Jaci Burton
Author of The Perfect Play
About the Author
Jaci Burton is an American author of romance novels. She has written many New York Times bestsellers including Melting the Ice, Thrown by a Curve, and Holiday Games. She became a writer after her children were grown. Burton is the author of the Play-by-Play series, as well as the Wild Riders show more series. She lives in Oklahoma. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Uncredited image from author's website.
Series
Works by Jaci Burton
A Little Bit Of Heart 4 copies
Show Me (Sneak Peek) 3 copies
A Little Tickle 2 copies
A Taste Of Paradise 2 copies
Christmas Wizardry 2 copies
Associated Works
Holiday Kisses: A Holiday Romance Collection [Anthology 4-in-1] (2011) — Contributor — 52 copies, 12 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Burton, Jaci
- Gender
- female
- Relationships
- Burton, Charlie (husband)
- Short biography
- Mother to two grown sons, Jaci Burton lives in Oklahoma with her second husband and stepdaughter. After spending too many years to count in the high stress business world, Jaci Burton is thrilled to be living her dream of writing passionate romance. When she isn't crafting stories of passion, romance and happily ever afters, she can be found reading a good book, tending her garden, and sweating at the gym. She'd like to say she lives a glamorous life, but it's all too normal. She still has to do laundry, dishes and feed her family, and wouldn't have it any other way.
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Oklahoma, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Oklahoma, USA
Members
Reviews
Good second chance romance. Kal is the youngest of the three firefighter brothers and recently transferred from firefighting to the Tactical Rescue Team at another station. He loves what he does and is determined to give it one hundred percent of his attention. That is especially necessary as two of his new teammates seem determined to find fault with everything he does. After a rough shift, he's happy to go to his ten-year high school reunion and hang out with some of his friends. Then his show more high school girlfriend walks in the door, and distraction becomes the name of the game.
After she and Kal broke up, Hannah ended up marrying someone else and moving out of state. After years of a miserable marriage, Hannah and her son returned home. She plans to concentrate on getting her new hair salon set up and focusing on her son Oliver's needs. The last thing she's interested in is rekindling her old relationship with Kal. She's learned that the only person she can depend on is herself.
I enjoyed watching the relationship develop between Kal and Hannah. From the moment they saw each other again, the sparks flew. Kal never forgot his feelings for Hannah, and he likes the idea of getting to know her again. Hannah makes it clear she's not interested but spending a little time together as friends would be okay. Kal is such a sweet, laid-back guy that it doesn't take long to start breaking down Hannah's walls. Hannah is wary of getting deeply involved with Kal. She doesn't trust her judgment any longer, but Kal is hard to resist. I loved how he connected so quickly with Hannah's son, which warmed her heart and made her very nervous.
I enjoyed seeing Hannah and Kal grow closer the more time they spent together. There were some terrific scenes of ordinary, day-to-day activities that showed how right they were for each other. Kal is fantastic at showing Hannah the love and respect she deserves, but she worries that depending on him opens her up to the possibility of more heartbreak. When Kal's patience wears a little thin, and he pushes for more, Hannah panics and pushes him away. It takes some deep soul-searching for Hannah to let go of those fears and trust Kal with her heart and Oliver's. I loved Hannah's big moment of sharing those fears with Kal and admitting her love. The epilogue was excellent, with a terrific look at the futures of all three couples.
I liked the parts of the book that showed Kal on the job. His love of his work is evident, as is his frustration at his issues with his two coworkers. I wondered how Kal would resolve those problems and loved that he did it by simply doing his job. show less
After she and Kal broke up, Hannah ended up marrying someone else and moving out of state. After years of a miserable marriage, Hannah and her son returned home. She plans to concentrate on getting her new hair salon set up and focusing on her son Oliver's needs. The last thing she's interested in is rekindling her old relationship with Kal. She's learned that the only person she can depend on is herself.
I enjoyed watching the relationship develop between Kal and Hannah. From the moment they saw each other again, the sparks flew. Kal never forgot his feelings for Hannah, and he likes the idea of getting to know her again. Hannah makes it clear she's not interested but spending a little time together as friends would be okay. Kal is such a sweet, laid-back guy that it doesn't take long to start breaking down Hannah's walls. Hannah is wary of getting deeply involved with Kal. She doesn't trust her judgment any longer, but Kal is hard to resist. I loved how he connected so quickly with Hannah's son, which warmed her heart and made her very nervous.
