2017-02-13



Blurb:

She was my nightmare. Every time I closed my eyes, I watched her fall into that inferno. Over and over, I failed to save her.

I hadn’t been able to reach her, and the guilt only burned hotter over time. Four years later, I was the unreachable one.

Heroes aren’t always saints. Sometimes, we’re nothing more than jaded sinners driven by sleepless nights and hearts full of darkness.

And then I met her. She was a dreamer who managed to soothe my scars and heal my wounds.

But, as the flames closed in around us, I feared I wasn’t the right man to save her. That is until I realized she was the one woman I’d burn the world down to protect.



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Review by Michelle:

Aly Martinez, the queen of the profound prologue, the owner of my fangirl heart, and the master of real life heroes, does it again. Singe will draw you in from the very first page and keep you utterly hooked with each subsequent spellbinding word. Singe is a book not to be started within at least 4 hours of bedtime, any important tasks, appointments, or life events as it is a much more likely scenario that you will be willing to lose much needed sleep, food, family time, or friends than walk away from Rhion and Jude's powerful and addicting story.

You can't have an Aly Martinez novel without a dramatic, heart stopping, often tear jerking prologue that keeps you riveted from the start. This prologue is the perfect example. A tragic and horrific meeting that will sear you to the core and have you so invested in these characters, you will feel as if you are living each moment of the story with new treasured friends as you fall in love with them, hurt for them, burn for them, and root for them.

If you love adorably awkward and quirky heroines, rambling Rhion is everything you could ask for. Have you ever had a crazy bestie with severe word vomit? How about a fun and unconventional girlfriend who just couldn't keep her mouth shut? If so, you know just the kind of wild, amusing, endearing insanity Rhion brings to the table. If not, Rhion is just the fix you need. This girl is adorably out of her mind, hilariously creative, and charmingly gauche. She is the cutest, most honest, genuine, sweet, and fun chick, the bff you've always wanted. Add all of this to all the wealth, brains, courage, strength, and sexiness she has going on and you have a truly beautiful woman inside and out and the most loveable, irresistible heroine you could hope for.

As with every single Aly Martinez story, these characters feel amazingly real. Both Rhion and Jude are imperfect and flawed and they make mistakes and have regrets. When push comes to shove though and a real wrench is thrown into their love story, they communicate, they reach out to one another instead of blindly running away, they accept one another's mistakes and imperfections, and they work things out together and become stronger because of it. Does Aly Martinez give us some pretty amazing alpha males? Oh yeah. As with every romance novel, are some things idealized and romanticized? What good escape isn't? Are there dramatic and extenuating circumstances in the relationship that the majority of us will never have to face in our real lives? Of course, it is a work of fiction after all. Yet the core difficulties and issues that arise, the complications behind the drama, and the common relationship hurdles are all very real and relatable things. These characters are incredibly human and down to earth, their love is realistic and the basis of their relationship, how they handle obstacles, and work through them, and their unwavering love despite, and even as a result of these difficulties, is a truly heartfelt and beautiful thing.

Then there is the heartbreaking twist you could never begin to imagine. You are steered in one direction and quickly veer another only to realize that once you think you have it all figured out, there is a whole other level of pain and deception going on. A masterful surprise that will keep you on the edge of your seat while aching for the even the most unlikely of characters.

On a bit of a side note, if you happen to be an Aly Martinez fanatic, as I am, then you are just as well acquainted with Aidan Johnson as I have become over the course of quite a few of her previous books. Getting to not only know Johnson better this time around, but also to observe the incredible relationship he has built with Rhion over the years behind the scenes that we have never been privy to until now, was a real treat. Obviously this man is a total badass, but to get to see and understand the softer side of the intimidating Mr. Johnson was an unexpected treasure. Something I can only hope, as this series follows the Guardian boys, we will be seeing a whole lot more of in the future.

Singe has it all; a captivating, heart wrenching storyline, a heroine that will steal your heart, a sexy, stoic alpha, all the real life romance you could possibly crave, and a bit of suspense. Emotional, steamy, and absolutely addicting, Singe is another Aly Martinez masterpiece that simply should not be missed!

*complimentary copy provided by author for an honest review

Rating: 5 Stars

About the Author:

Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Aly Martinez is a stay-at-home mom to four crazy kids under the age of five, including a set of twins. Currently living in Chicago, she passes what little free time she has reading anything and everything she can get her hands on, preferably with a glass of wine at her side.

After some encouragement from her friends, Aly decided to add “Author” to her ever-growing list of job titles. So grab a glass of Chardonnay, or a bottle if you’re hanging out with Aly, and join her aboard the crazy train she calls life.

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Chapter One

Jude

“Tomorrow, it’s on me,” I said, standing up off the barstool.

Behind the bar, Carmen waggled her eyebrows, seductively calling out, “Funny, I could be on you tonight if you stayed awhile longer.”

