Summer’s mother and aunt had a retail sales store stocked by merchandise at this warehouse. While there they discovered smoke and Summer realized her father was trapped. Trying to rescue him she became pinned by a fallen beam and Joe rescued her. Her father died.

Consumed by guilt and a reluctance to ever get close to anyone she might lose, Summer fled to Colorado to become a river guide, gradually enlarging her career to involve expeditions in many venues. The same warehouse burns again and the story opens as Summer returns to San Diego in response to her mother’s call for help.

And who is the fire marshal investigating this fire? Joe Walker, now slim, handsome and remote. Summer realizes that she is not only estranged from her family but from Joe as well. But that is OK at first, as she doesn’t do relationships of long standing.

Summer is handling the insurance issues for her mother and starts trying to reestablish the closeness of a family that includes aunts and cousins. Meanwhile there is another fire at one of the stores and she is nearly killed. The fires are too connected to be accidental and Joe investigates.

The tension increases when Summer begins receiving text message threats on her cell phone. And the sexual tension between Joe and Summer escalates as well. Shalvis does a nice job of balancing the two, with varied pacing that keeps the reader interested.

Shalvis utilizes the environs of the San Diego area, instilling a great sense of setting. Populating it with a variety of contemporary archetypes, it is nevertheless the warmth of her characters that carries the story. One likes all of the players, although she has postured them so that one of them must be the culprit. And because of that, the reader doesn’t feel a foreboding of great evil. That may well be the plot weakness as fire is not to be underestimated as a destroyer.

Nonetheless, Seeing Red is a quick, very enjoyable read.

--Thea Davis