Jennifer Blackwood is back with some hot firefighters with this second book Up in Flames. This is an amazing enemies to lover read. Not only do you get Reece the hot firefighter but you get sassy Sloane too. If you've read the first book in the Flirting with Fire series Burning Up, then you know that Sloane is Erin's best friend and Jake is Reece's and that Reece and Erin are siblings. I love Sloane. She is strong and feisty and you get why she is angry with Reece once you read this. Reece is known to be a bit of a playboy and amazing at his job. A few obstacles bring Sloane and Reece together and is wonderful to watch them go from the I can't stand you to the need to have you. They just have that love/hate relationship that will draw you in from the start. You feel bad for all that Reece is put through but once you see the changes in him you really grow to love him. How can you not swoon a little for Reece. I love the Flirting with Fire series and I can't wait for the next one.

Somehow I feel as though I need this caveat, as always, before I begin this review. My expectations, when it comes to romantic fiction are tuned differently when when I read general fiction; better put, the very classification of the genre shapes what I naturally want to read of my protagonists, so their traits are looked at not just in terms of their social contributions (good soldier/cop/firefighter), or their generosities to their families, or how often they mow the lawn for their blind neighbours, for instance, which many authors love to highlight.

In contrast, I typically look at romantic heroism through the lens of other qualities, such as integrity, commitment, the care and concern because this genre is precisely one in which such things seem necessary for the guaranteed HEA that is its peculiar characteristic. I’ve been confronted with too many protagonists who fall out of this framework of late, and instead conform to stereotypes that have me rolling my eyes, which accounts for my inability to like a book more because of it.

Jennifer Blackwood’s ‘Up in Flames’ was unfortunately, yet another one of those for me. It’s certainly a story that will appeal to others: the rather light-hearted feel, the slight bit of angst to stir up some emotions about a backstory accounting for present-day terrible behaviour and the eventual but rocky road to redemption and a HEA.

What stood out for me was the very relatable Sloane, but then I’ve always liked seeing this sort of scrappy strength in a romantic heroine: somewhat bitter about a breakup but still digging in, hanging on in control, refusing to be vulnerable, with her brain turning to mush at the sight of Reece’s body being the only cringeworthy characteristic I found.

In contrast, Reece felt like too much of the clichéd, ego-filled, manwhore arsehole player for me—doing the rounds with eight of the nurses in Sloane’s workplace first made him beyond distasteful (armed with the usual excuse of having been hurt so long ago and thus is into emotionless hooking up from now onwards) in contrast to Sloane’s impressive sticking it through with her one and only long-term relationship despite it ending badly. Adding the fact that he’d always had a thing for her on and off throughout most of their lives, was waffling about the idea of ‘them’ up until quite literally the last few lines in the second-last chapter…well, I couldn’t quite find too much of a basis to even root for this pairing when there didn’t seem to be that much of an active push for both to be together.

The enemies-to-lovers trope is a deliciously cool one (which had me jumping on this) but with constant thoughts intruding about Sloane deserving way better than settling for what I honestly thought was a chemistry-less relationship, this is clearly not a book that worked for me.

A bit slow moving for me but held typical Jen Blackwood charm. Funny banter and cute dog. I just felt a lack of connection between the characters that took almost the entire book to get to.

Book 1 in this series left me feeling a little deflated, not caring one way or the other about the outcome of the story. Book 2 however, had me fully invested in both Sloane and Reece from the beginning, friends to enemies to lovers, one of my favourite genres, I even liked Jake and Erin more in this book. The story follows cocky firefighter Reece Jenkins who is only interested in one night stands, even though he actually turned down a one night stand with ER nurse, and best friend to his sister, Sloane Garcia, a year previous. Acting like a gentleman did him no favours though, even though Sloane was drunk, she remembers his rebuff only too well. The fact that he’s pretty much slept his way through the whole nursing staff didn’t go unnoticed by her, making her feel even more inadequate. When her chance for payback is handed to her on a plate she willing takes it. Fun, flirty and addictive read. I loved the story, the writing and all the characters, I’m so looking forward to seeing where book 3 will take us. I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my honest review.

The flames definitely burned hot in a room anytime Reese was near Sloane. He tried to deny the attraction he felt towards her but it was a battle that would ultimately be lost. How he put some much needed distance between them would ultimately tear Sloane into shreads and damaging their relationship. She is not one to forget, forgive, and move on. Finding a way to seek a little revenge pulls them closer than they both could have possibly imagined. I laughed throughout the book and felt their need for one another as I tried to read each detail faster to get to the end. Absolutely the best!

As with the first book in the series, Ms Blackwood has crafted characters who are well beyond multi-dimensional. Between Reece and Sloan the sparks, both positive and negative, were combustible (no pun intended); their verbal sparring was wicked smart, the banter at times brutal. Yet when the barriers generated from their individual and shared pasts were finally peeled away, they had an undeniable chemistry.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

This is book 2 in a series and I really enjoyed the first book. That said I did not really like this one. I felt it lacked the warmth and fun of the other book and largely that was because Reese is such a colossal jerk to Sloane that I relished her punishment when she wins him in abachelor/favor auction. However instead of the revenege acts being fun it made me not really like her either.

This author me is a hit sometimes and miss sometimes. I do really enjoy enemeies to lover storylines but I felt Reese was too much to take at times and Sloane's revenge plot was fun, her executing of it was not fun. It is well written and I liked the concept. But for me I wanted to like the two main characters and I just did not.

LOVED this book! I was literally laughing out loud and smiling while reading. This is witty and smart and allows us int Reece and Sloane's world, where they are stuck in the annoying hate antics more common to siblings. And, with Reece's best friend and sister a couple and Sloane his sister's best friend, there is no getting away from each other.

Things come to a head when Sloane bids on Reece at the bachelor auction. It's supposed to be four chores in four weeks, however, Sloane has every intention of drawing it out to maximize Reece's discomfort. The first task was hilarious. How something so simple could be made so funny is demonstrative of the the author's talent. This made me laugh through the whole section, especially on how Reece attempted to control the results of that task.

If you want a funny, contemporary romance, you have found it in this novel. It is smart, fun, and a must read for fans of the genre. The author is on my must read authors' list.

2.5 stars...I wasn't crazy about this book. There was so much back and forth with Reece and Sloane that it got tiring. These were two adults that acted as children, I get animosity and I get fighting attraction but it was the whole book and I honestly had to make myself finish the book. I liked this author with her part in "Tap That" with RC Boldt and it was hilarious, loved that book but this one and the one before it was not great at all, I think it is times for me to get off of the train.

Wow! Loved this book!! I really didn't enjoy the first book in this series so I didn't know what to expect but I loved this one!! This is Reece and Sloane book, Reese is a hot firefighter and Sloane is his sister's best friend, these two together were very funny they fought and basically hated each other! Lol but soon the fireworks went off!! It was a very well written book one of the main drama was left up in the air in assuming it'll be in the next book as the who done it?? Maybe anyway definitely don't miss out on this book! If you didn't like the first book like me definitely give this one a chance I really enjoyed reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and Montlake romance publishers for sharing this book with me!