FRANK, Ella - Chicago Heat Tome 1 - Wicked Heat

Kind, caring, and protective. Those are the three qualities I’m looking for when it comes to my dream man. In a city as big as Chicago, you wouldn’t think he would be that hard to find, right?

Wrong.

Sure, my boss found a super-sexy detective and my best friend fell madly in love with the most eligible bachelor around. But the only person I’ve met recently is a broody bad boy who saved me at a sketchy pub.

He’s grumpy, rude, and honestly, not that likeable at all. Hardly my “dream” guy.

So why can’t I stop thinking about him?

I don’t do friendships. I don’t do relationships either. The very last thing I’m looking for in life is to fall in love and live happily ever after.

So saving some rich guy from losing his wallet is the last thing I want to do on a Friday night. Especially when he looks like someone who just stepped off the cover of GQ. Fate seems to have other ideas, though, and every time I turn around, he’s there.

A wicked heat simmers between us, threatening to ignite, and though I’ve been trained to put out the flames, I can’t help but think: What’s the worst that could happen if I let this desire burn out of control?

I’ve been waiting for Ryan’s love story since meeting him as Alexander’s PA in Inside Affair and even more when we got to know more about him as Gabe’s roommate. Jameson intrigued me as well in the Dare to Try series. Both of them did not disappoint me.

Ryan wants to fall in love just like his friends but can’t seem to find his prince charming. Enters Jameson who rescue him from being robbed. But he’s no prince charming. They couldn’t be any more different : Ryan is quite out going whereas Jameson is standoffish and reserved. They have different backgrounds and lives, if not for this night they would probably would never have talked to one another. Ryan wants to thank Jameson, and more if possible but Jameson wants to be left alone. But their attraction and chemistry is fast and fiery.

Fate keeps putting them on each other’s path and I love those encounters Their lives are bound to be intertwined but Jameson is adamant to resist his GQ. This was one of the slowest burn ever in Ella’s bibliography and I loved every page of it : how they get to know each other, trying to fight their attraction, adjusting to their new living arrangements… Ella wrote another masterpiece. Both characters have my heart for different reasons and I am soooo rooting for them.

As always in the Chicagoverse we get to see some of our favorite characters and places : reading one of Ella’s book is like coming home to your bookish family and the characters you love. I hope we’ll get to see other cameos in the second book of this duology. The other strength of Ella is the ever present humor : whenever you read one of her book, you know you’re n for a good time, full of laugh.

This book felt quite different because of Jameson’s background : I think he is the first character that comes frame the less fancy Chicago. We get to see another side of this city and it is depicted quite vividly : the misery you can see on a day to day basis there and the people that use this misery for their own benefits. I was quite proud to read a book that tackle such subject, with the “lightness” of a romance, but still stays realistic.

I am now waiting for the conclusion for GQ and his Grump’s love story. We don’t have a release date but I will keep an eye and an ear out to know when it will be out ;)