Fire Balls

3.5 Stars

This book is on the shorter side but still cute and pretty light and fun to read and listen to. The romance is a little fluffy, but the storyline is pretty straightforward and flows well. The timeline in this book is really fast, taking place over the course of like a week or so.

The characters meet. Go on dates with others. Go on dates with each other. Have sex with others. Have sex with each other. It’s all a little messy, but still on the fun side. You really cannot take this book seriously, since it’s a little over the top ridiculous in the romance department, but it is still cute.

Rodney is an artist who paints portraits of naked men. He is outgoing, outrageous and a little over the top in everything he does, and also has a little twist to his personality and character that you wouldn’t really expect till you get to that part of the story. He’s a great friend to the people he is close to. One of his close friends is Jerry. Jerry and Rodney both see the same guy, “Hunter”, and instantly fall into lust with him. But Jerry scores a date with the hunky firefighter first…

It all gets really messy and complicated from that point on… There’s quite a bit of hot sex in the book. There’s some homophobic and family drama. There’s a fire. There’s some other stuff thrown in as well. Overall I have to say it’s another good addition to this series.

Audio – Nick J. Russo does a great job with this one and keeping his voice on point with Rodney’s character. I think he really captured everyone’s voices and personalities well in this audiobook. I enjoyed it a lot.

*** Audiobook copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***

I really enjoyed the role reversal in this story and how both the Author and the Narrator both added to and advance the story with their own portrayal of the words. Hunter has to be on his game at all times on the job and in public, but when he's alone with Rod, there's something in the air and about Rod's personality that allows Hunter to let down his guard, be himself and truly open up.

Nick Russo does a great job bringing these guys to life and I always enjoy the stories he tells. I liked this book and the characters more so than the ones in book one. Happy that I took a chance on this one!

Fire Balls by Tara Lain is a cute story about a painter named Rodney and a firefighter named Hunter. Rodney’s short, flamboyant, self-depreciative, and sarcastic. He’s a black belt in karate, and he loves to help his friends. Although Rodney says that he loves who he is and has made peace with not being able to hide that he is gay, he’s always putting himself down and doesn’t believe he’s good enough for what he wants. And what he wants is the gorgeous firefighter Hunter.

Hunter’s one of those guys that can pull off looking and acting straight but is gay. Hunter’s spent his life trying to make it up to his dad for being gay. He does this by being what his dad wanted to be in life, a firefighter. What Hunter wants to do is be a college level lit teacher which he has a master’s degree in. Hunter sees Rodney’s paintings at the art festival and falls in love with them. But Rodney isn’t manning his booth, it’s his best friend Jerry that is, and Jerry wants Hunter and needs Rodney’s help to get him.
And even though Rodney wants Hunter also, he knows that Hunter wouldn’t want somebody that was so obviously gay and flamboyant looking. And so he helps his best friend land him as a boyfriend even though it breaks his heart. All of this changes when Hunter gets talked into being a model for Rodney by his boyfriend, Jerry. And things are going to get hot and confusing as Hunter learns something about his body and the talented artist.
I loved watching Hunter figure out what he wanted in life and going after it instead of trying to make his dad happy. I loved that Rodney finally gets what he wants and stops putting himself down.

Overall a cute story with some angst, hot chemistry, some hot scenes, a great story-line, and well-developed characters. The book is well written and nicely edited. There’s also a scene of cheating in this book which wasn’t a problem for me, but I know some people don’t like it.

4.5 Stars!

Firefighter Hunter Fallon can't stand the idea of his fellow firefighters thinking he'd be interested in someone like Rodney Mansfield. Rodney aka Roman is everything Hunter tries to avoid but, unfortunately, every time he turns around, he's coming face to face with the flamboyant artist. Something inside of Hunter is drawn to Rodney and when he is alone with him it becomes nearly impossible to deny it.

Rodney has the biggest crush on the Hot Firefighter Hunter Fallon. To his surprise, though, any chances of getting Hunter fly out the window when his best friend Jerry meets and starts dating Hunter not knowing how Rodney felt. Things get even worse when Jerry begs Rodney for help with poetry to keep Hunter interested in him. Next thing he knows, Jerry has convinced Rodney to paint Hunter. Of course, Roman is famous for his beautiful nudes and this means Hunter will have to pose naked while Rodney paints him alone in his studio.

I loved this book the first time I read it years ago and I still love it now. I'm a huge fan of Rodney/Roman and Hunter and I love them together. Other than Hunter's irritating need to be as Alpha as he can when in all actuality he hated being an Alpha, he was sweet.

Rodney was funny, snarky, vulnerable and sweet. He was so loyal to his friend and wanted him to be happy, even if it meant he had to stand back and watch him be with the one man Rodney wanted above all others. *Spoiler* (Please mark the blank space with your mouse or click copy/paste on your phone to read. Proceed at your own risk.) I was shocked when he slept with Hunter and Jerry and Hunter were still technically dating. */spoiler* While Rodney and Hunter did not handle things right I found myself feeling sorry for them and just wanted them together. I love Jerry but he was not at all right for Hunter.

In the end, everything works out for the best and all are happy. I love Rodney, Hunter and Jerry and I'm a huge fan of Tara Lain. I definitely recommend Fire Balls.

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*

Fire Balls is Book 2 in Tara Lain's Balls to the Wall Series. This book can be read as a standalone, but the books are short, quick reads so it would be easy to start with Book 1.

Rodney is a flamboyant artist, tiny, and a black belt in karate. His size doesn't stop him from hooking up with many of his models that he paints. He's really crushing on a local firefighter, who he was sure was straight until a run-in with Rodney's model and friend, Jerry. Jerry begins dating Hunter with Rodney's help. Hunter is not in the closet but he's embarrassed by Rodney's flamboyance. Jerry pressures both Rodney and Hunter to do a painting session, and they end up hooking up, cheating on Jerry. Both men will have to get over their prejudices and figure out what they want.

Rodney was very flamboyant and fond of calling everyone darling. For the most part, I didn't mind Rodney, his character was entertaining, but that he was so willing to cheat with his good friend's boyfriend and not be bothered about what he had done, really lowered my opinion of him. He knew Jerry was really happy with Hunter, and sure, Rodney had a crush on him first, but he should have manned up and told Jerry that he had a crush instead of going behind his back. I wasn't a fan of Hunter. He may have been out of the closet but he was still a judgemental ass regarding anyone who wasn't his idea of gay. Hunter worked as a firefighter because that's what his dad wanted. His dad wasn't happy to have a gay son, so Hunter preferred to date men he considered manly. And he judged Rodney but thought nothing of cheating on his boyfriend with him and then pretending it didn't happen.

I'm not a fan of cheating, in real life or fiction. Minus the cheating, the book was enjoyable. If you don't care about cheating, you should check this book out. If you also hate cheating, you've been warned!

Rating: 3.5 stars