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    Burning Up
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    Burning Up
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    Burning Up
    Ebook330 pages11 hours

    Burning Up

    By Susan Andersen

    4/5

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    Unavailable in your country

    About this ebook


    She's so good at being bad. Though it's been years since the infamous Macy O'James stepped foot in Sugarville, Washington, everyone remembers what she supposedly did. The tiny town is still buzzing about her crime and lack of punishment. Now back to lend her family a hand, Macy vows to hold her head high – especially at her high school reunion. But forget about the hottest man in Sugarville escorting her. Though she and fire chief Gabriel Donovan generate enough sparks to burn down the town, he's a law–abiding, line–toeing straight arrow. So not her type.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins Publishers Australia
    Release dateAug 1, 2012
    ISBN9781460885352
    Unavailable
    Burning Up
    Author

    Susan Andersen

    Susan Andersen grew up in a house filled with testosterone and things haven't changed. Still in the minority in her own home, she's surrounded by her high-school sweetheart, her son and all-male pets. According to Andersen, who grew up in Seattle, having two older brothers was a mixed blessing. "When anybody messed with me, my brothers were always quick with an offer to beat them up. That was sorta nice, although I personally believe it had more to do with the fact that guys just like to fight than with any towering concern for my welfare. You might think that's cynical, but guess who the target was if no one else was around and they were tired of fighting each other? I must've spent half my childhood locked in the bathroom, screaming, 'Dad's gonna get you when he gets home.' I know, nobody likes a stoolie. But it was either that or have my block knocked off on a regular basis, and trust me, Daddy was the best deterrent going." Andersen started writing books later in life. "I wrote bits and pieces all my life, but I never really felt as if I had the life experience to string an entire book together until I turned 30," she said. When her son was young, a friend suggested series romances to Andersen and from that point on, she was hooked. She never intended to be a writer. "I actually wanted to be a dental assistant. I went to college to learn the craft, only to discover that as employers, I didn't like 99% of the dentists I worked for," Andersen admits. Given her early training in dealing with men, she was a natural at the dynamics and pitfalls of the male/female experience. Susan's first novel, Shadow Dance, hit shelves in 1989. She reached bestseller lists with her book Baby, I'm Yours, which went on to be named one of Romance Writers of America's Top 10 Favourite Books of 1998 and also won the Romantic Times magazine Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Contemporary Romance of 1998. Susan has gone on to have her books appear repeatedly on the New York Times extended list and be selected three years in a row as one of the 10 novels named Amazon.com Editor's Choice in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Today she continues to write stories where the guy gets the girl, as long as he's willing to bend a little. Her fast-paced story lines, wry humour and edgy writing style have consistently placed her books on both the mass market charts and on bestseller lists including the New York Times extended, USA TODAY, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. She currently lives in Seattle with her husband.

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    Reviews for Burning Up

    4/5

    66 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Love this author!
    • 4/5
      Enjoyable story with a good plot, plenty of action and secondary romance was nice but characters began to mentally analyze their feeling a lot so my rating is 3.5* To help her family, the now famous Macy returns to a hometown that still remembers her crimes and meets fire chief Gabriel.
    • 4/5
      Got a little tired of the heroine not having processed her high school traumas and acting out in some really silly ways. Andersen's a fun read though. I also was pleased that the guy was willing to relocate for her career, although points off because he didn't actually do it.

      I'd have liked to have seen a few more of the high school nemesis types get their comeuppances and a little more of some of them having grown up.

