Review of Games of Fire by Airicka Phoenix!!!

Sophie has enough problems in her life without Spencer turning her blood to fire, without his eyes freezing and burning her, without his hatred of her. Since his migration into the house 
next to hers, Sophia Valdez isn’t sure whether she wants to toss him under a bus or kiss that smirking mouth of his. But even as the temperature rises around them, leaping flames of passion, want and desire,everything either has ever known will be shattered by the lurking shadow hounding their every step, wanting revenge.

Spencer Rowth moves to the sleepy town of River Port with his mother and twelve year old sister, Suzy, to escape a deceitful father, an unfaithful girlfriend and a life crumbling much too fast for him to grapple onto only to be smacked upside the head by the last thing he wanted again. Sophie was everything he refused to want. Her temper, her wit, her laugh, her smile, the way her entire body goes up in flames under his hands are things he would rather slam a lid on and forget. Instead, he finds himself falling for the smart-mouth next door. But how long will he have before the evil chasing them catches up? How long before the very thing he never wanted becomes his only thread to sanity? And who is after them? What do they want and why do they want Spencer and Sophie dead?

This book had me from the very first sentence.  

Literally!

There are a few reasons I really looked forward to reading this book.  The wonderful and amazing Airicka is a fellow Canadian, like me who I consider a friend.  Also, British Columbia was a favorite spot of my mom's, and it was nice to read about places I was familiar with.  I've never been to BC, but being from Canada, I have heard of a few places there.  I do know it rains A LOT in BC, and was always jealous when they would rarely get snow, when I was always buried in it!

I thought this story was beautiful!  I loved Sophie and the fact that she found the good in everyone.  The book starts out when she notices a new neighbor moving in to the house next door.  This is when her world is turned upside down by the gorgeous Spencer Rowth.  If you've been following me on FB, you know that he is my new book boyfriend.  I'll get into him later though...

Despite what her friends tell her, she is convinced that Spencer hates her.  He's very moody and brooding when he's around her, but to everyone else, he's a normal guy!  She can't figure him out.  Then she takes a chance and sneaks out to a party with her two best friends, Lauren and Jessie.  I wish I had a friend like Lauren, as she had her friends backs not matter what.  She did get a little bit pissed at Sophie at something that really was beyond her control, but all in all, she was a great friend.  At the party, she unwittingly puts herself in danger and it is Spencer who comes to her aid.  After that happens, things between Spencer and Sophie start to happen.

Now... on to Spencer.  I'm not one for tattoos, but I would be accepting for him!  He's beautiful!  But, he's recovering from a broken heart and his parents divorce.  Instead of being honest with Sophie from the beginning, he was doing everything in his power to push her away.  He finally stops pushing when she comes over to help him get away from a few people he doesn't want to see.

Throughout the book, you know she's being stalked.  You just don't know by whom.  When this person starts attacking both her and Spencer when they are together, they start to realize someone is out to get her.  Her parents do everything in their power to hide her, but she is still found, causing her to go completely into hiding with Spencer.  He loves her completely, and makes it known that he will do anything to protect her.  Much to both her parents and his mother's warnings and worries, they stay together. 

I was up reading this book until almost 2am on Friday, and finished it early Saturday morning.  I could not stop reading it.  Also, I stopped reading it on Friday at a really pivotal point in the book, so of course, I had to start reading it again the moment I woke up!  There are some mild loves scenes between Spencer and Sophie, which I didn't mind as much as I thought I would.  They are seventeen, and Sophie is discovering everything for the first time.  Plus, they have explosive chemistry!!  You know from the first moment they meet, there is a spark between them that does not go out.  Once Spencer realizes Sophie is not going to hurt him and that he can trust her, he becomes the most loving, romantic, protective boyfriend that she deserves.  Made me wish I had a boyfriend like that in highschool! 

It is on the night of the Valentine's Dance at school that Sophie has a night she will never forget.  Because of everything that has happened with the stalker, her parents banish her to the house for the evening.  Knowing how she disappointed she was about not going to the dance, Spencer creates a very special night for her.  It starts out amazing for the two of them, but ends with horror.

Sophie is forced to endure a betrayal by someone who she thought of as a dear friend.  She is taken totally by surprise, when this person tells her what they have been up to in their spare time.  This is why I had to read it first thing this morning!!  I had to know what happened!

As I said, this story was beautiful to me!  Spencer, who is a jerk at the beginning, becomes one of the endearing characters I have seen in a long time.  He proves to her parents that his love for Sophie is absolute and he's not going anywhere.  Her mother, I thought was annoying at times, but she was a typical mother to a seventeen year old.  My own was annoying to me when I was that age!  Wanting more freedom to do things, and being made to feel like a little kid at times when you can't.  

There were times I was laughing out loud at Sophie's confusion at Spencer's behavior, just because it was so true!!  He always seems to be there when she needs him, and that makes the attraction between them grow.

I loved this book.  It is definitely one I will read again!  Just to read the interaction between Sophie and Spencer in the beginning so I can have a good laugh!!  They are hilarious!!