Playing with Fire by Gena Showalter

Published: August 29, 2006

I’ve been wanting to read this book for awhile but never really got around to it until I saw it at a used bookstore and I knew I needed to have it. Now I really enjoyed this novel because Belle was sassy and sarcastic and really didn’t want to have powers. It’s always nice to have a heroine who doesn’t want to be a superhero. She really just wanted to be left alone. But that’s what made this an interesting read even if it was only from Belle’s point of view. I’ve decided I must really like Gena’s books because if I had read any other author who only has one point of view in their books as often as she does I wouldn’t have continued with them. But that just speaks to how great her books are.

Belle Jamison is still figuring life out. She can’t hold down a job for anything and is the worst barista on the planet but she needs to be paid so she can continue to pay for her father’s assisted living. Though his black market Viagra is going to bankrupt her. One day when she was doing her best to be a great barista a commotion happened and she helped a man on the run get away. Little did she know that this man dumped an experimental cocktail in her mocha and she was mutating to be able to control the elements.

If Rome hadn’t found her she would be dead but she is starting to think that might be preferable to whatever they all have planned for her. She is stupidly attracted to the man who is essentially holding her prisoner until he can figure out how to neutralize her but it helps her feminine pique that he is just as attracted to her. Through everything she is learning how to control her powers that are connected to her emotions. Needless to say fire is her favorite element. Well it’s the one that happens the most.

By the end of this book I was definitely ready for the second book in the series. Though the way it ended allowed for the book to not have a sequel but I think it’s awesome that it does have one. The world needs more sassy super heroes.

—No quote. But be kind. That’s always important.—