Up In Flames by Nicole Williams Review

Up In Flames by Nicole Williams
★★★★★
Release Date: December 20, 2012
Age: Mature New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Realistic Fiction, Love Triangle
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

One small town girl with a bright future.

One smokejumper with a dark past.
One summer that will forever change them both.
They’re going . . .
UP IN FLAMES.

Elle’s life couldn’t possibly get any more small town than it already is. She was raised in the same home as the two generations before her were, her family owns the iconic downtown cafe, and she’s been dating the pastor’s son since she was allowed to go on her first date at sixteen.
Cole’s life couldn’t possibly get any larger. He’s tried. Roaming from town to town for the past three summers as a smokejumper, Cole dreads the thought of putting down roots. The only thing he avoids more than that is settling down with one woman, especially when there are as many willing women as there are trees in the forest he jumps out of planes to save.
Elle Montgomery’s life is going one way. And Cole Carson’s is going the opposite. There’s no reason their paths should ever intersect, even in a small town in central Washington.

But summer in the Methow Valley has other plans for Elle and Cole. After an awkward run-in at the local swimming hole, Elle tries to keep away from the guy who looks at her like she’s already lying beneath him in bed. She fails. Cole is about as successful at staying away from the girl who seems immune to his charms.
As the summer heats up, and tensions between Elle and Cole run high, he begins to realize there’s more he’s attracted to than Elle’s body, and she discovers there’s a lot more to the man that jumps out of planes into raging forest fires than meets the eye.

Question. Why is it that I am just now learning about Smoke Jumpers? Holy crap and holy hotness. Thank you Nicole! This book is really hot. I mean yes, it does feature a bunch of firefighters so I was expecting a hot factor, but it is seriously steamy.

Elle Montgomery is a good girl. She's always done what she was supposed to and what is expected of her. She knows that now that she has graduated high school she'll probably marry her high school boyfriend and work for her father. But when her boyfriend starts talking about marriage she avoids it at all costs; something inside her wants to be set free and that part of her is not okay being tied down. Enters Cole Carson who spends his summer at the smoke jumper camp near her home town, upon meeting him she begins to question what exactly she's doing with her life. Cole's philosophy of living in the moment and doing what you want piques Elle's interest. And so begins one of the hottest love stories, EVER.

Cole Carson is like sex on a freaking stick. OH MY GOODNESS. Nicole made me blush, a lot. And I loved it. A lot.

"Like sex, seduction, and sin had decided to get it on and Cole Carson was the result."

Amen Nicole, Amen. Loving him was so wrong, especially while dragging her poor boyfriend along, but who could resist that. Elle didn't stand a chance. She has this hidden spark that Cole ignites, a fire kindling until she lets loose around him. Everyone else knows her as the prude good girl, but for once she gets to be herself. I loved their banter, especially when they first meet. The chemistry and electricity between them was seductive and so fun to experience.

"Yeah, if I was an angel, then mankind was screwed."

Nicole does every single thing right. She is one of my favorite authors and when I finished this book I was reminded how wonderful she is; and I also had this yearn to go back and read everyone of her other books again! Nicole kept me up late into the night to finish this one. I couldn't stop once I started, and I started pretty late. It features everything I look for in a book and one incredible ending!

Other must-read books by Nicole Williams:
Crash, Clash (Crash #2), Eternal Eden (which is FREE), and more!