Book Tour for Smokin' Hot Firemen Anthology (Review & GIVEAWAY)

Who doesn't drool over a sexy firefighter?  Well, today you get seventeen stories featuring those heroic hotties!  One of the authors featured in the Smokin' Hot Firemen Anthology, Sabrina York is here today answering some earth-shattering questions of mine along with giving us a glimpse of her contribution to the anthology.  You also get to read my impressions of this book along with the opportunity to win some great prizes just by leaving a comment.......

TSP:  Many kids want to be firemen when they grow up, what did you want to be when you grew up?

SY:  My childhood was full of adventure! As a military family, we moved a lot so I spent a lot of time making forts out of boxes and blankets, creating worlds in my imagination and, of course, reading under the covers. I was fascinated by the old West, and imagined one day I’d be a cowboy. I also wanted to be a fairy princess (hence the tiara obsession). And a Ninja.
As you can tell, I wasn’t particularly grounded in reality. Which turned out to be a good thing…for a writer.
In the 6th grade I won an essay contest and that was it. I decided them I’d be a famous author. (I’m still working on the famous part!)
TSP:  Where did you come up with the idea for your story in this anthology?
SY:  Sigh. I’ll admit it. In the course of my work, I get to interact with hunky firemen on occasion. The day I got the call for submissions from Delilah Devlin, I had a meeting with a particularly cute fireman, and story ideas started to churn.
At the time, I was editing Training Tess, one of my steamy BDSM novellas, so I guess I was just in the mood for another beguiling Dom. In Saving Charlotte, our hero Mark Connor, finds a gorgeous woman tied to the bed—in a burning building.  He’s furious that some idiot would put his sub in peril like that, but at the same time, he’s irresistibly drawn to Charlotte. He’s determined to show her what a loving D/s relationship can be like. Determined, shall we say, to show her the ropes.
TSP:  Why are readers drawn to firemen, what makes these heroes heroic?
SY:  When there’s danger, we run away. Firemen do the opposite. The run toward it. They save lives every day. I think what makes them most heroic is the fact that they are willing to sacrifice their everything for others.
Also damn heroic? Their families. Their wives and their children.
TSP:  Pretend you're putting together a fireman calendar, who would be some of your calendar boys?
SY:  Have I mentioned I have hot firemen at my beck and call? I can’t name them here (mostly because they don’t know they’re at my beck and call), but trust me, they’re damn hot.
But say we are casting a hunky firemen calendar. Who would appear on those smoking pages? Let’s see… Jason Statham, Robert Downey Junior, George Clooney, Eric Northman.
Shall I name more??
TSP:  You've participated in an anthology about firemen, what other heroic workers would you want to write about in the future?
SY:  As I mentioned before, I come from a military background. You know I am in love with soldiers. These guys leave their families for months (sometimes years) on end, and put themselves in the most perilous situations. They travel to exotic locations around the world and have all kinds of adventures. I think an anthology honoring our military men would be a great addition to Delilah’s Collections!

Who can melt any woman’s heart with a single smile? The sexiest icon of all—a fireman!
They enter fiery structures with selfless courage–the very definition of the word “hero.” Women understand their allure… A soot-covered face, sweat dripping from hard, chiseled muscles, the sharp snap of suspenders—yes, only a fireman can make suspenders sexy! Delilah Devlin’s burning-hot book includes thrilling stories teeming with gorgeous firemen from some of today’s hottest romance writers. In “Saving Charlotte,” Sabrina York’s firefighting Dom rescues a woman tied to a red-hot bed; from Cathryn Fox comes “Temperature Rising” where a fire chief fulfills some very steamy fantasies; Elle James’s “Chasing Fire” sees a daring smoke-jumper parachuting into the hot zone of a forest fire then setting his girlfriend ablaze with erotic heat; and Magic Mike ain’t got nothin’ on Delilah’s own fireman-turned-exotic-dancer-for-a-night “Johnny Blaze.”
With a list of award-winning authors that includes Ily Goyanes, Shoshanna Evers, Adele Dubois, and Rachel Firasek, Delilah delivers tales of these courageous men sliding down their big poles to steal readers’ hearts! Smokin’ Hot Firemen imagines the romantic possibilities of being held against that massively muscled chest by a man whose mission is to protect and serve…

