I adore Shannon Stacey, and this was no exceptions Clever characters, who actually tend to solve their conflicts like adults. Witty banter, adorable situations. Feel good family dynamics and a sizzling romance filled with good vibes and butterflies. A perfect palate cleanser that doesn't read like fluff. Always a fan, and this series never disappoints.

HOT RESPONSE - Shannon Stacey

#4 in the Boston Fire romance series

HOT IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE - 4 stars

Plot - 4 stars - Gavin has rubbed Cait the wrong way since he called her ma'am at their first meeting, but as they work more closely together, they realize that their chemistry is hot. No only that, but they actually like and admire each other. Additional problems regarding family, etc. complicate their future, and they need to decide if they can (and want to) try to overcome them together.

Writing - 4 stars - Stacey pulls me in right from the first page. Of course, it's easier to do this when the characters and setting are familiar, but she also writes in a casual and pleasant manner that really keeps the story moving. There's just enough firehouse/EMT action to be interesting, and the gradual building of their relationship makes sense.

Characters - 4.5 stars - Great characters! This is where the story shone for me. Gavin has been billed as the youngest guy on the team, although this description is toned down and becomes pretty unimportant in this book. In this case he's a strong and confident first-responder who loves deeply and is close to his family. Cait comes across as tough and almost unapproachable at first, but she quickly shows how caring she is and how much she also is willing to give to her family. A really great pair that I was definitely rooting for.

Title - 4 stars - The title makes a lot of sense, cleverly referring to Cait and Gavin's responses to each other, both in work and in their personal lives. Not to mention that HOT refers to Gavin's job as a firefighter, plus their hot chemistry.

Cover - 4 stars - Sexy bare back, a little different from the usual romance cover.

Overall - 4 stars - I'm always a sucker for a guy who is close to his family, and Gavin has a great relationship with them. Added to that, Cait also is an integral part of her family dynamic, which shows her warm and caring side. They certainly are a good match there, and it was fun to watch the interactions each had with their families. There are, of course, complications that they need to overcome, and the storyline made sense. I enjoyed reading about the calls they went on, both medical and fire-related. Good book with all the parts I like--warm romance, hot erotic scenes, enjoyable characters, and plenty of action to keep things moving. I look forward to the next in this series.

Loved it! The characters were relatable and real. The plot was interesting. And who doesn't love a firefighter story?! I can't wait to read the next one.

Shannon Stacey is one of my favorite authors for some light reading. I love the Boston Fire series and the men of Ladder 37 keep me on my toes. Gavin is one of my favorite characters by Shannon Stacey but I think Cait even tops him. Her sense of family is something that I love about her character and her being home to take care of her widowed mom and teenage half brother is very selfless. She is witty and caring and Gavin is her perfect match. They're great together. The story itself was fast paced, romatic, had a little action and drama, and seemed very heartfelt.
I can't wait to read Dereks story soon.

I have chosen not to read and review this tile. While the blurb drew me to the story, I was not engaged with the characters or the way the story was written.

I appreciate the opportunity to review this early title and am looking forward to the next title through your company.

Thanks,
Laura

I really enjoyed Hot Response. Shannon Stacey writes such strong heroes and heroines and I found myself wanting to know Gavin and Cait better from the moment I started reading. I have to say I loved Gavin from the moment he appeared on the page. It was funny, smart, and caring. He seemed like the type of guy you could always count on when needed. I honestly felt like he was way more mature than his age and thought he was just a really good guy. The fact his was a smoking hot fire fighter, was really just icing on a very yummy cake.

I will be honest and say I liked Cait from the moment we met her, but worried her putting herself second to her family would be an issue in the long run. I think the fact that both Gavin and Cait were first responders made it so much easier for them to date with few issues. I loved that Gavin offered up his apartment to Cait if she needed time away from her family even before they had their very first date. I also loved that once they went on their first date, they seemed to want to be together as much as possible. Again, Cait putting her family above herself seemed to come up again and again. I understood her wanting to be there for them after her mom lost her husband and her brother lost his dad, but I really felt like they had started to take advantage of her giving nature without really realizing it. I have to say I loved that Cait and her family came to the same conclusion about their lives at the same time.

I really did like Gavin and Cait as a couple. They got each other from the very beginning. They had a pretty instant attraction to one another from the very first moment they met. I loved once they made love for the first time, they pretty much couldn't keep their hands off each other. I felt a real connection with them, even when they didn't see eye to eye on something. I love reading a story when I fall in love with he couple, and Hot Responsewas one of those books.

Hot Response is another winner in the Boston Fire series from Shannon Stacey. I enjoyed each of the books in the series so far and look forward to more books in this series in the future.

