The last thing EMT Cait Tasker needs is to be thinking about fireman Gavin Boudreau. Their interactions are typically more antagonistic than friendly ever since she was working up the courage to ask him to coffee and he called her: ma'am. Plus, for the last six months Cait has been the only thing keeping her family afloat after the sudden and tragic loss of her step-father. Adding a man to that mix just isn't something she needs, regardless of what she may want.

Gavin won't deny that he's attracted to Cait, but he can't figure out what he did to make her dislike him. All that's put to rest when Gavin helps Cait out during an emergency. Once they start talking and getting to know one another, they can't help but want to be around each other. While neither will admit to want a commitment, their growing feelings for each other say otherwise. But Cait isn't able to step away from the family that needs her, and looking in from the outside, Gavin sees Cait's family relying on her more than is necessary, denying Cait from being able to move on with her own life. Will their differing of opinions keep them from moving forward?

I liked getting back to the Boston Fire series. I loved the enemies-to-lovers trope we get with Gavin and Cait. Light on the enemies side though it is. I appreciated that, in this relationship, Gavin and Cait are equals. There's not really any alpha-maleness happening which I liked for a nice switch-up. Instead, a lot of the story focuses on Cait and Gavin trying to build their own relationship around the conflicts of family. I like that both Cait and Gavin's view of Cait's current family situation are valid and, to me, neither was completely off base. Except for a little of the way things were handled toward the end, the opinions were true. When is a good time for Cait to move out of her mother's home again and let her mother start relying on herself for the day-to-day as well as start taking care of her teenage son again? When does Cait get to move forward with her life? The commentary on loss and how everyone handles loss in a different way was definitely front and center.

I loved the camaraderie between Gavin and his Ladder 37 team as well as Cait's familial bond with her EMT partner Tony. This, too, speaks a lot in regards to families are made and not born into.

There's no shortage of interesting characters in this series, and I'm looking forward to the next firefighter who get's their HEA in [b:Under Control|35287633|Under Control (Boston Fire, #5)|Shannon Stacey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496419402s/35287633.jpg|56650050].

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.