Thank you @netgalley @readforeverpub & @grandcentralpub for the chance to be on the eARC team reading this book before its pub date!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5 scale)
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥 (0-5 scale)

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 This book is like a romp in a tulip field (or another field—IYKYK).😁 Also, just knowing they have balloon glows right in this same field, I had to.
🤩 This book is worthy of so many creative book pairings and pictures. It could be with my daughter in her dance recital pictures from this past weekend. It could be with my kids’ pottery they’ve made in high school ceramics classes. It obviously should be soaring through the sky in a hot air balloon. I won’t spoil the name of the balloon—it is one of my favorite parts.
🤩 Representation for PTSD, anxiety attacks, migraines, lactose intolerance—life is tricky and hard at times but, with the right people by your side, you can be full of joy anyway.
🤩 Sometimes we’re lucky and our people are from our actual family. Sometimes our people are our friends—our made family. Both in this book. So much love!
🤩 The bond between our MCs, Zander and Imani, is extra strong because they have a connection of understanding what it’s like to lose a parent tragically.
🤩 I adore how Zander longs to be with Imani but gives her time and space to make her choice.
🤩 I adore how Zander and Imani are working toward becoming the best versions of themselves with the help of friends, family, and some outside counseling.
🤩 Grandma Gigi is the life of the party and such good heart and humor in this book. I was so busy enjoying this book that I only highlighted two spots and one was something super funny from Gigi.
🤩 I have How Sweet It Is, Drake and Kate’s story, but I just didn’t prioritize right and get to read it before this one. The author did an amazing job of making it a stand alone in a series of brothers.

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 I’m being so greedy in the lusty feels department. This isn’t about the slow burn—I get that. I did feel a little desire from how they think about and look at each other. And from the main steamy scene! But when I’ve been through some emotional turmoil in the plot with the MCs, I really want the HEA to include some steamy closeness.

ALL FIRED UP was my first read by Dylan Newton and it turned out to be a quick, enjoyable romcom. HOW SWEET IT IS is technically the first in the series (with characters showing up here in book ✌🏻), but you could def read this as a stand-alone.

What I liked:
-Gigi 👵🏻 I freakin’ LOVED Gigi. the MC, Imani had the sweetest relationship with her Grandma
-Imani and Zander were good compliments to one another. their relationship was a good yin/yang
-supporting characters of Zander’s bros & Imani’s BFF

What didn’t work for me:
-Lancelot 🥴 I hate/am terrified of birds & he was a menace 😫
-was Zander even human? he seemed wayyy too perfect
-wrapped up too quickly leaving unanswered questions

All in all, this fell in the middle for me as fas as romances go. I enjoyed it, but it won’t necessarily be one that sticks with me 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thank you Netgalley and Forever Pub for the arc in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc of “All Fired Up” by Dylan Newton!

This book follows Imani and Zander who had a two night stand a year ago at Imani’s best friend, Kate’s and Zander’s brother, drake’s wedding. The first couple of chapters of the book were heavy on the Kate and drake characters which I didn’t mind but it made a lot more sense once I found out this book is part of a series that started with Kate and drakes love story. That book has definitely been added to my tbr!

Imani moves back to Texas for the summer to help her grandma Gigi recover from surgery. I really liked the relationship between Imani and her grandma. The history of Imani’s mom made their relationship even more poignant.

I have read a decent amount of romance books in the last year and while I may like the love interests I have only found myself having crushes on a few. Zander matthews is one of the few! He is so sweet and kind and I’m attracted. I thought their chemistry was great and the physical scenes were well written and charged with passion. The balloon date was one of the best dates I’ve read in a book and the sex scene was definitely satisfying and worth the wait.

I enjoyed the relationships between Imani and Kate, Zander and ryker, Zander and his mom, imani and her grandma. All had different and interesting dynamics.

I appreciate when each lead character implements an ideology of the others to improve their life. Since life is not black and white, Zander benefits from taking a little of Imani’s planning ways, while she feels lighter living more in the now. I also loved Zander’s mom gently telling him maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing to grow up/find some stability.

I would have liked to delve even more into the history of Imani’s mom, Zander’s post marines/ryker accident trauma, and his relationship with food. I loved the grand gesture of securing a space for Imani’s dance studio.

I personally do not love public engagements so I did not need that in the epilogue. It could’ve ended with Zander showing Imani the dance studio. The wrap up at the recital thanking everyone was nice closure for the relationships, but the proposal was a bit corny for me and seemed somewhat out of character for both of them. The pretty please line did not make sense or seem in character to me.

