Contemporary
Down in Flames
By Dottie
Oct 16, 2010 - 9:50:36 PM

Molly Coleman’s best friend is Lacey, a recent transplant from the Deep South who has stuck by Molly throughout all of her problems; the death of her grandmother, followed shortly thereafter by the death of   her grandfather.  Now Molly stands a chance of losing her home and her means of support, the green house where she grows plants to sell and to use in her baking.  The last thing she needs is Jack Gellar returning to town after five years and turning her world upside down again.  The last time she saw him, he had taken her out on a date to a park outside of town, and when she refused to remove her clothing, he had taken off, leaving her stranded, to walk home. Even with that treatment, she has been unable to get him off her mind in the past five years since he left town. Molly is trying to keep her grandparents’ farm going.  However, her grandfather had just bought some expensive equipment for the farm when her grandmother was diagnosed with cancer.  Although she would like to sell the expensive farm equipment, no one can afford to buy it from her.  She cannot help wondering how much of the old Jack is still in that hot body now. Molly wants him more now than she did years ago, but she will never admit that.

It has been rumored that Jack Gellar had slept with every woman in town, but that was before Molly rejected him.  For the past five years, he has been unable to stop thinking about her.  Now that he is back in town, he isn’t interested in reliving old times with the other women in town.  There is only one woman who interests him…Molly.  But how can he get her to forgive him?  Five years ago, he left their small town of Jefferson Heights to go to college on the East Coast, where he obtained a couple of finance degrees and settled down, with a very well-paying job.  Although he had grown up in the past five years, his reputation in his hometown is still going strong.  Molly has always been different from the other girls and the look on her face the night he had left her stranded, still haunts him.  When she was younger, she had been a tomboy, but she had never judged him or looked down on him like the other people in town.

Between the huge amount owed on the equipment and the mortgage on the farm, Molly is sinking fast and knows it won’t be long before the bank forecloses.  When Jack follows her home, she cannot help forgiving him.  After he explains that he has no place to stay, since his home next door to hers had burned down some time ago, she allows him to stay there.  One night, busy making the pastries she sells, Molly is unable to spend time with Jack, so she urges him to go with Lacey and her boyfriend, Keith, to have a few drinks.  While at the club, he has to extricate himself from an old flame, Carla, after she drapes herself all over him. Fed up and wanting to go home to Molly, he goes outside and accepts when Amy, another old flame and the banker’s daughter, offers him a ride home. After she hands him two Tylenol, Jack does not remember anything else until he wakes up the next morning in Amy’s bed, having been seen there by her father.  How is he going to get Molly to forgive him, since the word is already all over town that he spent the night with Amy, especially when Amy tries to pin her pregnancy on him?  Will Molly accept his help in saving her home?

Deliciously sensual, DOWN IN FLAMES is a delightful contemporary romance that I hated to see end.  Womanizing Jack has grown up in the five years he has been away from Molly.  But he has not been able to forget her, even forsaking other women during this time.  Desperate for a life with her, he gives up a terrific job to return to his hometown in an attempt to win her.  Having grown up together, there are many memories between them that only strengthen their bond. As outside forces try to keep them apart, Jack’s only hope is that Molly has enough trust in him to keep their plans for a future together from going DOWN IN FLAMES.  With a heartwarming plot, wonderful characters, snappy dialogue, deception and a terrific ending, this story is unforgettable.  I highly recommend DOWN IN FLAMES to anyone looking for a great read.