Is it getting hot in here? It is! We’re talking about firefighters this week — arguably the best of the hero(in)es in uniform because, let’s face it, there’s something pretty sexy about someone who will run into flames to save a stranger…let alone to save you. We’re talking about primordial firefighters, about patriarchy (obviously), about the difference between city firefighters and smoke jumpers, and about about the nature of a love interest who puts themself in danger for a living. All that, and they can dead lift you, too. Our first read along of 2024 is Natalie Caña’s A Dish Best Served Hot. Find it at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie. If you just can’t get enough of us, consider joining our Patreon! You get an extra episode of banter every month and access to the Fated Mates discord, full of people who love romance as much as we do. It’s pretty great, we have to say. Learn more at patreon.com/fatedmates.Show NotesYou can watch some movies and shows about firefighters and paramedics: Backdraft, Chicago Fire, and Sky Med.Here’s a snipped of the scene from Backdraft where they break a car window to get the hose to the hydrant.Wildland firefighting is dangerous and often underpaid, and the Marshall Project has written extensively on prisoners forced into these jobs. Also, here is a first person account of two men who used emergency fire shelters to survive a wildfire.Firefighting demographics are actually pretty bad in Chicago, and here’s a libguide (a library designed portal for collecting links/info on a certain topic) from the University of Illinois about this history of women in firefighting.Too bad about Charmed by the Alien Vampire Firemen!