I love the cover art. Very eye catching colors and soothing with floating balloons.

Overall, I really enjoyed “All Fired Up” and rated it 5 stars. I would purchase a physical copy for my bookshelf and recommend to friends!

Imani visits home for the summer to take care of her grandma and then bumps into her two-night fling — Zander.

All Imani wants is to be left alone to take care of her grandma and her best friend, Kate. Imani was also battling PTSD from the death of her mum, and it leads to a series of insomnia — this aspect was written perfectly, and I could feel what she was going through.

Zander wants Imani. Even after their fling, she's been on his mind, and now she's back. The problem is that he doesn't know how to get her back without driving her away. But can he show her that what they have is worth it? The connection between these two is one to swoon over. I loved how he was always letting her take the lead, even though he felt the need to just do everything for her. He was patient and understanding.

TW: PTSD, survivor’s guilt, grief, and body image issues.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Pub for giving me a copy of this book.

Dylan Newton knocked it out of the park again. This story follows Drake Matthew's brother, Zander, and Kate's best friend, Imani, who is Drake's publicist as well. Imani is unsure of herself and is entirely taken off guard when her one-night stand, Zander, picks her up from the airport after she completely ghosted him. This story developed in a very beautiful way, I loved Dylan's writing and enjoyed the funny moments that Zander and Imani shared when she kept bumping into him around Wellsville. Watching Imani grow into the person she is meant to be with Zander's help was incredible. This book does deal with mental health so please check your triggers, I absolutely loved this book and will definitely be reading more from Dylan Newton!

Thank you to Forever - Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for the advanced reading copy. Review contains my own thoughts and opinions.

I just finished All Fired Up a few minutes ago, and am wiping happy tears from my eyes. This book was just everything and I adored every single page. Thank you, Dylan, for writing two perfectly flawed characters in Imani and Zander, and their funny, vulnerable story.

Nine months before the book, Imani and Zander danced the bachata together at Imani’s best friend and Zander’s brothers wedding - and had a one (two night) stand. The story of how Zander learned the bachata was my first laugh out loud moment of the book.

Then, Imani basically ghosted him. But now, they’re back in the same town for the summer. Imani’s grandma, Gigi, is having knee surgery and needs a caretaker. Gigi just so happens to live in the same town as Zander, and Imani’s best friend Kate!

It was a rom-com with heart, depth, and some spice - my absolute my favorite kind! Plus, a sassing Gigi, foul-mouthed bird, and a recipe AND card game instructions in the back - what more could you want from a book?!

From the author who brought us How Sweet It Is comes the next book set in the same world. This book follows Imani, publicist to Kate’s husband Drake…who happens to be the older brother of Zander.

Imani is taking a much needed break over the summer to look after her grandmother, who’s having double knee replacement surgery. She’s been offered a promotion at work at this time back at home will give her time to figure out just what she wants from life, which doesn’t include Zander, her one-night stand from 8 months ago.

Zander is a live-in-the moment kind of guy and doesn’t want to get involved with Imani again, afraid to get his heart bruised again after she ghosted him. He’s content running his ceramics studios and helping the Wellsville community where he can. Fate may have different plans as he keeps getting tangled up with Imani and it’s becoming impossible to keep her in the friend zone.

While I adore Zander and Imani, my favorite character is Gigi. She’s my octogenarian goals lol! Zander was a sweetheart with how patiently he pursued Imani. The intimate moments are what I’d consider “closed” door, but were charming and felt right for the story.

There were several moments where I wanted to strangle Imani, but understood where she was coming from. She had trauma she needed to heal from and I’m glad to see there was a positive portrayal of seeking mental health.

An easy, delightful read that I would recommend for readers who enjoy Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez!

Thank you NetGalley and Forever-Grand Central Publishing for an advanced copy.

I am in love with Grandma Gigi! Touching, emotional and so so charming!

When workaholic book publicist Imani moves in with her grandma over the summer to help her recover from surgery, she is excited to reconnect with her roots and help her best friend prepare for her new baby’s arrival. What she isn’t expecting is to see her one-night stand, Zander, who she ghosted from over a year ago and for Zander to agree to help her in fixing up her grandma’s house, but only if they remain just friends. But as their friendship turns flirtier and feelings start to get involved, Imani begins to realize that there may be more to the potential relationship than she originally thought.