I enjoyed seeing Hannah and Kal grow closer the more time they spent together. There were some terrific scenes of ordinary, day-to-day activities that showed how right they were for each other. Kal is fantastic at showing Hannah the love and respect she deserves, but she worries that depending on him opens her up to the possibility of more heartbreak. When Kal's patience wears a little thin, and he pushes for more, Hannah panics and pushes him away. It takes some deep soul-searching for Hannah to let go of those fears and trust Kal with her heart and Oliver's. I loved Hannah's big moment of sharing those fears with Kal and admitting her love. The epilogue was excellent, with a terrific look at the futures of all three couples.
I liked the parts of the book that showed Kal on the job. His love of his work is evident, as is his frustration at his issues with his two coworkers. I wondered how Kal would resolve those problems and loved that he did it by simply doing his job. show less
A fun and emotional friends-to-lovers book. This is the third book in the series and can be read as a stand-alone, though the experience is richer if you've read the others.
Honor and Owen have been friends for a long time. When they encounter each other in Vegas, where both are on business trips, they get together for a drink. One drink turns into shots; the next thing they know, they wake up in bed together wearing wedding rings. Neither has any recollection of how it happened. show more Complicating matters, Owen is her sister Erin's ex-fiancé. Their initial reaction is to apply for an annulment immediately, but they hold off until they find out if there are consequences from the wedding night they don't remember. They also plan to keep what happened a secret from everyone at home.
I enjoyed watching the relationship between Owen and Honor develop. I understood the initial impulse to keep what happened a secret. Owen walked out on his engagement to Erin right before the wedding with no explanation, creating heartache and hard feelings. It wasn't until the end of the first book that they discovered he had panicked over his cancer diagnosis. His relationship with the family has recovered, though Owen still feels a lot of guilt over his actions. Neither Honor nor Owen wants to cause Erin any distress, even though she has moved on and is happily married.
Keeping the secret proves to be very complicated. Owen is friends with the family and with the sisters' menfolk. Honor and her sisters run the family's wedding business together, are very close, and don't generally keep secrets from each other. Honor and Owen find themselves wanting to spend more time together, and when they do, the sparks fly. I loved seeing them together. They have so much in common; their interactions are fun, easy, and realistic. Owen is a sweet guy who enjoys taking care of Honor, from cooking for her to adopting the rescue dog she loves so much. Honor is a strong woman who has no problem standing up for what she wants but doesn't want her actions to hurt someone else. I especially liked when she went with Owen to his doctor's appointment.
The longer Honor and Owen go without confessing, the harder it gets. When the truth comes out, the fallout is immediate and intense. Battle lines are drawn, and the tension is off the charts. Owen, Honor, and Erin all need to face their feelings before moving on to the future. The ending was fantastic, emotion-filled, and heartfelt. The epilogue was a terrific wrap-up.
I loved the setting of the book. The Bellini Winery/wedding business provided many laugh-out-loud moments that relieved some of the building tension. There are also more family dynamics, from Honor dealing with her sisters' inconvenient nosiness and matchmaking to Mama Bellini's cure for sisterly tension. I also enjoyed getting to know Owen better and seeing his joy in his work. He won my heart when he adopted the dog, Bettie, and she became such a big part of his life.
#netgalley show less
Honor and Owen have been friends for a long time. When they encounter each other in Vegas, where both are on business trips, they get together for a drink. One drink turns into shots; the next thing they know, they wake up in bed together wearing wedding rings. Neither has any recollection of how it happened. show more Complicating matters, Owen is her sister Erin's ex-fiancé. Their initial reaction is to apply for an annulment immediately, but they hold off until they find out if there are consequences from the wedding night they don't remember. They also plan to keep what happened a secret from everyone at home.
I enjoyed watching the relationship between Owen and Honor develop. I understood the initial impulse to keep what happened a secret. Owen walked out on his engagement to Erin right before the wedding with no explanation, creating heartache and hard feelings. It wasn't until the end of the first book that they discovered he had panicked over his cancer diagnosis. His relationship with the family has recovered, though Owen still feels a lot of guilt over his actions. Neither Honor nor Owen wants to cause Erin any distress, even though she has moved on and is happily married.
Keeping the secret proves to be very complicated. Owen is friends with the family and with the sisters' menfolk. Honor and her sisters run the family's wedding business together, are very close, and don't generally keep secrets from each other. Honor and Owen find themselves wanting to spend more time together, and when they do, the sparks fly. I loved seeing them together. They have so much in common; their interactions are fun, easy, and realistic. Owen is a sweet guy who enjoys taking care of Honor, from cooking for her to adopting the rescue dog she loves so much. Honor is a strong woman who has no problem standing up for what she wants but doesn't want her actions to hurt someone else. I especially liked when she went with Owen to his doctor's appointment.