EXCERPT:

Mark Conner fought his way through the smoke and flames to the third floor of the apartment building. A skitter of concern writhed in his gut. This fire was moving fast. Despite the nearly fifty pounds of equipment, he picked up the pace and motioned to Izzy to do the same.
According to the wailing mother on the street, there was a child still trapped up here.
Two doors flanked the top floor landing. Without discussion—they hardly needed it anymore—Izzy turned right and Mark turned left. In tandem, they kicked the doors in. Mark angled his flashlight and scanned the smoky living room. Nothing.
Smoke roiled around him; sweat prickled his brow. There wasn’t much time.
Then he heard a faint cry. He shouldered his way down the hall and into the bedroom…and froze.
A second was far too long to stare. Lives could be lost in a second. But the sight that greeted him nearly brought him to his knees. A sudden, inappropriate lust snarled through him. He forced it to the back of his mind. For later.
He’d expected a small child, coiled in a corner.
Not an exquisite angel bound to a bed.
And she was exquisite. Her skin was milky white and shimmered in the caress of his flashlight beam. She writhed and cried out and fought at the bonds holding her down. Her lush hair was a dark cloud against the pillow. And her face…it took his breath away.
Tears scored her cheeks. Panic limned her eyes. “Help me,” she said in a failing voice.

A loud pop brought him back to the moment. Yes, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen—and he’d seen plenty of naked women tied to a bed—but if he didn’t get her out of here, she was going to die.

He rushed to her side and examined her bonds. He knew instinctively there was no time to untie her. Instead he reached for the cutting tool clipped to his belt and quickly slashed the rope at her wrists and ankles. He wrapped her in the blanket and tossed her over his shoulder.

He met Izzy on the landing; his buddy held a small bundle in his arms. They nodded to each other and pounded, hell for leather, down the stairs. The building was weakening. Mark recognized the sounds, the feel of it. They had seconds to escape, if that.

They made it out—burst through the door in a hail of fire and smoke—but only just. As they emerged out onto the street, the building collapsed behind them. A loud cry went up amongst the firefighters and they all snapped into action, training their hoses on the structure. It was a lost cause but they could save the neighboring homes.

Mark ignored the cacophony. He carried his precious burden across the barricaded street to the paramedics. Luke was busy fitting an old woman with an oxygen mask and Samuel was wrapping a burn. Gently, Mark lowered the woman from his shoulder. He arranged her on a brick planter, being careful to keep her nakedness covered.

He pulled off his helmet, mask and hood and unstrapped his SCBA gear, wiped the sweat from his brow. “A-are you alright?” Something clogged his throat. Probably his unholy reaction to her ethereal beauty.

Hell and damnation. She’d nearly just died. How could he think about fucking her?

His cock was thinking about it. It was hard and heavy and tight.

She nodded. A lone tear tracked its way down her sooty cheek.

He forced himself to look away from her delicate, sculpted features, the hollowed cheeks, the wide doe-like eyes. Trembling lips. Instead, he directed his attention to her wrists and began undoing the knots. He bit back a curse. Whoever had tied her up was an idiot. For one thing, rope was bound far too tight. Even if she hadn’t been fighting for her life to get free, it would have cut into her skin. As it was, her wrists were raw, slick with blood.

“You should have this tended.” He didn’t mean to sound so gruff. It galled him to see a woman abused like this.  He released her wrists and went to work on her ankles. It took a while, because the knots were an undisciplined mess.

Mark knew he was delaying the inevitable, avoiding the question he had to ask. He hated to embarrass her after all she’d been through, but duty was duty. Reluctantly, he met her gaze; it seared him. He cleared his throat. “Do I…would you like me to notify the police?”

Her eyes widened. Lips formed a silent “no”. She shook her head.

“You weren’t tied up against your will?”

Heat prickled his nerve endings when she lowered her lashes and shook her head.

Not against her will. Holy hell.

Mark glanced over his shoulder. The building was now a smoking relic. “Was he in the apartment?” He kind of hoped she’d say yes. She didn’t.

“No. He t-tied me up and left.”

Mark froze. His nostrils flared as outrage cut through him. What kind of Dom tied up a woman and left?

“He left you?”

