INFLAME by Tessa Teevan

INFLAME

(Explosive #3)

by Tessa Teevan

ARC Review

Released: May 12, 2014

My rating: 4.5 of 5 ⭐️

When Kale Montgomery met Lucy Dawson for the first time, it was when he was visiting his goddaughter's classroom, and Lucy was the teacher. In town on a few months' leave, Kale doesn't hesitate making a move on the spunky and very hot Lucy. Herself not a believer in more than casual flings, and most definitely interested in the goodlooking soldier, Lucy accepts a date.

Over the next few months their physical relationship turns into more of a friends-with-benefits arrangement, since they really like hanging out together, not just in bed. And when the time comes for Kale to go back overseas, they each discover it affects them more than they had bargained for. After months of email and messaging, it didn't take long for them to find each other again, but this time passion really sets root.

Kale is ready to settle down and tries to convince Lucy, who is a little apprehensive at first. Things have progressed fairly quickly since his return and both of them have some air they might want to clear first before time gets away from them, or before someone else runs with the opportunity, and does more damage than it's worth.....

****

SUPER sweet and feel good story, without too much unnecessary drama!! Just what I needed to clear my pallet of the massive amounts of grit and angst and violence out there.... Thank you, Tessa Teevan!! It lifted my spirits!!

Not that this book is entirely problem-free!! Kale for one may appear to be a live and let live kinda guy on the surface, but once you get to know him a little better, you'll find that that free-flowing and easy attitude is one perhaps in part instilled by his upbringing, but definitely not all that makes up Kale. Even though he does his best to maintain his unflappable demeanor, he finds that as things progress with Lucy, it is more and more difficult to keep some of his darker memories at bay. Burying them is never a permanent solution.....

Lucy can't help but wait for the other shoe to drop, even when Kale really hasn't given her any reason to think it might. It is just how she was conditioned from early on. It isn't as easy for her to open up and when she finally does she expects rejection, she certainly doesn't want history repeating itself, but how can one prevent that?

The issues described in INFLAME are things you could easily imagine occurring in day to day life, to anyone, at any point. It is what makes this story feel so comfortably familiar and real. But what makes it truly special is the characters described by Ms. Teevan, both entirely lovable and endearing, and yet completely fallible and flawed, making them even more compelling and believable to the reader. 

There is a lightness to this story, a sense of optimism, despite the occasional obstacle thrown in the way. Never do we get the sense that something is irrevocably broken, but instead we are always left with a sense of hope, no  matter how dire the circumstances. I just love that about this book. So very well done, Tessa!! 

✨A refreshingly positive, insightful and sinfully sexy novel!✨

**Copy provided in return for an honest review.**