The longer Honor and Owen go without confessing, the harder it gets. When the truth comes out, the fallout is immediate and intense. Battle lines are drawn, and the tension is off the charts. Owen, Honor, and Erin all need to face their feelings before moving on to the future. The ending was fantastic, emotion-filled, and heartfelt. The epilogue was a terrific wrap-up.
I loved the setting of the book. The Bellini Winery/wedding business provided many laugh-out-loud moments that relieved some of the building tension. There are also more family dynamics, from Honor dealing with her sisters' inconvenient nosiness and matchmaking to Mama Bellini's cure for sisterly tension. I also enjoyed getting to know Owen better and seeing his joy in his work. He won my heart when he adopted the dog, Bettie, and she became such a big part of his life.
#netgalley show less
This was a fun friends to lovers story. When I read the prequel novella The Matchmaker's Mistletoe Mission, I got the feeling that things were a little off in Erin and Owen's engagement. As this book opens, the wedding is two days away, Erin is up to her neck in last-minute details, and she gets a break-up email from Owen. Shock doesn't begin to cover her reaction and angry would be an understatement. But she refuses to look pitiful in front of their friends, so she insists on holding the show more reception anyway. It's there that she decides the best revenge would be a fling with her best friend, Jason, who was also Owen's best man.
Unfortunately for Erin, Jason is not cooperative. It's not that he doesn't want to sleep with her. He does. But he wants more than that. Jason has been in love with Erin for years but lost out to Owen because he didn't want to risk their friendship. Now he has a second chance, but he wants to be careful about it. Rather than take Erin up on her offer while she is vulnerable, Jason goes the friendship route first.
I loved watching the relationship between Erin and Jason develop. Erin is hot to carry out her revenge right away and isn't too pleased when Jason resists. Instead, Jason finds ways for them to spend time together doing other things until he can be sure she isn't quite so vulnerable. Because they have been friends for so long, they are very comfortable with each other. Jason didn't hold out very long against Erin's advances, just long enough for her to convince him that she knew what she was doing. I ached for Jason because he knew that he was risking heartbreak giving in to her, but he loves her too much not to help her. Erin goes into the whole thing only wanting a short fling, then going back to friends as usual. But the more time they spend together, the more her feelings start to change. This freaks her out, and she does everything she can to resist admitting to those feelings. She also has trouble believing that what she feels is real. After all, she thought she had loved Owen, and look where that ended up.
Lingering in the background is Erin's knowledge that she is going to have to face Owen sooner or later. Something that comes up time and again is that Owen's actions were completely out of character for him. More than one person wonders what was going through his mind. When he came back and contacted Erin, I wasn't terribly surprised at the reasons he gave. He handled it badly, causing more heartache than there would have been if he'd been honest to start with. I was frustrated by Erin's actions afterward because she wasn't thinking of the effect on Jason, who was left wondering where he stood. Her kick in the pants came from an unexpected source. I liked that she saw the error of her ways and took immediate steps to fix it. The ending was sweet. show less
Unfortunately for Erin, Jason is not cooperative. It's not that he doesn't want to sleep with her. He does. But he wants more than that. Jason has been in love with Erin for years but lost out to Owen because he didn't want to risk their friendship. Now he has a second chance, but he wants to be careful about it. Rather than take Erin up on her offer while she is vulnerable, Jason goes the friendship route first.
I loved watching the relationship between Erin and Jason develop. Erin is hot to carry out her revenge right away and isn't too pleased when Jason resists. Instead, Jason finds ways for them to spend time together doing other things until he can be sure she isn't quite so vulnerable. Because they have been friends for so long, they are very comfortable with each other. Jason didn't hold out very long against Erin's advances, just long enough for her to convince him that she knew what she was doing. I ached for Jason because he knew that he was risking heartbreak giving in to her, but he loves her too much not to help her. Erin goes into the whole thing only wanting a short fling, then going back to friends as usual. But the more time they spend together, the more her feelings start to change. This freaks her out, and she does everything she can to resist admitting to those feelings. She also has trouble believing that what she feels is real. After all, she thought she had loved Owen, and look where that ended up.
