Hot firemen ... need we say more?

Delilah Devlin, editor of the Smokin' Hot Firemen erotic (duh) anthology from Cleis Press, joins us to explore the sensuality of … well, smokin' hot firemen. (And, look, there's a kitten on the cover! Aww.)

Delilah: Did you know firemen are the No. 1 romantic fantasy, according to Psychology Today?

And just think, they probably spent money to find out what we women already knew. In fact, when I was asked to come up with a theme for a short-story collection that would have universal appeal, firefighters were at the top of my list. Lucky for me, some great authors jumped at the chance to be a part of Smokin' Hot Firemen, published by Cleis Press.

I asked a few of those very smart ladies to tell me what the appeal was for them ...

Tahira Iqbal, author of Stoke: "When a man, any man, dashes into the fray for the greater good, he is instantly elevated to god-like status. Couple that with a uniform and you have an explosive mix of raw animal magnetism and hot sex appeal that makes a woman want to know what's under all that protective gear."

Rachel Firasek, author of Smoking Stilettos: "Firemen devote their life to fighting the blaze and saving lives. Heroes like that deserve to be glorified on our pages and included in our fantasies."

Cathryn Fox, author of Temperature Rising: "What's not to love? These guys are brave, gutsy, and heroic, always running in to danger when everyone else is running out, and it doesn't hurt that they look smokin' hot in their uniforms."

I think Adele Dubois, author of Hook Me Up, put it in the simplest words: "A firefighter is the closest real-life icon our society has to Superman."

In the lovely foreword to our book, author Jo Davis said, "There's just something thrilling about seeing a fireman in his turnouts, sweaty and satisfied from accomplishing a job well done, or wearing his department T-shirt on the way to the gym, muscles on glorious display as he turns every head. Firemen are quite simply divine. They should come with their own 'contents under pressure' warning label!"

I couldn't agree more. My sister Elle James, who wrote Chasing Fire, recently toured a firefighter training facility in Atlanta. One interesting nugget of information she took away was that "they hire only Type A (Alphas). They HAVE to be risk-takers. They can't hesitate; they have to be willing to go in without being scared."

Now, take that same raw physicality, fearlessness, and extreme focus and let that man loose in a bedroom with a woman he has pursued — you know you'll have the sweetest, hottest combustibles ready to ignite.

To find out more about Smokin' Hot Firemen, visit the Cleis Press website.