When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason

Synopsis:~

As a member of the North Cascades Smokejumpers, Alexia Allen always takes care of the equipment that keeps her safe. So when she nearly dies in a fire due to equipment failure, she knows something is up. Ordered to take time off while the investigation continues, Alexia makes a last-minute decision to recuperate at her mother's home and attend her high school reunion. Yet trouble seems to be following her, and within hours of arriving home she's involved with murder, arson--and a handsome detective. 

But the conflicts ahead are nothing compared to the ghosts of her past. As she strives to remember and forgive her family history, she must also decide if the secret she's been guarding for the last ten years must finally come to light. 

Chock-full of the suspense and romantic tension readers have come to expect from Lynette Eason, When the Smoke Clears is the explosive first book in the Deadly Reunions series. 

My take:~

Lynette Eason returns with the first in her Deadly Reunions series, When the Smoke Clears, another romantic suspense that she is well known for.  While I really enjoy Lynette's writing, a couple of things bothered me with this story.  Thanks to the cover art I was anticipating some thrilling scenes about a female smokejumper but these did not eventuate, to my disappointment.  While the back cover copy indicates Alexia is on leave, at some point I imagined we would see Alexia in her element, even more so when learning her back story and what had drawn her to such a risky career in the first place.  The other frustration was the over kill (pun intended!) when it came to the attempts on Alexia's life, that at one point seemed to be occurring every few pages, and kept pulling me from the story.  That said, all is not lost!  Lynette's strong writing is evident on all other aspects of the tale, from the underlying mystery, the attraction between Alexia and Hunter, and good characterisation.  Hunter's brother Chad provides extra conflict and interesting family dynamics and I like that threads of intrigue are not tied up leaving them to flow through the series.  The high expectations I have for Lynette's stories was not quite met with this one, but I would still recommend it and will look forward to the second in the series, When A Heart Stops, releasing this October.

Available February 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

With thanks to Revell for my review copy

Relz Reviewz Extras
Reviews of A Killer Among Us, Too Close to Home & Don't Look Back
Visit Lynette's website and blog
Buy Lynette's books at Amazon or Koorong