Reckless by Kimberly Kincaid

I'm way behind the draw on this one, completely misplaced the release date in my head!

Here's the summary, from Amazon:

Zoe Westin may be a fire captain's daughter, but feeding the people in her hometown of Fairview is her number one priority. Running a soup kitchen is also the perfect way to prove to her dad that helping people doesn't always mean risking life and limb. But when she's saddled with a gorgeous firefighter doing community service after yet another daredevil stunt, the kitchen has never been so hot.

Alex Donovan thrives on adrenaline, and stirring a pot of soup doesn't exactly qualify. He's not an expert at following the rules either, not even when they come from the stubborn, sexy daughter of the man who's not only his boss, but his mentor. Determined to show Zoe that not every risk ends in catastrophe, Alex challenges her both in the kitchen and out. One reckless step leads to another, but will falling for each other be a risk worth taking, or will it just get them burned?

Ok, so we know how much I enjoyed the Pine Mountain series, and this one is a spin off of that one, in the form of an interesting, fairly unlikable, firefighter- Alex Donovan.  We last saw him near the end of All Wrapped Up pretty much taunting poor Brennan.  Thankfully, that situation is resolved to bring everyone around again, but as Reckless opens Alex is once again showing his brash, unmanageable side. This lands him in a stint of community service with the captain's daughter, Zoe.

To be honest, I can't say that I ever really loved Zoe OR Alex. Alex is reckless and daring, lives every day to it's fullest, and while Kincaid does her best to draw the line between foolhardy and controlled recklessness, I can't say as I'm very attracted to people who do all the Dangerous Things. I did really love how he came around at the end, and how willing he was to be open and honest about his feelings. Mainly it was his hobbies I found off-putting.

I didn't ever warm up to Zoe.  I can't relate at all to her career choices, and didn't ever feel like she really believed it in her heart, it was all wallpaper for me. And then when she's cared to take a risk and complete a grant application and freaks out? Seriously? Where is the risk in that? Even I, who has never worked in a non-profit, knows that it's all about the grants. You just DO them, right? Then the story line with the need for security at the soup kitchen went no where at all, even tho it seemed that a) Alex would have a history here and b) a big deal! I always find the trope of either "my mom was married to a firefighter (or cop)  so I definitely can't risk it!" OR it's opposite "My mom was married to a firefighter (or cop) and no way I'd put anyone else through that!" both to be lazy.

In the end, this one wasn't a winner, but that doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to the rest of the series. For once there wasn't a preview at the end, so I have no idea who comes next.