Silhouette Intimate Moments #595: Night Smoke

This is the fourth book in the Night series. Ryan Piasecki is an arson investigator, and he meets Natalie Fletcher (sister of Boyd from Night Shift) when he's investigating a fire at her new business. As with the rest of this series, it's a Silhouette-length romantic suspense. Probably would have fit better in the Intrigue line, if they'd had it back then, which I don't think they did. It wasn't a very tricky whodunit--I figured it out before the characters did--but it wasn't glaringly obvious, either. My favorite scene: when Nemesis shows up. *sigh* Nemesis. Gotta love those superheroes. Unfortunately, it's the only Night Tales book besides Night Shadow that includes him. I liked how hardworking Natalie is, and had to laugh aloud when she beat Ry at one-on-one, though I raised my eyebrows a little at her playing in a sweater--I got hot just reading it, and not in the good way. And I liked that Ryan, unlike other cop-types in other books, actually listened to his instincts and didn't keep doubting Natalie's innocence. It broke my heart when he realized he was in love with her and got scared. That whole scene where he invited her over to his apartment, seeing it through what he thought were her eyes, then being confused when she didn't react the way he expected... was just so sad. While they both screwed up there, I was more upset with Natalie, even though it was Ryan's preconceptions that started the whole thing, because she ran. And, well, I saw it through his POV, so I'm naturally more sympathetic to him because I knew how he was feeling. His following her EVERYWHERE was so desperate and endearing. But what kept me from really loving this was the conflict between them. I almost wished Nora had gone with the cliche of Ryan suspecting Natalie. Instead, it was kind of a theme that runs through the book, about judging books by the cover. Ryan took one look at her and decided she was a rich snob, and assumed that she'd judge him by his appearance as well. Funny how every time he tries to pigeonhole her, she sidesteps it, but he kept trying anyway. At least, it's funny in retrospect. While reading, I got awfully tired of it. And Natalie's response is to run away. I had SOME sympathy for her--after how close she thought they'd become, he's rubbing her face in their differing social/economic status and trying to push her away. She was hurt enough to be unable to see through it. I can understand all that. But the impulsive running made me mad at her. Probably because as a reader, I could see Ryan's motives, but also because it's not what I'd do. I fight, yell, argue, carry on, push, exaggerate, whatever it takes to hash things out until we get to the bottom of things. Ask my husband. (yes, he puts up with a lot.) And I've really got to mention my quibble: Once again, Nora's shown that math, or real estate, or maybe both, is not her strong point. We have a 3-story warehouse that's 2000 sq. ft. Not gonna happen. We lived in a 3-story, 2000 sq. ft.

Not really, but I saw that on a t-shirt once and thought it'd make a great title here; what do you think? :) This is a great couple and it's always a plus when you have a sweaty love scene in a gym. Did I mention that Nat played basketball on a college scholarship? Take that, Rye! Sweet that her teen-aged niece Allison, who's also a cute jock, kinda develops a crush on Rye. The women's reactions to the Cops and Firemen basketball game is funny: they just looooooove all that beefcake on display. The mystery is good, but that's not the real reason to read this. It's Nora Roberts and she can write characters and believable, witty dialogue like no one else. Since Nat's business is similar to Victoria's Secret, Rye can't help but imagine what she's hiding under those business suits. You have your heroic fire inspector who saves the day, then blows it with Nat since he thinks she's rich and won't want to hang with an average Joe like him, and dumps her. Nat puts him through hell, attagirl!, and all's well that ends well. Look for Nat's brother Boyd's story in a previous book, Night Shift; Boyd's detective partner's story in Nightshade; Boyd's sister-in-law's story in Night Shadow; and Boyd's and Cilla's daughter's story in Night Shield, which concluded this story arc. It featured a family cookout with all these characters and it's heartwarming to get to revisit these couples who all have kids but still throw off some sexy sparks.

NIGHT SMOKE is one of Nora Roberts earlier ventures into the mystery genre and she does it very well. Even with her mysteries, you have very vivid and romantic characters, which, in my opinion, add much color to the story. Ryan Piasecki (I'd love to know how she comes up with these names!) is an arson investigator who just happens to be drop dead gorgeous. He's the epitome of every woman's ideal of the perfect man: athletic, gorgeous, sensitive, etc. Natalie Fletcher (ever notice how Roberts combines romantic entities of common names with uncommon?) owns her own business and is battling with an unknown arsonist who is determined to put her out of business. If you're an avid mystery enthusiast, then you'll have absolutely no trouble figuring out the villain in this tale! Otherwise, you may be surprised. The suspense isn't the greatest, but when Roberts combines the romantic aspects of the story with the ambiguity of the arson investigation, it becomes a very good tale. NIGHT SMOKE is not as spectacular as her latest mysteries, but comes in a close second to them!

RYAN PIASECKI: A man's man. A woman's fantasy. The kind of guy who got the job done, no matter what the obstacles.. or how beatiful they were. NATALIE FLETCHER: Cool, calm, collected. Until someone started making trouble for her business... and HE showed up. Arson investigator Ryan Piasecki came from the street, and he wasn't the type to make nice with an upper-crust business executive like Natalie Fletcher. His business was fires-and his instincts told him the one at Fletcher Industries was no accident. They told him something else, too-that the sparks flying between him and this very classy lady had all the makings of a five-alarm blaze....