When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason

Deadly Reunions, Book One

As a member of the North Cascades Smokejumpers, Alexia Allen always takes care of the equipment that keeps her safe. So when she nearly dies in a fire due to equipment failure, she knows something is up. Ordered to take time off while the investigation continues, Alexia makes a last-minute decision to recuperate at her mother's home and attend her high school reunion.

Yet trouble seems to be following her, and within hours of arriving home she's involved with murder, arson--and a handsome detective. But the conflicts ahead are nothing compared to the ghosts of her past. As she strives to remember and forgive her family history, she must also decide if the secret she's been guarding for the last ten years must finally come to light.

My Review:
I enjoyed trying to figure out why Alexis Allen has run-ins with crimes--crimes against her! She sure lives in a dangerous world. She leaves her childhood home directly after her high school graduation. The reader discovers her reasons for the quick getaway. The story opens ten years later when Alexis runs out of air while rescuing a child from a fire, only to find tiny holes in her air hose. While her superiors investigate the cause, Alexis is able to come home to visit her mother in the hospital due to unknown causes and her brother nowhere to be found. These mysteries are later solved.

However, I must point out that all mysteries are not solved within the covers of this novel. I suppose the author wants to have readers hungry for the next book in the series when perhaps, other pieces of the puzzle will be brought to light. No fair, I say!

Nonetheless, I had a good time reading this first in the series, and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Thank you to Donna Hausler at The Baker Publishing Group/Revell for my copy. Available February, 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.