Jimena “Mena” Mendoza, is a language teacher and a seasonal wildland firefighter in her native Arizona.
She returned to Arizona following a breakup with Dr. Sydney Foster, a Maryland university professor who specializes in Anthropological and Cultural Studies. In between fighting a raging wildfire, Mena goes out on her own to investigate the fire and is seriously injured. While unconscious in the hospital, Mena experiences haunting memories of not only a fire but love lost.

The first portion of the book concentrated quite heavily on the wildland fires, Mena’s injury, and some background about Mena and Sydney’s relationship. The second half of the book focused mainly on the psychological reasons why Sydney and to a lesser extent, Mena, behaved as this did during their relationship. The letter that Mena had written for Sydney was intense and poetic. That was one of the best parts of the book.

The main improvement recommendation that I would make is around the scene transitions. There were no scene transitions in this book. One moment the writing is about Mena is Arizona and the next moment the scene is focused on Sydney in Maryland. A new paragraph or some asterisks between scenes would help immensely.

In closing I thought the parallel between nature with the wildland fires and personal relationships was very fitting. Both can be unpredictable and intense. 4 stars

I received an ARC from Interlude Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.