Book Review: Into the Fire by Claire Boston
February 11, 2016
Piper Atkinson uses the truth
as a weapon, but her latest interview candidate is more than just a headline.
Piper wants to be the kind of
journalist who makes people sit up and take notice of the issues, and in
Houston, Texas, there are plenty to go around. In the city's high-end
restaurant world, reclusive Native American chef Taima Woods is discussed in
reverential whispers, so when the opportunity to interview him arrives, Piper
jumps at it.
But getting to Tai is tougher
than she expected. He has a deep mistrust of reporters, and a private life he'd
prefer to keep hidden. There are two passions in Tai's life – his cooking and
his tribe – and he means to keep it that way. But the closer Tai gets to Piper,
the closer he comes to conceding a third.
Through Tai, Piper discovers a
world she knew nothing about – a damaged and ostracized community in need of a
voice. But the more Piper wants to help them, the more Tai understands that to
love Piper is to turn his back on his people.
Will Tai reject the one woman
who's ever understood him? Or can Piper show him that hardening his heart helps
no one?
This was
the first book I’ve read by Claire Boston, and when I finished it, I wondered
why I’d been hiding under that rock for so long. “Into the Fire” is a
contemporary romance with substance, with a message and it is delivered
beautifully.
It’s
told from the point of view of Piper—a truth-seeking force of nature determined
to make the world a better place through her writing—and Tai—a reclusive chef
who works tirelessly both in and out of the kitchen. Although they come from
completely different worlds, their story—their love—comes from their mutual
desire to make the world a better place.
Both of
these characters, along with their long-standing supporting characters, were
well-rounded, likeable and insightful. They aren’t your cookie-cutter
characters that could be found in any number of contemporary romance books;
rather they had their flaws and their baggage, and they have their struggles to
overcome preconceived notions and prejudices.
Boston’s
writing style is very easy to read, and I found that I didn’t want to put my
kindle down at all. If I’d been able, I would have stayed up and read the whole
thing in one hit. It was clear from the story that Boston has done a lot of
research into the culture she was focusing on, and she touched on the sensitive
issues carefully and respectfully.
I’m the
kind of reader who likes to have a little more detail when it comes to the more
intimate scenes so that was one thing that I found lacking in Into the Fire,
but in saying that, there are plenty of people out there who don’t want to read
every detail, but rather want to use their imaginations instead.
After I
finished reading, I decided that I would have to get the first three books in
the series and catch up on what I’ve been missing. This really is a story that
grabs you by the lapels of your leather jacket and pulls you onto the back of
Tai’s motorcycle.
“Into
the Fire” is a great read, especially if you like authors like Brandi Kennedy
and Colleen Hoover.
About Claire...
The love of reading soon turned to a love of writing and she struggled to keep within the 1500 word limit set by her teachers for her creative writing assignments. When she finally decided to become serious about her stories she joined Romance Writers of Australia, found her wonderful critique group and hasn’t looked back.
When Claire’s not reading or writing she can be found in the garden attempting to grow vegetables, or racing around a vintage motocross track. If she can convince anyone to play with her, she also enjoys cards and board games.
Claire lives in Western Australia, just south of Perth, with her husband, who loves even her most annoying quirks, and her two grubby but adorable Australian bulldog.
Claire loves to hear from her readers. You can find her at her website, www.claireboston.com on Twitter, @clairebauthor and on Facebook www.facebook.com/clairebostonauthor. You can also join her reader group at http://eepurl.com/Z4-4z.
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