Book Beginning & Friday 56: Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts

Happy Friday! Welcome to my Book Beginnings and Friday 56 post.

The closest book to me today is Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts. I love her work but somehow this book got buried in my TBR stack when it arrived. I just re-discovered it when I was looking for some books to read for the TBR challenges I am doing this year.

Here is the description:
The number-one New York Times-bestselling author delves into the world of elite firefighters who thrive on danger and adrenaline--men and women who wouldn't know how to live life if it wasn't on the edge.

There's little as thrilling as firefighting--at least to Rowan Tripp. The Missoula smoke jumpers are in Rowan's blood: her father is a legend. She's been fighting fires since her eighteenth birthday. At this point, returning to the wilds of Montana for the season feels like coming home--even with reminders of the partner she lost last season still lingering.

Fortunately, this year's rookie crop is one of the strongest ever--and Gulliver Curry's one of the best. He's also a walking contradiction, a hotshot firefighter with a big vocabulary and a winter job at a kids' arcade.

Everything is thrown off balance when a dark presence lashes out against Rowan, looking to blame someone for last year's tragedy. Rowan knows she can't complicate things with Gull--any distractions in the air or on the ground could mean the end--but if she doesn't find someone she can lean on, she may not make it through the summer. . . . 
Beginning:
Caught in the crosshairs of wind above the Bitterroots, the jump ship fought to find its stream. Fire boiling over the land jabbed its fists up through towers of smoke as if trying for a knock-out punch.
Friday 56:
"No tequila haze this morning?"
If you want to participate in these two Friday memes, you can check out Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for the Friday 56. Join the fun by telling us the first sentence of the book and the fifth sentence on page 56 of  your closest book.