Lingering in the background is Erin's knowledge that she is going to have to face Owen sooner or later. Something that comes up time and again is that Owen's actions were completely out of character for him. More than one person wonders what was going through his mind. When he came back and contacted Erin, I wasn't terribly surprised at the reasons he gave. He handled it badly, causing more heartache than there would have been if he'd been honest to start with. I was frustrated by Erin's actions afterward because she wasn't thinking of the effect on Jason, who was left wondering where he stood. Her kick in the pants came from an unexpected source. I liked that she saw the error of her ways and took immediate steps to fix it. The ending was sweet. show less
Good start to the new series. I was already familiar with some of the story as I read the second book in the series, Ignite on Contact, earlier this year. That did not diminish my enjoyment of this book in any way. I liked having the backstory filled in. The book opened with a flashback to the night a homeless Jackson and his two brothers were rescued from a fire. That was the beginning of a new life for Jackson, Rafe, and Kal, as they were first fostered then adopted by the firefighter who show more rescued them and his wife. They grew up in a loving home and followed in their adoptive father's footsteps by becoming firefighters.
Fast forward to the present day when the response to a fire turns into an unexpected reunion. A tattoo business has gone up in flames, and Jackson must forcibly remove the owner from the premises as she tries to save her equipment. It isn't until the fire is over that Becks and Rafe realize why they are familiar to each. Rafe and Kal are pleased to reconnect. Jackson doesn't remember her and avoids thinking back to those days. When Rafe and Kal discover that Becks has nowhere to live now, they offer up a room in their house. Jackson reluctantly agrees, already sensing that Becks is going to upend his life.
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Becks and Jackson. I felt a little sorry for Becks when Jackson didn't remember her. She had a massive crush on him when they were kids, and it hurt that he didn't recognize her. However, in the present day, the sparks between the two of them were hot. I wanted to shake Jackson at the beginning because the feelings that those sparks stirred up turned him into a jerk. He took out his frustration about those feelings on Becks with snide comments and unfounded accusations. I loved how Rafe and Kal called him out on his attitude, giving him the butt-kicking that he needed. Becks didn't cut him much slack, but she was also more understanding than she could have been.
The attraction between Becks and Jackson continued to build the more time they spent together. Though both intended to keep their relationship casual, it was evident that Becks's feelings were far from it. Jackson's feelings were stronger than he wanted to admit. The biggest obstacle between them was the way each of them handled the past. Becks embraced hers, accepting the ways that it had influenced who she is now. Part of that is giving back to the community by helping the homeless kids where she used to live. Jackson has buried his past deep, insisting that the past is just that, and there's no need to relive it. The harder that Becks tries to get him to open up, the more Jackson digs in his heels. I ached for Becks. She loved Jackson so much but felt like he was holding back. I ached for Jackson when he realized what he had done. I absolutely adored how Rafe and Kal both hounded him and supported him in facing his fears. I loved Jackson's big moment at the end, especially the depth of emotion revealed in his confession.
Having already read Rafe's story, now I can't wait for Kal's. show less
Fast forward to the present day when the response to a fire turns into an unexpected reunion. A tattoo business has gone up in flames, and Jackson must forcibly remove the owner from the premises as she tries to save her equipment. It isn't until the fire is over that Becks and Rafe realize why they are familiar to each. Rafe and Kal are pleased to reconnect. Jackson doesn't remember her and avoids thinking back to those days. When Rafe and Kal discover that Becks has nowhere to live now, they offer up a room in their house. Jackson reluctantly agrees, already sensing that Becks is going to upend his life.
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Becks and Jackson. I felt a little sorry for Becks when Jackson didn't remember her. She had a massive crush on him when they were kids, and it hurt that he didn't recognize her. However, in the present day, the sparks between the two of them were hot. I wanted to shake Jackson at the beginning because the feelings that those sparks stirred up turned him into a jerk. He took out his frustration about those feelings on Becks with snide comments and unfounded accusations. I loved how Rafe and Kal called him out on his attitude, giving him the butt-kicking that he needed. Becks didn't cut him much slack, but she was also more understanding than she could have been.
The attraction between Becks and Jackson continued to build the more time they spent together. Though both intended to keep their relationship casual, it was evident that Becks's feelings were far from it. Jackson's feelings were stronger than he wanted to admit. The biggest obstacle between them was the way each of them handled the past. Becks embraced hers, accepting the ways that it had influenced who she is now. Part of that is giving back to the community by helping the homeless kids where she used to live. Jackson has buried his past deep, insisting that the past is just that, and there's no need to relive it. The harder that Becks tries to get him to open up, the more Jackson digs in his heels. I ached for Becks. She loved Jackson so much but felt like he was holding back. I ached for Jackson when he realized what he had done. I absolutely adored how Rafe and Kal both hounded him and supported him in facing his fears. I loved Jackson's big moment at the end, especially the depth of emotion revealed in his confession.
Having already read Rafe's story, now I can't wait for Kal's. show less
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Sports Romances (3)
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Statistics
- Works
- 123
- Also by
- 7
- Members
- 8,777
- Popularity
- #2,725
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 380
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- 522
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