“Yes.” Her voice was soft, sweet. Smoky. She studied her tender wrists for a moment then met his eyes. “He went to the bar for a drink with some friends. Said I was to ‘think about it’ while he was gone.”

What an ass.

Of course, no one would expect their house to catch fire while they were out gallivanting with friends, but leaving your trusting sub tied to the posters, exposed and vulnerable and completely alone was unconscionable.

“How long have you been with him?” He didn’t know why he asked. He was only torturing himself. She belonged to someone else.

“A year.” She swallowed. Mark watched her throat work. He knew a raging urge to taste it. Lick it. Suck on that soft, creamy flesh… “We’d never tried this before.”

Oh hell.

A dismal curtain fell on his soul. He’d assumed, from her lowered gaze, her posture, her submissive mien, that she was deep in the life, that she lived it, breathed it, craved it like he did. If this disastrous outing was her first taste of bondage, she would never try it again.

It was a pity, a damn shame he hadn’t found her first.

He pitched his voice low, so no one else would hear. “For the record, a loving Dom never leaves his woman unprotected.” He couldn’t resist cupping her cheek, thumbing away the fresh tears that welled at his words. Couldn’t resist a whispered, “He doesn’t deserve you.”

She said nothing at that, but he could tell she’d heard him. Her expression took on a glow, a peace and—dare he hope it—a tinge of relief.

Luke finished up with his patient and collected his bag to come over. Mark knew it was time to release her. He didn’t want to. He wanted to hold her forever. But she wasn’t his.

Still, he couldn’t resist leaning closer, capturing her gaze and murmuring, “If you ever want to try this with someone who knows what he’s doing, someone who will honor your desire, come to Station 12. Ask for Mark Connor.”

Remember Smokin Hot Firemen is available on Amazon and High Octane Heroes, another one of Delilah Devlin’s Anthologies is coming in September!  You can check out all Delilah’s collections here: http://delilahscollections.com/

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:

Delilah Devlin has brought together a talented group of seventeen authors to create an erotic anthology honoring heroic and sexy firefighters.  Each story sets itself apart from the others by their different levels of heat and by how big a part fire actually plays in the story.  For some authors, like Nanette Guadiano in Lost and Found, being a firefighter is merely a backdrop casually mentioned.  For other authors, like Sabrina York in Saving Charlotte, the descriptions of actual fires are extremely vivid and completely immerse you in the heat and heart-pounding action of fighting to save a life.  The firefighters in each story are undeniably heroic yet sexy and assertive, whereas most of the heroines are more of the damsel in distress variety.  Two stories break that mold though to allow the heroines to take the lead in their relationship.  Fire Extinguisher by Rowan Elizabeth and Big Trucks by Lynn Townsend show strong-willed women not afraid to be the boss and take control.

All the stories are sexy and steamy and get right to the action as these authors know what we REALLY want.  Some authors present sexual interludes that are off-the-chart HOT with some elements of BDSM included to make readers parched.  Other authors present a slow burn that allows initial sexual tension to morph into scenes that are satisfyingly steamy.  There's moments of seriousness alluding to the dangers of firefighting as well as bits of humor throughout the anthology.  In other words there's something for everyone!  I enjoyed discovering new authors and being reacquainted with well-known authors that again proved their reliability to entertain.  Readers wanting to spend a bit of time with a hero and have their dreams brought to life will find Smokin' Hot Firemen smokingly sexy and satisfying.

My rating for this is a B+

*I received this book from the editor for review in exchange for my honest opinion.

AUTHOR INFO:

Sabrina is an award winning author of erotic romance with nearly a dozen titles available, ranging from sweet & sexy erotic romance to BDSM to erotic horror. Connect with her on twitter @sabrina_york or Facebook.

Check out Sabrina’s books and read an excerpt on her webpage (www.sabrinayork.com) or explore on Amazon or at Ellora’s Cave.

**********GIVEAWAY**********

One randomly drawn commenter during the tour will receive a $50 Amazon GC.  Additionally, today Sabrina York will award a download of her book (reader’s choice) and a tiara as part of the grand prize.

-To be entered, leave a comment, along with your email addy.

-Winners will be chosen randomly from all comments made throughout the tour, so the more you comment the greater your chances of winning.  A list of all participating blogs can be found here.

-Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM CST on 7/26.