Title: The Fire We Crave
Series: Iron Outlaws MC: Colorado #3
Author: S. Cole
Genre: MC Romance
Tropes: Age Gap, Grumpy/Sunshine
Enemies to Lovers
Release Date: June 5, 2025
BLURB
From USA Today best selling author, Scarlett Cole, writing as S. Cole, comes an electrifying small town MC, grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers romance.
Quinn
Two things happened on my thirteenth birthday. My older sister went missing. And I told Smoke Callahan, the Iron Outlaws Road Captain, that it was his fault she was gone.
Fourteen years later, I still hate him.
But hate doesn’t keep me safe when the Bratva sets its sights on me.
I need protection. The kind only a ruthless, broken man like Smoke can provide.
So I make him an offer. I’ll help him recover from the burns that nearly cost him his life. In return, he keeps me breathing.
It should be simple. It isn’t.
Because the more time I spend in his orbit, the more I see the man behind the scars. The one who carries a past as heavy as mine. And when he looks at me, it’s not hatred I see in his dark eyes anymore.
It’s something far more dangerous.
Smoke
Quinn Moran was just a kid when she came at me, fists flying, blaming me for her sister’s disappearance. I let her. I deserved it.
Now she’s all grown up—sharp-tongued, stubborn as hell, and standing in my cabin, asking for my protection.
I should say no. I should send her away.
But I don’t. Because even if she still hates me, I’ll kill anyone who tries to hurt her.
Even if it means she learns the truth.
Even if it means she never forgives me.
Because she was never meant to be mine. But that won’t stop me from taking her.
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
Smoke’s eyes drop to his chest, and he places his hand over mine.
“You’re okay, Smoke. So am I. It’s all okay.” The words are softly spoken. Soothing, like you would for a frightened child.
My heart hammers loudly in my chest, and it’s not just the adrenaline of the situation.
It’s the way I feel Smoke’s heartbeat beneath my palm. It’s the way his hand sits over mine, covering it completely, so strong and warm. It’s the way his thumb rubs over my fingers and the way his eyes darken with heat and arousal.
It’s his presence. The way we feel so…joined. His eyes raise to my lips as he runs his tongue over his lower lip.
Neither of us moves.
The world continues around us. Birds chirp, cicadas do their thing, but we’re stuck in a vortex. Swirling. Chaotic. All consuming.
“The prospects need to be protecting you,” he says finally.
But his voice is gruff, layered with nuance it’s impossible to interpret.
“And he was. Who was protecting you?”
“I don’t need protecting.”
I shake my head sadly. “I think you do.”
Smoke cups my cheeks before I have time to process, his hold firm.
“Fuck it,” he mutters, more to himself than to me, I think.
Then, he dips his head and kisses me.
And it’s everything I ever read about.
It’s angry yet filled with the kind of passion that sweeps you up and knocks you over into the tumble of a huge wave of emotion.
My treacherous body capitulates to every small movement.
His lips stroke my mouth; I open.
His hands wrap around my waist; I throw mine around his neck.
I struggle to see anything beyond the way he feels against me.
When I step up against him, his cock lengthens and hardens against my stomach. His whole body envelops me, showing just how disparate our size difference is.
He doesn’t ask. He takes. But I’m wholeheartedly a willing participant. If anything, I want more. Every part of my body meets Smoke. If he began to strip my clothes to take me on the parched ground, I’d let him.
“Quinn,” he mutters against my lips as his hands roam my body, familiarizing themselves with my shape.
I’m gentle where he’s injured, but I slide my hand beneath his cut, and I’m immersed in the scent of leather and tobacco and him.
“Shit. No,” Smoke says suddenly, lightly gripping my wrists before pushing me away from him.
The shift in his expression from need to disgust churns my stomach.
“I’m sorry,” I say, almost on autopilot, even though I’m not a hundred percent sure what I’m sorry for.
Hell, I’m not even sure how I fell headfirst into that kiss.
Smoke shakes his head. “Not your fault. Just—we can’t do that again.”
Unable to come up with anything else to say, I blurt one word: “Okay.”
Four letters that do absolutely nothing to convey the storm raging inside me right now.
“Okay,” he repeats.
But as I watch him stride into the house, ignoring the glass Shane left on the step, I know the fragile truce we were building is broken. And I wonder if we’ll ever truly be okay again.
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A smoke jumper and a baker who's past collided and ended in tragedy? I needed this like you wouldn't believe!
It's been years since Quinn’s family suffered one loss after the next. Nothing was ever the same after her older sister went missing and that created a domino effect within her loved ones. Now running the family owned bakery herself, Quinn is doing her best to survive the recent threats to some business owners as well as herself.
Left with no choice but to ask the one person that she deems responsible for her sister missing, she goes to the Road Captain of the Iron Outlaws MC for help. Quinn is about to learn a lot about self discovery, forbidden love and a danger that's lurking amongst the town.
Brotherhood has a deep meaning for smoke jumper “Smoke” and he's a fierce protector when it comes to his brothers. After suffering his own tragedy and getting injured, he decides that it's time to take a break from his other job and get back to the club. When Quinn shows up asking for help, he knows that nothing is ever going to be the same again.
The Fire We Crave had all the makings to be a scorching, painful angst filled read that was going to set ablaze the forbidden line that these two characters were going to cross. I was not a fan of the whole shocking wrench that was thrown into the story and I think it would've been better without it. While it didn't really live up to that, it was still a decent read and I'm really looking forward to reading the President's(Butcher's) book. That is going to be one messy read and I'm here for it!!
AUTHOR BIO
Scarlett Cole is a contemporary romance author that calls both Toronto, Canada and Manchester, England home. A born city dweller, she periodically quashes the urge to live in the country by hiking up a mountain to remind herself that living away from people would terrify the pants off her.
She believes everybody deserves their love story to be told and loves her heroes on the rough and rugged side…and usually tall (because she married one of those 6ft 6” men you read about in romance books!). She’s an A-type personality and Scorpio star sign, so good luck getting her to do anything she doesn’t want to.
When she isn’t writing, she’s happy to talk about hot men and expensive shoes while drinking a cold gin and tonic. Don’t bring up olives. As far as Scarlett is concerned, they are the devil’s food. As long as you don’t bring up olives, she’s happy to hear from you any time.
She is represented by Louise Fury at The Fury Agency.
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