title: Holding Fire: A Love Story
author:  Elissa Wald 
description: New York City firefighters assume center stage in this meandering, sometimes clumsy debut novel. Alicia, a writer of bad poetry who strips to pay the bills, jump-starts the action when she rediscovers Jonah Malone, the fireman who saved her life when she was five but only after Wald spends the first few chapters chronicling Alicia's torrid three-month affair with another fireman, Jake Schiller, the very model of homophobic manliness. The improbable relationship between Alicia and Jonah culminates in marriage, though wedded bliss quickly deteriorates because of several factors: the psychological wounds caused by Jonah's abusive upbringing and service in Vietnam; the jealous machinations of Wes, Jonah's wealthy gay mentor; and a tragic fire that kills three firemen and figuratively envelopes Jonah in its aftermath. Wald, whose first book, Meeting the Master, was a collection of s&amp;m tales and poetry, tries to spice things up with plenty of sex indeed, it seems every firefighter in New York is a muscular but sensitive stud. The novel piles on the cliches ("like a light at the end of the night's tunnel") and flows unevenly, straying too often into bodice-ripper territory (including a mock rape or two), and on several occasions the firefighters grow indistinguishable from one another. Moreover, Alicia remains a half-formed character, her motivations and background a mystery that continuously vexes, because Wald employs her as a thread tying various characters together. The ease, for example, with which she falls in love with the much older, emotionally scarred Jonah is puzzling, lending the relationship a superficial sheen. Although Wald has taken on some interesting material here, the novel never really heats up.
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  ![Full Page Image](../images/00003.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright © 2018 by V.F. Mason
  
  
  All rights reserved.
  
  
  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
  mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without
  written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in
  a book review.
  
  
  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents
  either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any
  resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely
  coincidental.
  
  
  
  
  
  Edited by Hot Tree Editing
  
  
  Cover Design: Hang Le
  
  
  Photographer: Lindee Robinson
  
  
  Cover Model: Evan Cloyd
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  To the power of love.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Prologue](part0004.html#3Q280-115e4de6ec41499a9169bfda67a0a928)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  1\. [Chapter One](part0005.html#4OIQ0-115e4de6ec41499a9169bfda67a0a928)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  2\. [Chapte