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Fire and Rain (Carlisle Cops, #3)
by

Andrew Grey (Goodreads Author)

Penumbra's review

Apr 23, 2018

liked it

bookshelves: bought-at-amazon, genre-novel, genre-cops-firefighters-etc, own, series, series-book-3, 2018-chllge-mm-rom-az-character, 151-to-200-pages, angst-none, character-emotionally-damaged, character-family-members, character-gay, character-homeless, character-law-enforcement-etc, character-uniforms, character-white-collar, country-usa, ending-hea, flaw-dropped-plot-lines, flaw-full-of-ads-at-end, flaw-overuse-of-same-phrase-action, flaw-telling-not-showing, flaw-too-much-drama, flaw-too-centered-on-kids, flaw-too-much-monologue, format-ebook, genre-contemporary, genre-family, genre-lgbtq, genre-mm, genre-romance, main-couple-ok, main-couple-cant-identify-with, mc-annoying, mc-likeable, mm-contemporary, mm-family, mm-hea, mm-hurt-comfort, mm-law-enforcement, mm-age-difference, mm-romance, mm-white-collar-career, mood-disappointed, plot-predictable, pov-adult-male, pov-multiple-viewpoints, pov-third-person, read-in-2018, reviewed, romance-age-gap, secondary-character-two-dimensional, sex-anal, sex-ok, theme-family-issues, theme-homelessness, theme-hurt-comfort, theme-kids, theme-lgbtq, theme-men-with-kids, theme-romance, warning-rape-attempted, warning-triggers

Fire and Rain is the third book in the ‘Carlisle Cops’ series. The main characters are Officer Kip Rogers, Josten aka ‘Jos’ Applewhite, and his little brother, Isaac. This is told in third person from both Kip and Josten’s povs.

(view spoiler)[

The blurb does a good job explaining the plot, but here’s a quick run-down. Officer Kip Rogers finds Josten and Isaac on the streets sleeping in a doorway in the rain. He offers to help take them to a shelter but the shelters are booked. Josten is suspicious of anyone who might take Isaac away and put him in foster care, so he doesn’t accept any help. Kip feels guilty and keeps an eye on them while he’s on duty. He ends up rescuing Josten from a bad situation and offers them to stay at his home, which Jos accepts. From then on, it’s a story about Jos getting over his bad insecurity, Kip starting to believe he can have a relationship without pressuring Jos, because Jos is very vulnerable right now. In addition, there’s Isaac who’s okay for a kid. This author loves putting children in stories, and I don’t particularly care for that because the story starts to revolve around the child, and not the men. So be warned, there’s a lot of Isaac in this book.

I don’t remember Kip’s age being mentioned, but got the impression he was close to ten years or more older than Jos with Jos being somewhere around 20-21. At least no older than early twenties. Jos is very insecure, I mean very, very insecure to the point of him being very, very annoying. The one good thing about him is he cares for Isaac and tries to do good for him. Their mother was an alcoholic who brought home numerous loser boyfriends. Jos and Isaac’s life has been tumultuous and that’s how they ended up on the streets. Jos at the same time doesn’t like accepting help because he doesn’t trust anyone. Gradually he learns to trust Kip and the other people trying to help him. Kip is a very understanding man, not perfect but kind. Which brings me to the point about how cops are idealized in this story and in the other two books I’ve read in this series. The cops are portrayed how people would like to imagine cops behave, which means suspending reality when reading the book.

There’s a couple of loose ends that are not taken care of in the story. First one has to do with the ex-landlord. It’s made a big deal of in the story but never concluded, just dropped. The next one is near the end with the hit-and-run driver. I’ve noticed other stories where the author has dropped subplots or brings up critical turning points, but doesn't finish them. It doesn’t speak well of the thoroughness of the writing or of the proofers or editors who let it slide by.

One of the things I liked, was the author wove in characters from the Taste of Love series which I enjoyed more than I have this series. It was nice seeing characters from previous stories again even if only for a brief moment.

There’s the usual overuse of telling monologue that’s typical in this author’s writing, along with repetitive thoughts. I sometimes wonder why I read this author’s books if his writing is predictable with its errors and plots. I’m guessing it’s because the books end in HEAs, which I like, and they aren’t deep reads. If I want a book that I don’t have to invest my emotions in too deeply, then I read this author’s stories. They’re good for a breather after reading something more intense.

I wouldn’t say this is one of the author’s better books. Kip was my favorite character by a long shot. Jos was annoying, and Isaac was okay. I want to give this 2.5 stars, but I’ll give it 3 Stars, only because I don’t think it’s as bad as one of his other books I recently read. At the same time, it’s a stretch giving it three stars. I wish Goodreads allowed half stars.

(hide spoiler)]

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Reading Progress

January 26, 2018 – Shelved

January 26, 2018 – Shelved as: to-read

January 26, 2018 – Shelved as: bought-at-amazon

January 26, 2018 – Shelved as: genre-novel

January 26, 2018 – Shelved as: genre-cops-firefighters-etc

January 26, 2018 – Shelved as: own

January 26, 2018 – Shelved as: series

January 26, 2018 – Shelved as: series-book-3

April 19, 2018 – Started Reading

April 22, 2018 – Finished Reading

April 23, 2018 – Shelved as: 2018-chllge-mm-rom-az-character

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: 151-to-200-pages

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: angst-none

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: character-emotionally-damaged

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: character-family-members

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: character-gay

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: character-homeless

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: character-law-enforcement-etc

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: character-uniforms

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: character-white-collar

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: country-usa

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: ending-hea

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: flaw-dropped-plot-lines

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: flaw-full-of-ads-at-end

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: flaw-overuse-of-same-phrase-action

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: flaw-telling-not-showing

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: flaw-too-much-drama

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: flaw-too-centered-on-kids

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: flaw-too-much-monologue

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: format-ebook

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: genre-contemporary

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: genre-family

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: genre-lgbtq

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: genre-mm

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: genre-romance

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: main-couple-ok

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: main-couple-cant-identify-with

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: mc-annoying

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: mc-likeable

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: mm-contemporary

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: mm-family

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: mm-hea

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: mm-hurt-comfort

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: mm-law-enforcement

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: mm-age-difference

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: mm-romance

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: mm-white-collar-career

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: mood-disappointed

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: plot-predictable

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: pov-adult-male

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: pov-multiple-viewpoints

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: pov-third-person

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: read-in-2018

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: reviewed

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: romance-age-gap

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: secondary-character-two-dimensional

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: sex-anal

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: sex-ok

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: theme-family-issues

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: theme-homelessness

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: theme-hurt-comfort

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: theme-kids

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: theme-lgbtq

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: theme-men-with-kids

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: theme-romance

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: warning-rape-attempted

April 27, 2018 – Shelved as: warning-triggers

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message 1: by Carolina (new) - rated it 2 stars

Apr 28, 2018 08:36PM

I didn't buy their love story, it was forceful. I didn't like Jos either

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