Review: All Fired Up

I just loved Dylan Newton’s novel How Sweet It Is when I read it last year (review here). I was really excited to revisit the characters and town in All Fired Up and Newton did not let me down!

Here’s the book’s description:

As a successful book publicist, Imani Lewis works night and day to promote her authors.  It’s her dream job, but she’s become a total workaholic. So when her grandmother invites her to stay for the summer as she recovers from surgery, Imani happily agrees. But being back in the same small town as her one-night stand may not be quite the relaxing break she envisioned…
Zander Matthews wakes up every day determined to enjoy the present because he knows from his time in the Marines that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. But he’s never gotten over the beautiful woman who blew through town a year ago, then disappeared. And he doesn’t want to be hurt again. So they agree to a deal: he’ll help Imani fix up her grandmother’s house as long as they stay firmly in the friend zone.
Whether it’s repairing tiles in his ceramics studio, dodging nosy neighbors, or soothing the most obnoxious parrot ever, Zander never fails to make Imani laugh. And soon their friendly banter is turning ever flirtier. But since Imani’s stay is temporary and Zander can’t be tied to anything beyond the most tenuous plans, will she be able to handle it when things get all fired up?

The reader has to get over some miscommunication in this romance because Zander and Imani refuse to have a full conversation about how they felt about their one-night stand and what that means for a relationship going forward. Sometimes that drives me absolutely up the wall, but I think I was in a good space when I read this one and I was able to let it go. I also really wanted the pair of them to work out and realize they were totally right for each other so maybe that allowed me to ignore their issues with communicating!

Thinking back, I think the relationship that stole the show in this book wasn’t Zander and Imani but Imani and her grandmother. Their bond was so strong and I love seeing relationships like that in books. I also just loved her grandmother so much! She was one feisty and smart lady and was too much fun to read about.

I was totally rooting for Imani and Zander to get together but knew it was SO important for them each to figure out their own lives first. Imani was clearly not happy at work, even though she was hella competent and so amazing at her job. Zander also had a great thing going but he hadn’t quite gotten a handle on the whole Adulting thing (not that I’m judging – I’m still struggling with a few areas of Adulting myself!) I knew once they sorted out their shit, the romance would follow and the pay off would be so worth it. (Spoiler alert: it was!)

The first two books were pretty connected with the women being best friends and the men being brothers. I’m not sure how book three will feel since we don’t know the third brother too well and there was no obvious love interest introduced. I’m still looking forward to it!

Content warnings in this one include the death of Imani’s mother in a house fire – which occurred when she was young but is discussed and there’s a triggering incident for her – and a complicated birth/labour scene near the end of the book.

I very much enjoyed All Fired Up and am eagerly awaiting Dylan Newton’s next novel. She’s created such a wonderful small town and characters that you just can’t help but fall in love with!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: How Sweet It Is

Sometimes a rom com comes into your life just at the right moment. I think that was the case with How Sweet It Is. I had so much fun reading Dylan Newton's novel - it hit all the right notes for a rom com and I really enjoyed my time spent with the characters. 

Here's the book's description:

Event planner Kate Sweet is famous for creating the perfect happily-ever-after moment for her clients’ dream weddings. So how is it that her best friend has roped her into planning a bestselling horror writer’s book launch extravaganza? But the second Kate meets—or rather, accidentally maims—the drop-dead-hot Drake Matthews, her well-ordered life quickly transforms into an absolute nightmare.
Drake Matthews is tired of the spotlight and tired of his reputation as the Knight of Nightmares. He's really a nice guy! But he’s not prepared for Kate, a fearless agent of chaos in steel-tipped stilettos, or for that sweet sting of attraction he feels for her. She’s inspiring him to take his writing in a whole new direction—one that no one expects. Because now Kate and Drake are changing up the rules, and this plot twist might just surprise everyone . . . including themselves.

It seems like this book could be an enemies to lovers or an opposites attract type story but, really, it was a case of miscommunication and assumptions on both sides. Kate isn't as uptight as Drake assumes, and Drake is not the creepy horror writer Kate expected. Once they get to know each other, they (and the reader) realize they have some things in common and, gasp, might actually like each other. I liked that Newton managed to avoid falling into the insta-love trap (even though the story takes place over a short period of time). Kate and Drake falling for each other just made so much sense and I loved reading as the sexual tension got higher and higher until they finally got together (and I loved how they did as well with a mini getaway). 

I'm really hoping Newton continues this novel into a series because I would love to get back into town and see what might happen romantically with both of Drake's brothers. The three siblings had such a great relationship and I'd be really interested to see who the other two end up with. My guess is one of them will end up with Kate's best friend (and Drake's publicist)!

Unlike a lot of small town set romances/rom coms I've read lately, How Sweet It Is didn't fall into any ridiculous territory. Yes, there was a super cute Harvest Festival but you could tell the whole town enjoyed it and it was a really special event for Drake's mom, which came through really well. The town is proud of Drake and welcoming of outsiders, which made the setting feel really good.

If I had to nitpick, I'd say the "crisis" the pair go through at the end of the novel (like in all romances and rom coms) was a bit ridiculous. Drake refused to actually speak to Kate about what happened and made assumptions instead (which, to be fair, made sense as something similar had happened in a past relationship). It wasn't such a bad thing that they couldn't come back from it, so I was happy about that, but it was just kind of like, "well, we have to have something happen so they fight/break up/etc. and then can have a wonderful get back together moment" and it was tossed in without a ton of thought.

I have an event background and I love books so the fact that Kate was an event planner and Drake was an author really made me excited to read this. Each career was explored well without being too technical and Newton was able to showcase each character's skills and how proud the other was of them.

Finally, I liked that there was a brief stop in Niagara Falls, albeit the "other" side of the falls. I live nearby on the Canadian side and it's always fun when books take place in and around the area. It was very much seen from the tourist side of things but it was cool to read as Kate took in Niagara Falls in a spectacular fashion.

How Sweet It Is totally thrilled me and it was a super fun and swoony rom com. If you're a fan of funny and smart romances, you're going to want to check out Dylan Newton's novel.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*