Rating: 4 stars (B)

While not my favorite book in this series (that honor goes to the upcoming release UNDER CONTROL), HOT RESPONSE is another charming installment in Stacey's Boston Fire series. HOT RESPONSE is sweet and compelling contemporary romance that follows rhythms familiar to regular Stacey readers and will satisfy that 'big city romance with a small town feel' itch.

This was my first Shannon Stacey & Boston Fire series book and it was on fire and I definitely want to read more of this authors books! Definitely want lots more of the firemen in the Boston Fire series!! Hot Response is Gavin & Cait's hot response to each other once Cait worked out her own issue with regards to Gavin & after a particularly difficult call they both were on. Even though Cait had her family issues & Gavin was so young, the youngest member in Ladder 37, so neither was looking for a relationship but once their spark ignighted the fire blazed on and there would be nothing to stop the chemistry & steam between these two! Well written storyline and plot with well developed main & secondary characters. Gotta love all those hot & sexy firemen in Ladder 37, can't wait for Under Control & Flare Up! Recommend one-clicking this amazing 4.5-Star full length read Hot Response!!
I am voluntarily leaving this voluntary review, but for full disclosure I did receive an review copy, ARC, of this book from Harlequin-Carina Press via NetGalley.

It took me a while to get into the story because I wasn't feeling the connection between Gavin and Cait, but it got better as the story progressed.

A little excited for the next book; the hero is a single dad and you know how much I love single dads in romance.

Hot Response is a good addition to the Boston Fire series. It was an easy read about very engaging characters. I think it could work as a stand alone, but the arc of the series is quite strong. Shannon Stacey excels at the family aspect of her series, and her characters are usually layered and interesting. The primary couple isnt as dynamic in this story as I would have liked, but their story is entertaining. I always enjoy the secondary characters included in Ms Stacey's writing, and I look forward to each of their stories as well.

SWOON!! I love me a firefighter romance! Gavin and Cait are undeniably hot, and their story is sweet, sexy, funny and brilliant! Hot Response fits right in with the previous books in this series and I can't wait for more!

Hot Response is book 4 in the Boston Fire series but I feel it can totally stand alone so if you haven't started the series, you can definitely still dive in to this one.

This book has sort of the enemies to lovers edge to it due to the animosity between Gavin and Cait but what is mostly just stemming off a little misunderstanding. The banter between these two from the first few pages shows the chemistry between them, regardless of whether they can see it or not and gives a glimpse of what we can expect as the story progresses.

I really enjoyed the interactions between these two which showed us a different side to these characters. Gavin went from the young, fun guy you'd expect to be a jerky player to a dependable, supportive man who tugs on your heart.

Hot Response will suck you in with its amazing characters, fun plot line, and the chemistry that burns between these two. It will fulfill your need for romance and leave your heart happy.

ARC received for review

Gavin and Cait (pronounced Kate) got off on the wrong foot since he called her ma'am. (I don't get that maybe since I live in the south and it's good manners to call every lady, ma'am). Any way she didn't like it, but once they cleared up that misunderstanding...hot, hot, hot. But then you throw in her emotional drama and issues with letting family go, and you get heart break. Luckily it didn't last too long. Great to see all the crew of Ladder 37 and Engine 59 again.

Hot Response is the fourth novel in the Boston Fire series, and the third one I've read, and I found that while it was a pleasant and well-written read, it really didn't grab me and hook me, and since I liked it somewhat but didn't love it, it gets a 3-star rating from me.

The main characters, Gavin, a handsome Boston firefighter, and Cait, a feisty EMT, were fairly well drawn, although I would have loved to know their ages, since some of their behavior make them seem a bit too high school to this reader. Hunky Gavin has never been in a long term relationship or told a woman that he loved her--in fact, his previous relationships, if any, are never mentioned, nor is much else about his past.

Cait too seemed somewhat immature when all it took to make her dislike Gavin was the fact that he called her "ma'am" when they first met. But these two are attracted to one another and after they are trapped in a burning building together, trying to rescue an injured child, they begin a tentative relationship. At least we learn more about Cait through her family situation. She moved back into her mother's home after the death of her mother's second husband, and a call for help from her teenage brother, Carter, after finding their mother on the bathroom floor, and terrified she might kill herself out of grief. Cait ends up taking on the maternal role, paying the bills, shopping for groceries, and trying to help raise her now moody and withdrawn younger brother.

It's Cait's family situation, Cait and Gavin's sexual attraction to one another, and Gavin's trying to push Cait into letting her mother learn to stand on their own two feet again that form both the bone of contention between these two characters, and, also becomes the entirety of this novel, and for this reader, it just wasn't enough.