I laughed at her innuendo and tossed her a wink. “I gotta get home, babe. Seven a.m. comes way too early.”

“Well, offer’s on the table,” she purred.

It always was with her. And, if I wasn’t careful, I’d eventually take her up on it.

Not that sleeping with Carmen wouldn’t have been good. But, when you find a cheap bar only five minutes from your house, you don’t fuck that up by dipping your cock into the bartender.

“Later, Carmen,” I called, pushing the door open and heading to my car.

I wasn’t out of the parking lot before I heard, “Officer Levitt? We’ve got an alarm going off in Park Hill. You mind taking a look on your way home?”

Banging my head back against the headrest, I groaned to myself. Park Hill was about as “on my way home” as swinging past California on the way to Maine.

Switching my radio to my other hand, I complained, “I’m off the clock, Jocelyn.” I had been for several hours, even if I hadn’t made it home yet.

She laughed. “I’m sorry, but you’re the only one remotely close. I had to send two cars out to the Laslows’ to break up another argument between Cam and his old man.”

“They at it again?” I asked.

“Apparently, Cam told Lindsey he didn’t want the baby. Lindsey told his dad. Old Man Laslow lost his mind.”

I chuckled, putting my blinker on and then doing a U-turn in the middle of the empty road. “Christ. I bet he did. I know the man’s seventy-five, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to go toe-to-toe with him.”

“I’m with you on that. So…you gonna head out to Park Hill?” she asked in a sugary-sweet tone.

I grumbled deep in my chest. “You’re gonna owe me some of that banana bread for this. I missed it the other day when you brought it up to the station.”

“I don’t owe you anything.” She giggled. “However, as a personal thank-you from the state of Illinois, Park County, and the owners of Park Hill, I’ll bring you in a loaf on Friday. Deal?”

“Deal. I’m en route now.”

“Stay safe, and radio in with your report.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, knowing exactly how much thirty-year-old Jocelyn loved being called ma’am by a twenty-five-year-old man.

“Don’t you—”

“Gotta go.” I turned the volume down to mute her, grinning to myself as I flipped my lights and siren on.

I’d been a cop for two years. And, in that time, I’d been out to the privately owned Park Hill estate at least a dozen times. It wasn’t unusual for the alarm on the mansion to get triggered. It never amounted to anything. The expansive estate was on the very edge of the county, and trouble didn’t usually travel that far out. More often than not, a bird at a window or a bumbling new member of the grounds crew would accidentally trip the alarm. Truth was, no one actually lived in Park Hill. The owners visited sporadically. But, for the majority of the time, it remained empty.

Some minutes later, I cut my siren as I pulled up to the entrance. The cold air assaulted me as I stepped out of my patrol car with my flashlight in hand and aimed at the keypad on the massive security gate that blocked the driveway off. That damn thing alone had to have cost more than I’d make in a lifetime. Forget about the house inside.

The smell of wood burning in a fireplace wafted through the night air. I guessed someone was home for a visit.

I typed in the emergency code on the gate panel and then climbed back in my car and made my way down the tree-lined driveway. I’d spent the day on patrol, and, with the exception of some minor vandalism across town, it had been a slow one.

Though, in the blink of an eye, that would change.

Along with my entire life.

“Oh fuck,” I breathed as the main house came into view on the top of the hill.

After throwing my car in park, I jumped on the radio at my shoulder. I could barely get the words out as I slung my door open and took off at a dead sprint.

“This is Officer Levitt! I need fire support at Park Hill immediately!”

And then I froze as a wave of adrenaline crashed into me like a tsunami.

An inferno roared in the night sky, but it was the small silhouette of a woman perched outside a third-floor window, smoke pouring out all around her, that knocked the breath out of me. My heart stopped, but my feet continued to pound against the pavement.

Jocelyn’s voice caught me. “What’s going on?”

“I need medical too!” I barked as I got closer. “The whole damn place is in flames and there’s a woman trapped!”

The woman’s long, black hair blew out behind her like a battered flag whipping in a storm. I couldn’t make out her face or her skin color or even guess at her age for the black soot covering her, but her fear was unmistakable.

And unforgettable.

“Hang on!” I yelled up to her.

“Oh my God!” she screamed before it turned into a fit of coughing. “Help me!”

“Hang on! Don’t let go!”

Frantically, I searched the perimeter for a way in, but it wasn’t only her house that was on fire. Flames were encompassing her. The yard and all the surrounding flowerbeds. Top to bottom. The first and second floors were completely engulfed, and if the sound of shattering windows was any indication, it was quickly making its way up to the third floor—to her.

“No! Don’t leave me!” she screamed, panic thick in her garbled voice, as I started around the side of the house.

A wall of heat stopped me in my tracks. Throwing an arm up, I did my best to block my face while scanning the building for any possible entry—or, in her case, exit.

But there wasn’t a surface of that house that wasn’t ablaze.

Except the roof.

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