Burnished by Fire

Publisher's Summary

Firefighters Lee Stanton and Dirk Krause need a vacation. Work seems to have other ideas: They spend the day before their holiday begins battling a fire that claims three lives. Thankfully, Lee and Dirk will have a whole week on the high seas to recover. They're having a wonderful time - until they spot Dirk's miserable, closed-minded father on the ship. Between his father's presence and his guilt over the lives he couldn't save, Dirk feels sure his romantic cruise is going to tank.

But then he saves another passenger's life - and maybe he can salvage something else too.

©2012 Andrew Grey (P)2014 Dreamspinner Press

Burnished by Fire

Book three of the By Fire series, and the finale of Dirk and Lee’s story. Again, I have to say this is not really a standalone and the first two books should be read first to get the full impact of Lee & Dirks story.

Lee and Dirk need a vacation from their lives and decide to go on a relaxing cruise…
Unfortunately, Dirks horrible father seems to have booked the same cruise…

I think this was a good ending to Lee and Dirks story together. We get to see them both letting go and having fun on the cruise. Meeting new people, still saving lives. Dirk finally gets some much needed closure on the drama between him and his father, and just maybe they can reconcile their differences. We finally get to see Dirk completely out and proud of himself and Lee. I love that Lee and Dirk get a happy ending and find the other half of themselves in each other. They are super cute together.

Audio – I’m glad that the author stuck with the same narrator during each installment of Lee and Dirks story. We get to see not only Dirk and Lee growing as characters and a couple. But I feel like we get to see the narrator Peter grow as well. He really just got better with each book in this series, and this was definitely my favorite. I really enjoyed listening to the narration of this book.

broken book

this is the third book is the Fire series and to me it seems to be just one book that was chopped into three short stories. I can only guess that it is because of money. you have to buy three books to get the full story. as for the story, it is just OK. there is not much going on in it. it reads like a TV melodrama. it was not bad but aside from sex every chapter there really is not much else. I would prefer a good book that has a beginning, a conflict and a final or solution to that conflict. this had some conflict but aside from getting a charity event going it was not much of a conflict. read it for fun, it's a fast read.

Great ending to a great series

In this, book 3 of the fire series (and the end of Dirk and Lee’s portion), Lee and Dirk are quite happily together. They leave a rough fire scene, where not everyone makes it, and go on their regularly scheduled vacation, a Caribbean Cruise. Who should end up on the cruise but Daddy Dearest, Dirk’s father.
Most of the book is fun vacation activities and state-room fun, but there are some important father/son scenes and some personal growth on the part of Dirk’s father.
I liked how Dirk’s comfort with being gay and out grew steadily over the series and how Lee doesn’t let Dirk get away with anything. Lee tells it like it is and that is really refreshing.
This was a sweet ending, kind of an epilogue to the epilogue, if you will. But a nice touch, having us see Dirk and his father reconcile.
I liked this series a lot. It was fun, light, engaging. We learned a bit about fires, firehouses, and cruise ships. All in all I recommend the book and the series.
Book
I really liked this book (and the series) and I give it 4 stars.

Audio book:
Peter B. Brooke does another really solid job. His Dirk voice is great and I really appreciated the sultry lilt he gives Lee when the bedroom scenes are narrated.
I enjoyed this series with Peter as narrator and would look for his work in the future.
I really liked this narration and give it 4 stars.
Overall both audio and book: 4 stars

Nice conclusion

This was a cute little addition to this series. While it starts out quite serious, we get to see Dirk and Lee away from the firehouse and their normal life.

It had a really fluffy and light feeling to the story and while it was enjoyable, I didn't love it as much as the other stories in the series.

I did like seeing the exposure his father got to his life and lifestyle from being trapped on the ship and being around people that he worked with showing appreciation for the deeds that Dirk does while on the job.

Overall, a sweet story with some interesting moments, but nothing to write home about.

The narrator did an awesome job with making the story enjoyable to listen to and adding life to the characters.

I received a free copy of this book to read for Inked Rainbow Reads in exchange for an honest review.

Sad to see them go

For the last book with this couple (for now hopefully); this book was kind of boring. It has less to do with Dirk and Lee, and more to do with Dirk and his problems with his father. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of Dirk and Lee moments, but it was missing that little bit of emotional give they have in every book. Peter B. Brooke did a fantastic job as always he's probably one of my favorite narrators now.

A nice ending to the story

Any additional comments?

While this was not my favorite of the three books. It was a good follow up and a nice ending to the story of Dirk and Lee.
In the third, and what appears to be final, book in the Fire series, we once again spend some time with Lee Stanton and Dirk Krause, firefighters and partners. Lee is the gentle giant of the two, a self-assured mountain of a man with patience for his lover as big as his heart. Dirk has been slowly coming to terms with being out and proud, and his love for his younger partner colors all he does.

Short but enjoyable!

What made the experience of listening to Burnished by Fire the most enjoyable?

The developing relationship between the two main characters

What did you like best about this story?

Relationships were built and repaired (I can't say more, otherwise it will spoil it)

Have you listened to any of Peter B. Brooke’s other performances? How does this one compare?

This is the first time listening to this narrator, and he did a great job.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The temperature is rising!

Any additional comments?

This is book 3 in the series, and my rating is for the complete series. Individually they are 3 good stories, but, and it's a big but - each one is short and I personally feel that I was a little short changed as these three could easily have been done as one complete story. I have listened to several of Andrew Greys books and they are usually 5 or 6 hours of listening pleasure, so I'm a little puzzled as to why these three were done as individual stories! If you've never listened or read an Andrew Grey book before, then I suggest you try one of his other titles first!