      Liked the secondary rock star's romance.
    • 4/5
      I have no idea why I put off reading this so long. Andersen never fails to entertain me.
    • 5/5
      Short Review:I actually read Burning up a couple of weeks ago but have not had the chance to write my review.This was my very first book by Susan Andersen and it definitely will not be my last. I quickly fell in love with Gabriel and Macy. Macy reminds me a lot of myself. She doesn't care what people think about her and when she wants something she gets it. She loves to speak her mind and is not afraid to tell it like it is. Gabriel was such a sweet guy and hard working. He doesn't like to play any games and as much as he tried to deny his feelings for Macy, he knew that was a battle he was not going to win. I laughed, got angry, smiled and wished I was Macy so many different times LOL. Great read and I cannot wait to pick up some past books by Susan Andersen. Five Stars!
    • 3/5
      Ahh, it's a cliche but what red blooded woman doesn't feel a twinge of heat when they imagine a fire fighter putting out their flame? Or is that just me? ;)For me, romance novels have to have strong characters and Macy O'James is immediately engaging. Almost a pariah in her hometown, she nevertheless returns to help her cousin who is recovering from an injury. Macy is not willing to be cowed by the small minded people she went to school with and plays up to their expectations with her exaggerated appearance and behaviour. Her bravado hides her hurt at her undeserved poor reputation and I empathise with her motive to give them a cause for it. Macy is smart and fun and yet it's her insecurities that make her an appealing heroine.Andersen has given Gabriel a background, not that dissimilar to Macy's own, that makes him a sympathetic character even when he veers to that exaggerated alpha behaviour. Seemingly opposites, Macy and Gabriel can't deny their immediate sexual chemistry and Andersen develops their relationship nicely. And he is a firefighter :)There is a secondary romance that stretched credulity a little but nevertheless is sweet. An arsonist is also on the loose in the town but for me, Andersen failed to weave that subplot satisfactorily in the story. Burning Up is a contemporary romance that provided an easy, pleasant read.
    • 4/5
      Ms Andersen is one of a very few authors that I can say hasn't written a book I haven't enjoyed to one extent or another. Just about every author except for her has a dud or two for my me. So it goes without saying when she has a new book come out, I read it.I really, really liked the character of Macy. Sometimes it's the hero who is more the standout of the two and sometimes it's the heroine and in Burning Up, I found it to be the heroine. The book can be a tougher sell if the heroine is the stand out and I have issues with her, but in the case of Burning Up it was all good since Macy was great.Macy O'James had come back to the small town of Sugarville to help out her cousin who had suffered a broken leg (gee - what a coincidence) in a hit and run. Although she didn't hesitate for a moment when Janna, her cousin needed her, it wasn't that easy for Macy to come back home. Years ago in high school, one of the popular boys spread all kinds of nasty rumours about her and that combined with one particular incident had made Macy a most unpopular girl. And while it's been many years since then and she has had quite a successful career, first off as a star of music videos and later behind the camera of them, nothing brings out her insecurities like coming back to such unhappy memories - mixed with some good ones too.Gabriel Donovan, fairly new to town, is the local fire chief of the volunteer fire department that makes up the Sugarville fire department. He has heard the rumours about Macy and kind of sort of believed them for the most part. He isn't too impressed with the series of 'outfits's' Macy wears as a shield for her insecurities and he is rather tough on her at times. It would be rather easy to dislike him, but as a guy who had a rough go of it himself, I went a bit easy on him. And he does straighten up and sees Macy for who she really is and not who rumour says she is fairly quickly.There was also a cute secondary romance between the shy, quiet local former girlfriend schoolteacher of Gabriel's and the tatooted rocker dude musician friend of Macy's.This wasn't my favourite of Susan Andersen's book, but it does keep her streak going of books of hers that I've quite enjoyed. It helped while away some hours and helped pass away time here in the hospital and that was quite fine with me.
    • 4/5
      To my mind, this is one of Susan Andersen's better books in quite a while. I had a hard time relating to the characters when the protagonists were Vegas showgirls. This one stars a good girl masquerading as a bad girl, a hunky and admirable hero ( a fireman -- hello) and sufficient misunderstandings and suspense to keep things moving along. I enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      To my mind, this is one of Susan Andersen's better books in quite a while. I had a hard time relating to the characters when the protagonists were Vegas showgirls. This one stars a good girl masquerading as a bad girl, a hunky and admirable hero ( a fireman -- hello) and sufficient misunderstandings and suspense to keep things moving along. I enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      Burning Up- by Susan AndersonI am a huge fan of most of Ms Anderson’s work, but I have been a little disappointed in the last couple of books. However “Burning Up” has reinstated my faith that Ms Anderson is one of the best contemporary romance writers around!“Burning Up” is the story of Macy O’James who had a reputation of being the town’s bad girl when she was in high school and for ruining the careers of three of Sugarville’s football team. Now she is a star in popular music videos and has come home to care for her injured cousin. The town has not forgotten her past and many take care to remind her of it at every turn. On her very first day back in town, flamboyant Macy meets the Fire Chief, Gabriel Donovan, a man who just wants a calm relationship with a calm woman. Of course, sparks fly between Gabriel and Macy and there goes Gabriel’s idea of having a calm life. To complicate matters, the town is being plagued with small arson fires that have the Chief extremely concerned.Yes, the story may have been told before but what fictional story hasn’t? What matters here is that the story is well developed with realistic, sympathetic main characters, quirky and funny secondary characters and enough heat to burn up the pages.