The description of Playing with Fire immediately drew my attention. I love a good "opposites attract" story and Eli and Alex certainly deliver. 
 One of the things that became apparent pretty quickly, however, was that I need to read the other book / novellas in this series ASAP. Dealing with foster siblings who all work in the same Chicago Firehouse, this series definitely brings the heat (pun intended). 
 Alex is the only female in the Dempsey clan with four foster brothers. To say she's overprotected is putting it mildly. Then there's the fact that she's the only female firefighter at Engine Co. 6. She has to prove herself on a daily basis against those who think a woman can't do a man's job. 
 Mayor Eli Cooper is one of those thinkers. He and Alex have butted heads for months now. When Alex ends up saving Eli's life, he takes it as an opportunity to improve his ratings and get closer to Alex, whom he secretly likes butting heads with. 
 I felt like a lot of the driving force of this story is rooted in the previous (and first) book in the series Flirting with Fire. I'm assuming actions of Alex's which are mentioned numerous times throughout would be read about in the first book. Not having read the first book, my enjoyment of Playing With Fire was not dulled, it just reiterated the fact that to get a more rounded story it would be good to start at the beginning. 
 This is also the case with all the siblings that pop up. I loved seeing the interactions between them and their other halves. You can tell there's just so much to the relationships already developed that it would be good to see how it all started. 
 But for the main part of Eli and Alex, I liked how Alex stayed true to herself. She had to deal with a lot of crap, but she doesn't let it bring her down. She's a very strong and capable character. Eli was likable despite not accepting Alex's line of work right away. Seeing Alex turn his convictions upside down was great. Together they both kind of have to take a look at their ideals and make decisions based on what they want as opposed to what they are told, or believe, they should have. 
 This is definitely a new series for me to watch.