#BookReview – “Walking in Fire” by Cathryn Cade

Blurb

Nawea Bay, on the Big Island of Hawaii, is just the place Melia Carson needs to escape the chill of rejection. But she soon finds herself swept up in a tropical heat wave, fueled by her attraction to a handsome local.
Malu's big, powerful, hot enough to melt her defenses—and when he isn't rescuing her from trouble, he's poking fun at her naivete. But he’s no ordinary guy. How did he survive an injury that should have killed him… and why does she dream of him in traditional native finery and wreathed in flames?
David “Malu” Ho’omalu is out to find and destroy a cache of 'Kona Kula' before the deadly, addictive drug can be sold to his people. Fending off amorous tourists is part of the job. But one look in Melia’s blue eyes, and he wants to claim her for his own.
As they surrender to the passion burning between them, she discovers a man who'll descend into the molten heart of the volcano to protect his island. And he discovers a brave woman who will entrust her heart to him… if he can keep her alive long enough.

Review

In book one in the Hawaiian Heroes series, chef Melia Carson is vacationing in Hawaii after breaking up with her boyfriend. While attending a snorkeling trip with a group of fellow tourists, she’s immediately smitten with the huge, handsome Hawaiian hunk on the boat. The trouble is, she’s not the only woman there who’s interested in him and she’s not willing to compete for his attention.

David “Malu” Ho’omalu is used to women flinging themselves at him, and he would take advantage of that if not for two things: he’s on the trip to watch a suspected drug runner, and he’s found the wahine—the woman—of his dreams. Unfortunately, Melia doesn’t seem all that interested in him. After one of the partying tourists goes missing, Malu and Melia are thrust together in a bid for survival.

Malu and Melia are wonderful, strong, stubborn characters.

He comes from a long line of paranormally enhanced warriors, and his powers/abilities were awesome. This paranormal aspect didn’t overpower the plot, though. “Malu” is his nickname and what he normally went by, but sometimes the name David was thrown in, which was distracting.

The description of the Hawaiian scenery, people, food, and culture was very detailed.

I’m definitely interested in learning more about the secondary characters, especially Malu’s brother Daniel and their friends Keone and Leilani.

I didn’t find any typos, which was great. Even though I enjoyed this story a lot, I was a little confused with timeline. I thought the prologue had taken place about a year before the beginning of the story, but actually it took place in the middle of the opening chapters. The rest of the story flowed well, but the ending chapters dragged a little after the big showdown.

This is the first book I’ve read from Ms. Cade, and I would love to read more.

4.5 Stars