Book Review: Afterglow by Aria Wyatt

Afterglow was a bit emotional and hard hitting. There’s discussion of alcoholism, assault, and parental death. I’m not bothered by any of it, but it’s important to know. It’s also an age-gap romance. That’s not my favorite trope, but I wasn’t bothered.

Solana is a college student who returns to Vermont because her panic attacks are too much. Her panic stems from the death of her parents when she was a kid. She’s now working at the Busy Bean. Declan’s a moody Irishman who wants more time with his son, but has issues with his ex-wife. He’s also a recovering alcoholic. Solana’s parents died because of a drunk driver so...drama.

They meet at the Busy Bean because Declan comes in a lot usually with his son. And the chemistry is there right away. Declan tries to avoid a relationship with Solana because he doesn’t want to piss off his ex-wife. But this is a romance so you know they give into the temptation. It starts as a physical thing, but they both want more.

There is some relationship conflict which I’m not going into because that’s maybe too spoiler. Ms. Wyatt took what I expected, but did some interesting things with it.

A lot of the story is about Declan and Solana’s personal issues and conflicts. Declan’s surround alcohol and his ex-wife. Solana is still dealing with the loss of her parents 15 years earlier. She was raised by her older brother and that wasn’t the healthiest relationship. I liked how deep their characters were.

This may have been a tad too long. Some parts felt drawn out. Other times resolutions felt fast. Maybe I just can’t be satisfied.

Oh, I almost forgot the side characters. They were very well developed and felt real. They were also complex-again realistic. They also provided some sequel bait.

Afterglow was a good addition to the Busy Bean series and a nice conclusion.

Thanks for reading!
Holly

Book Review: Fireproof by Delancey Stewart

I blew through this. It has a lot of my catnip so that’s probably not a surprise. I love small towns, farms, ex-military, and the general vibes. A cute pupper helps, too!

All that being said, I don’t have a lot to say. That happens a lot when I read a book so fast. I’ll still try.

Mason’s a pretty grumpy guy. They say he has “resting murder face.” He does care about his family (and dog), but he also tries to protect himself from pain by avoiding relationships. Heather is an education lobbyist-so is my brother. She’s being harassed after testifying against a senator. She’s dealing with the fallout from that and her brother takes her to MAson in Vermont to escape.

Thank you, Delancey Stewart, for writing a brother’s best friend romance without an over-the-top brother. It made me unreasonably happy.

Because of Heather’s trauma, I was worried about her getting into a relationship. But the pacing was so good. Both Mason and Heather went on personal journeys that helped me root for their romance.

The little friendship and family bits were very good, too. I definitely teared up a little bit a couple of times.

I will check out more Delancey Stewart. Especially since there was some very obvious sequel bait. I’m the fish and will always bite that bait.
Thanks for reading!
Holly

Book Review: Doubletalk by Teralyn Mitchell

Friends-to-enemies kind of-to lovers. There’s predictable moments, but I really enjoyed this. I read it in one day and easily got sucked in.

Rory and Zeke were childhood friends, but they had a falling out in middle school. Rory still lives in Vermont. Zeke is a professional basketball player. He returns to Vermont to rehab some injuries. They run into each other and slowly reconnect. Zeke definitely wants a relationship or at least friendship, but Rory is still angry from the earlier stuff.

Rory will probably bother some readers. She’s a harsher personality and she’s a big grudge holder. I didn’t mind, but I’ve been known to hold a grudge so I get it. She’s also fairly self-aware about that. She does grow and learn, too. 

Zeke was a very nice guy and he tried to make up for mistakes he made as a kid. I would’ve liked him to be a bit more developed. We got little glimpses of his familial relationships, but that was really it.

My biggest issue was around the “big secret”. I knew from the beginning what the big conflict would be. I hate the not talking to each other thing. It wasn’t the knowing it part that bothered me but what the actual conflict was.

There were some small pacing or plotting things that felt off. Or sometimes I thought there was a continuity error. Maybe it was me. It didn’t impact my enjoyment too much anyways. 

Ms. Mitchell, please tell me Stacey will get her HEA. I’ll definitely look into more books by Mitchell when I have space in my TBR. Her style was easy to read and connect with.

Thanks for reading!
Holly