Happy Thursday, Friends! How has your January (and new year) been so far? We've had record-breaking cold here in Central Alabama, but I'm thankful we didn't get the heavy snow LA (Lower Alabama) received.
Today I'm reviewing a new edition to the Lake City Heroes Series: Serial Burn by Lynette Eason. This one is the third installation, but these books read as stand alone books.
About the Author
Lynette Eason is the USA Today bestselling author of Double Take, Target Acquired, and Serial Burn, as well as the Extreme Measures, Danger Never Sleeps, Blue Justice, Women of Justice, Deadly Reunions, Hidden Identity, and Elite Guardians series. She is the winner of three ACFW Carol Awards, the Selah Award, and the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award, among others. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and has a master’s degree in education from Converse College. Eason lives in South Carolina with her husband. They have two adult children. Learn more at LynetteEason.com.
About Serial Burn (Lake City Heroes)
• Publisher: Revell (January 21, 2025)
• Paperback: 320 pages
According to Goodreads
She's out for justice. But the arsonist she's tracking is out for retribution.
Now the fire marshal of Lake City, Jesslyn McCormick is determined to find the person who started the fire that robbed her of her family when she was just seven years old. As the twentieth anniversary of the tragedy approaches, a string of fires--including at Jesslyn's church--brings up all those old feelings and offers new evidence.
Because church fires are considered a hate crime, FBI Special Agent Nathan Carlisle is called in to work with local law enforcement. Nathan has his own past--one he'd prefer not to revisit. And focusing on helping Jesslyn track down the arsonist is a great distraction.
As both the case and the chemistry between Jesslyn and Nathan heat up, memories will come flooding in from the past to bump up against hopes for the future. And when Jesslyn comes face-to-face with her worst nightmare, she'll have to confront her fears and rely on Nathan and her community of friends in order to survive.
My Review
Jesslyn's character almost broke my heart. She intentionally and meticulously worked her way up via her education and law enforcement to become the Fire Marshal of her small North Carolina hometown. Her sole purpose: to solve the mystery of who burned her family's home to the ground, killing her parents and two sisters. Jesslyn's drive and commitment to this one thing reaches a boiling point when she makes a public announcement about her plan to purchase and convert an old gym into a youth center to honor her father's memory. She also threatens the arsonist by announcing her intent on finding him and bringing him to justice.
Arson destroys Jesslyn's church, and then a string of arsons burn businesses frequented by Jesslyn; clearly the arsonist is targeting her. At each scene a beautiful piece of custom jewelry is left in the ashes as a calling card. Jesslyn is certain that the arsonist is mocking her, and she searches to find a connection between the jewelry and her history. She also can't help but wonder if the culprit could be the same arsonist from almost twenty years ago who destroyed her life.
Since the burning of a church is a hate crime, FBI Special Agent Nathan Carlisle is assigned to the case. Nathan has a huge crush on Jesslyn, and she's slowly falling for Nathan. As far as romances go, it is a very slow burn. Both Nathan and Jesslyn suffered childhood trauma involving fire, but unlike Jesslyn, Nathan tends to avoid investigating fires. He takes this case strictly to help Jesslyn.
I really enjoyed this romantic thriller. The plot twists were so unexpected, and both main characters slowly (very slowly) tear down the walls surrounding their hearts. Both grow spiritually, too, but I would have liked to have seen a little more faith from each character. I'm hoping we readers will get a glimpse of this in the next book in the series, Final Approach. The good thing about this series is Jesslyn and Nathan are part of a friend group, and they're all very close and supportive of each other. I am confident we will see more of Jesslyn and Nathan in future books. I enjoyed Serial Burn so much I want to go back and read the first two books in the Lake City Heroes Series.
Disclosure: I received a copy of Serial Burn from TLC Book Tours via the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank-you, TLC Book Tours, for including me in this tour!
Have you read any books so far this year you'd like to share with us?
Until next time...
Happy reading!
Ricki Jill
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