Firefighter Mallory feels like he’s just too old to start life over.  After his marriage ends, Mal finds that he has to do just that, at least in some areas of his life.  Though he hasn’t been with a man in almost eight years, Mal decides to go to a discreet gay bar, and it’s there he meets Will.  The gorgeous stranger knows how to dance, in more ways than one.  Too bad the morning after their first encounter Mal finds out that Will is the newest firefighter at Mal’s station.  Mal and Will’s desire for one another may be impossible to resist, but Mal is determined to keep things casual.  Yet, despite their agreement to keep their relationship solely physical, emotions have a way of interfering with the best laid plans.  With family, friends, co-workers, and exes interfering in their lives, it’s up to Mal and Will to decide if they can make their relationship last before life brings their dance to an end.

Chris Owen writes with all the fluidity and elegance of a well-performed dance, and Cheek to Cheek is a perfect example of this.  It’s both charming and sensual, with two heroes that are impossible to resist.  Mallory and Will are both strong, handsome firefighters.  They spend each day risking their lives to save others and I loved the contrast of the real harshness of their job to the grace of their dancing with one another.

A host of secondary characters help bring Cheek to Cheek to life and from Trish, Mal’s ex-wife, to the men’s fellow firefighters each is a well-developed character that I came to like.  Cheek to Cheek is set in the same world as 911, so fans of that novel will delight in seeing Drew, Scott, and Eric once more in this story.

Every element of Cheek to Cheek worked for me, making it an utterly enchanting read.  From the romance to the dance to the camaraderie between the firefighters, Cheek to Cheek delights and I hope Chris Owen pens more stories set in this universe.