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.