First of all: Ella Frank, how dare you! Second of all: Ella Frank, I adore you!

Now that I have that out of the way…

This is the first book in Ella Frank’s long-awaited Chicago Heat series, which features characters introduced in Ella Frank’s Inside Affairs series and in Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine’s Dare to Try trilogy. In Wicked Heat we get deeper into Chicago, and it’s not exactly a pretty sight. We also get a grumpy fireman with self-worth issues and a sunshine personal assistant who doesn’t know his own value.

The angst is real. So is the chemistry.

I loved this book so much. I loved it more than I expected to, to be honest. I went in fully knowing this was part one of a two-part story. I went in knowing this story was unfinished and would likely end with a cliffhanger of some sort. Unlike some impatient and selfish readers, I recognize complete stories with good arcs sometimes take more than one book to tell to satisfaction. The characters speak to their authors sometimes and sometimes they take the authors places they didn’t initially plan on going. It happens. In my opinion, splitting this story into two books was a smart move on Frank’s part. Trying to either cram this story into one big book or trying to truncate it into a regular-size book would’ve ruined everything. Ryan and Jameson (our main characters) obviously needed time to develop as characters, then to come to tolerate each other before they could even begin to like each other. Jameson is a tough nut to crack, even if Ryan isn’t. I’m proud of Frank for staying true to her characterizations and making the choice to turn this story into two books.

This story is right in that sweet spot I’ve come to expect from Ella Frank: unexpectedly sweet in the right places, bittersweet in others, unabashedly earnest, and just the right amount of angst to make the heart twinge but not sob your eyes out. I can fully admit I teared up at the end of this book. I didn’t cry… but there was definitely some wetness gathering in the corners of my eyes.

I cannot wait for the second half of this story.