It was a smooth, one-sitting read. Next to having a good time with my nephews and nieces, I could say this book is the best thing that happened to me this last weekend.

Most of the ARC’s I’ve received in the past have some problems with their kindle format and I am glad to see that this one is more eye-friendly. So far the paragraphs haven't been messed up, and I didn’t have a problem identifying one POV from the other.

The author using pop-pop-pop, tap-tap-tap, and thump-thump-thump in a sentence made me smile the whole time. It is such a funny but catchy writing strategy that I don’t find often with other books. No wonder I enjoyed swipe-swipe-swiping my phone every time I have to turn to the next page. If it was a paperback, I would enjoy flip-flip-flipping it just as much!

Now to our smoking-hot firemen, Jack and Diesel.

Both these men had made the poor choices in the past. Jack was married twice (to the opposite sex) and he had a son with his first wife. Diesel chose the wrong boyfriend. But when Diesel chose to be transferred to the New York Fire Department to start a new life (or maybe just to escape), he was faced with yet another ‘feels so right but so wrong’ situation – Jack.

And that’s when the fire, and I mean the fire, doesn’t seem to stop burning. Also, that’s when the other fire — the fire that we all know about — ignited between Jack and Diesel.

The fraternizing is still observed but I love the lack of homophobia from their co-workers after finding out their ‘casual’ relationship (except the traitor of course, I am not surprised about that.) Both Jack and Diesel’s characters are so refreshing that they effortlessly took all of my adoration.

I love Diesel for being so mature. I love him even more for having a soft heart with kids (and dogs.) Jack on the other hand is a really mature and responsible captain who could well hide his age through his funny choice of words and flexibility when talking to Diesel. And yes, I love him. They don’t exert so much effort complementing each other but they are like a match made in – too cliché. Let’s just say they’re like a match stick and a match paper ready to ignite a fire. Actually they’re already burning from what I can see.

I wasn’t bothered by the age gap for it actually made the romance more enjoyable. At the start I thought Jack having two exes and a teen-ager child will become one of their relationship’s challenges. But when I found his son, Eric and his mom are the coolest supporting characters to appear in the story, I hastily wiped out my initial thoughts.

The ending is like a cease fire. In a really, really good way. There is the promise of together-forever I always enjoy seeing in a story. Maybe this is the time I should admit I haven’t read the last two installments. But, really, I was pleased to be locked into the drama right from the start.

If you enjoy age-gap romance and love to witness firemen in action, this book is worth adding to your reading list. Plus you get a bonus, a nice grace you can use for Thanksgiving!

***An ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review***

This is the first book in the Smoke & Bullets series I've read and I was not impressed (which is unfortunate since I enjoyed her Boundaries series). The large cast of characters introduced in what seemed like every chapter was a big negative--hard to keep track of who was who and why they needed to be mentioned. The sabotage plot was mediocre. I had the least issue with the large age gap.

Shift’s End is the third book in the Smoke & Bullets series. This story brings us with Diesel and Jack, these two are well match and the interaction between the characters and the storyline made this a wonderful read and addition to the series

Workplace sabotage is a fear filled plot device. Usually you have no clue who the perpetrator is and often no idea why he or she is out to get someone, but when you also have no knowledge of the identity of the victim the mystery deepens.
Jack has someone trying to cause problems on the calls in his firehouse. At first it’s just little things like someone reliable who forgets his gloves, but over time it escalates to more serious issues. When it begins to be called to the attention of his superiors Jack knows he’s got to take it seriously and solve the problems.
Jack has fallen for one of his much younger subordinates, but Diesel is also someone Jack trusts to help him ferret out the guilty party. They can keep their investigation secret just so long before accusations start pointing fingers at Jack and Diesel. When there is a serious injury Jack realizes it’s time to stop playing detective and open the investigation publically so the criminal can be recognized and stopped before someone dies.
This is an exciting story, one that held my attention. I really liked Jack and Diesel together, despite their age difference, although that does cause some problems. I love men in uniform romance stories and when there is some mystery to the story that makes it even more exciting.

A workplace romance (set in a fire station) that deals with issues of consent, domestic abuse, workplace sabotage, and navigating a substantial age difference. Barley's characters are likable and their relationships are believable. The mystery is wrapped up a little too neatly, but it's an overall pleasant read.

There are two ways a book with a big age-gap between characters can go for me. Either I'm really annoyed because the age-gap is mentioned constantly or I like it because the age-gap isn't made a big deal. Want to guess where Shift's End lands? Surprisingly I wasn't as annoyed as I thought I would be because it wasn't as often mentioned as I anticipated. It was mentioned, but wasn't really that big of a deal, because the fact that they were boss and subordinate was far more pressing.

I think Shift's End is my favourite book of this series so far. I really liked Diesel and Jack wasn't that bad either. I liked them together. That little glimpse at previous characters was nice as well.

If you are into firefighter romances, you might want to give this book and the series in general a try.

Now on to waiting for book 4 and I'm quite curious about whom that will be. We'll see.

<strong>Rating: 4 stars</strong>

Sorry, I couldn't finish this one. The tale seems really convoluted with all the many, many characters who got dropped in from the very start, and even though I'd read the first book, I couldn't get back into this 'world'. Picking it up without a cover or blurb, made me feel, around 20% into it, that I didn't know if it'd end up a MM or MMM tale, as there were too many unknowns in the tale.

Captain Jack Tracey has a rat in his fire-fighting ranks. A member of his team has been sabotaging equipment, and it’s only a matter of time until the Head Office relieves him of command, or tragedy strikes, whichever comes first. Added to this, Jack is falling for his new recruit, who is half his age, and he knows that if the saboteur doesn’t get him fired, an illicit romance with a staff member will. Diesel Evers has come into Jack’s team, running away from an abusive relationship with a white collar criminal, and fears he is not good enough for Jack. The 20-year age gap is the least appealing aspect about this otherwise entertaining M/M modern romance. – Megan Osmond

3 1/2 stars.

This review appears in Romantic Intentions Quarterly #2, out July 2.