My Wild Irish Dragon

Two candidates vie for one Boston firefighting job in Chase's flimsy second Boston Dragon paranormal romance. Chloe Arish is a 1,000-year-old Irish dragon; Ryan Fierro is a 40-year-old phoenix from a large family of Italian firefighters. It's love and hate at first sight, but after both are hired for the job they thought they were competing for, rivalry slowly turns to love. Neither knows of the existence of the other's species, a mutual obliviousness that Chase harps on to the point of cruelty. Chloe and Ryan make a cute couple, surrounded by loving and occasionally overbearing neighbors and family, but only Chloe's personality sizzles. Lively and fun love scenes contribute to an overall lightness in tone, but Chloe's virgin status, while explained away, is both baffling given her age and extraneous to a modern story line. And while many will appreciate the author's deft hand with humor, the lack of character development hampers the story. Agent: Nicole Resciniti, Seymour Agency. (Sept.)