the social media coordinator at the local library to help get her up to speed. But when librarian Simon Osmon agreed to mentor the newbie, he had no idea it would be his high-school crush. Thea has always been the life of the party. Simon is a buttoned-up rule-follower. But the two quickly realize they have more in common than they think, and as the weather cools down, their chemistry heats up. The second book in Buck's First Responders series manages to be both cozy and sexy; a perfect romance for the holiday season.

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October 25, 2024

A colleague's close call has firefighter Thea Martinelli contemplating leaving emergency services--the job she has loved for a decade. When her boss offers her the new social media coordinator position instead, it feels like she's been tossed a lifeline. The problem? Thea knows next to nothing about digital engagement. Enter librarian Simon Osman, who runs the library's social media accounts. He had a crush on Thea in high school--sadly, she barely even remembers him--but the county bigwigs have asked him to help Thea learn everything she needs to know to do her new job. Thea is even more appealing than the teenager he knew only from a distance, though, and soon the lines between working together and being together start to blur. Can Thea and Simon forge a path forward together, or will the chaos of their jobs and the demands of the holiday season tear them apart for good? Though these characters are likable, they face some complex issues that seem too easily resolved. VERDICT Buck's opening novel in her "First Responders" series, Fake Flame, was a treat. Fans of that novel will certainly want to read this.--Rebecca Moe

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