I don't mind a relationship-based novel, but aside from Cait and Gavin dating, having sex (which didn't carry much heat, unlike some of the author's previous novels), meeting each other's families, and the occasional bit of work and firehouse humor, there really wasn't much more to this novel, and the emotional highs and lows in this story simply didn't seem either high enough or low enough for this reader. Again, the immaturity of these two characters, especially Gavin, seemed odd. What grown man gets so excited at seeing a heart emoji at the end of a text message instead of a smiley face, and mulls it over for weeks wondering what it could possibly mean, or refers to love as "the L-word"? Two characters each wanting to get their own way in a relationship does not a great novel make.

All in all, this wasn't a bad novel, but for this reader, it was a rather lukewarm, so-so read, lacking real heat, absorbing drama, and certainly maturity from it's main characters.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

Firefighter Gavin Boudreau and EMT Cait Tasker often find themselves on scene together and the encounters are a bit prickly. He has no idea what he did to get on her wrong side and his buddies at the station give him no end of grief. When they finally resolve that issue, what’s left is the potential of a promising relationship.

This was an easy story where we see two people tentatively beginning a relationship, careful with each other as they get to know one another. The main conflict is Cait’s family whose need caused her to return home to help her recently widowed mother cope with her grief while dealing with a teenaged half brother. I enjoyed how the two of them took the time to forge a meaningful relationship and how the conflicts weren’t overblown. There’s not a lot of drama (thankfully), just two mature people coping with life’s challenges. I also liked seeing the realities of their work life, the lows and the highs and their emotional impacts.

I’m still enjoying this series and particularly this story. The focus on family, work lives of firefighters and emergency response teams and the people supporting them is what interests me most. It’s what I was looking for in choosing the series and it continues to deliver. It’s a good story with characters I not only liked but admired. The narrator also was ideal for the story and I really liked her decisions about how to define the characters. Highly recommend the audio format.

Love, love, love Shannon Stacey! The Boston fire fighter series is hot, sexy, and sweet all wrapped into one! Boston is only 45 minutes away and the setting of the book is very relatable. I can’t wait for the next one!

<b>3.5 stars!</b>

If you're a fan of Shannon Stacey's Kowalski Family series, you'll definitely enjoy this book. It's character driven romance about a cocky firefighter and an tough, no nonsense EMS. I enjoyed thid book a lot, mainly because I'm a sucker for "she's not really my type" trope. Gavin and Cait's chemistry was awesome and I like how the book was basically just about dealing with normal relationship stuff, like, 'should we or shouldn't we move in together?' or 'meeting the parents and coworkers' etc. It's all very normal and refreshing.

Gavin Boudreaux firefighter, and Cait Tasker EMT, meet under the craziest circumstances. A woman is giving birth in her apartment hallway, and firefighters and EMT’s are called in. The baby and mom are safe and on their way to the hospital and Cait and Gavin are cleaning up and Cait snaps at him for not taking his job seriously. He tries to explain he was using some humor to get the mom to relax, and it had worked. Gavin already had a strike against him, he had called Cait Ma’am.

Cait lives a very difficult life, she is taking care of her grieving widowed mother and her teenaged step-brother. She has tried to do everything for everybody and it’s wearing her out. After another perilous encounter with Gavin she realizes he is very serious about his job, especially when he refuses to leave her when ordered to. They meet so she can apologize, emotions and attraction flares.

This is a hot contemporary romance with heroic characters, and a woman who thinks she must put her family first in everything. Gavin is trying to prove she can love her family and him.

Thank you to Carina Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Pat Fordyce

This is the fourth in the series but the first I've read. Gavin and Cait are co-workers of a sort; he's a firefighter, she's and EMT. He's not looking to settle down but can't deny his attraction to Cait but feels she's just not his type. She, on the other hand, doesn't feel that he's as dedicated as he should be, plus she's dealing with a family crisis. However, they're both wrong in their assumptions!

Now I've got to get the rest of the series!!

Misunderstandings and family are determined to keep them apart…

Oh the firefighters of Boston Fire are back and I couldn’t be happier! Gavin and Cait are co-workers but despite the attraction they both feel for each other, they can’t seem to get on the same wavelength. A misplaced “ma’am” has them at odds but once they talk it out, there’s a lot more to discover…

“He just rubs me the wrong way….”
“Maybe you’re just mad because you want him to rub you the right way.”

This author knows how to convey heart and soul into her characters and invites me in to share their joys, their struggles and their passions. Needless to say, I’m always up for a ride on that train and Gavin and Cait’s story delivered. They play cat and mouse for a while and even that is fun as they work out their differences one conversation and kiss at a time…

Cait is falling for Gavin but she has responsibilities that need her time and attention. When things come to a head, it’s hard to take sides when you are cheering for #TeamCaitGavin all the way. Another great addition to one of my favourite series!