Playing With Fire

Playing with Fire

A High Tides Extended Universe Novel
By Emily Jane Wood

She fights fires. She breaks stories. Neither expected to fall in love.

Lieutenant Rowan Jennings has spent fourteen years running into burning buildings and keeping her firefighters alive. A former Army soldier with a commanding presence, a sharp tongue, and an impressive talent for intimidating her crew, Rowan lives by three rules: stay disciplined, protect your people, and never let anyone close enough to hurt you.

Then she meets Kellen Sanders.

Beautiful, ambitious, and dangerously charming, Kellen is a rising television reporter determined to prove she's more than a pretty face. When a routine fire brings her face-to-face with Charleston's most intimidating lieutenant, the attraction is immediate-even if their personalities clash spectacularly.

But Charleston has a funny way of bringing people together.

A Halloween masquerade, an unexpected kiss, and a mysterious exchange of increasingly intimate text messages leave two women falling for someone whose identity they don't know. When the masks finally come off, Rowan and Kellen discover that their greatest temptation has been standing right in front of them all along.

Their chemistry is explosive. Their banter is relentless. And their relationship is about to become the hottest story in Charleston.

But when Kellen's professional ambition collides with Rowan's duty to the fire department, one devastating mistake threatens everything they've built. With careers, reputations, and hearts on the line, they'll discover that falling in love is easy compared to earning back someone's trust.

Fortunately, they have four meddling firefighters, one sarcastic captain, an opinionated family, and Loaf-a spoiled Isabella dachshund who has already decided Rowan belongs to him.

Welcome back to Charleston!

Set in the beloved world of Emily Jane Wood's Charleston High Tides series, Playing with Fire brings back familiar faces, including SJ James, Sabrina, Matthew, and the unforgettable crew at Sully's Landing. This time, the romance moves beyond the baseball diamond and into the firehouse.

A steamy, laugh-out-loud sapphic romantic comedy featuring:

• Enemies-to-lovers chemistry

• A mysterious Halloween romance

• An age-gap relationship

• A strong, protective firefighter and a fearless reporter

• Found family, second chances, and hard-won trust

• One extremely spoiled dachshund

Some sparks are impossible to extinguish.

Playing with Fire is a standalone romance set in the High Tides Extended Universe, featuring familiar characters, plenty of heat, and a guaranteed happily-ever-after.