This book has such a cute premise and really delivers! From the small town setting to the foul-mouthed parrot, I absolutely adored it! I loved the banter, especially between Imani and her grandma. The characters were quirky, flawed and relatable and Zander and Imani are just adorable!

Thanks to Forever publishing for the e-arc!

This was a super cute rom-com! I loved Zander and Imani’s relationship, how they grew together and as individuals. This book addresses some heavier topics (trauma/grief) but still manages to stay lighthearted and fun!

This was a more serious story than the previous. Our heroine is dealing with stress at work, in life, and is trying to make some tough decisions. When her grandmother needs a caretaker for the summer, she jumps at the chance to be able to spend time with her and use it to reflect. However, as soon as she arrives, nothing goes as planned. Facing the man that has been on her mind, her BFF is about to give birth, and her life stressors is sure to push her over the edge. It was a wake up call and I did enjoy the journey. But I felt like the pairing was pushed aside to deal with all of her issues until almost the end and I wish they could have had more time.

I devoured this one! There is no other way to explain it. All Fired Up by Dylan Newton is the second contemporary romance set in Wellsville and featuring the Matthews brothers. Imani Lewis is taking an extended summer vacation from her hectic life as a publicist at Cerulean Books. The extended hours and stress are catching up with her in the form of panic attacks and insomnia. Now her grandmother is having double knee replacement surgery, her best friend is expecting her first baby, and she’s been offered a big promotion. Imani needs a chance to decide what she really wants in life, and 12 weeks off helping Gigi recover is just what she needs. However, she’ll have to deal with the youngest Matthews brother, her wedding one-night stand and the man that just won’t leave her be.

I adored Imani. She has risen in the ranks as one of my favorite characters so far this year. She is a beautifully flawed character, easy to relate to and easy to root for. It was easy as an observer to see what was going on with Imani, pretty much from the get go. This woman is a workaholic, control freak, who cannot leave anything to chance. She craves order in her life and creates it every where she goes, either through organizing or multiple, color-coded to-do lists. The unpredictable nature of being home at her grandmother’s is just what she needs to release some of the pent up stress before her body tells her enough is enough.

Zander may just be my favorite Matthews brother (I will withhold final judgment until I’ve read Ryker’s story next year). He is the youngest of the three. With his live and let live attitude and Peter Pan complex (Imani’s description, not mine), he flits through life without any true commitments. That’s what he appears to be from the outside. However, he is nothing like the playboy everyone believes him to be. He is generous, empathetic, and has a heart of gold. This man would literally give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. It is easy to see why Imani would be attracted to him.

Overall, I loved All Fired Up. Zander’s pursuit of Imani is sweet as he approaches her with the intent of letting her take the lead, just what the woman who always wants control needs. These two balance each other out and make a believable couple. I absolutely loved Gigi and her foul-mouthed parrot Lancelot. If you enjoy romantic comedy, I highly recommend it.

Final Thought: All Fired Up by Dylan Newton is a laugh-out loud, heartfelt romance that teaches us that sometimes it’s ok to not be in control.

I'm not sure where to start with this book. After loving Dylan's debut novel; How Sweet It Is, I was so excited to read this one but it did not live up to the first one for me. We follow Zander who runs a pottery studio in upstate New York and Imani who is a a book publicist. The two spend a fun weekend together at a wedding but then Imani ghosts Zander who thought this might be something long term. When Imani comes back to town to help out her grandmother for the summer, Zander makes it his mission to see if their chemistry is real. Overall this book was just ok, I felt like the entire book was one big romance cliche and I knew what was going to happen next. I also don't like the trope of one character thinking the other is a player because of rumors they heard and don't listen when said person says they are not! This trope just really frustrates me. My favorite parts were Imani's grandmother and seeing Kate and Drake together again! Im hoping this reading experience was just a me thing and will pick up the author's next book because while the plot wasn't for me I still really enjoyed her writing style. Thank you Forever for my gifted copy for review!

Unfortunately, I couldn't connect with these characters as much as I did with How Sweet It Is. I believe it mainly stems in the fact that there is a lack of relationship arc and there was a lot of repetition of emotions and occurrences. With that being said, I still look forward to reading more of this series since I really enjoyed How Sweet It Is.

This was a quick, enjoyable read. I love how there is a mix of humor and also serious topics (without getting overly serious). Imani is Kate's best friend (from How Sweet It Is, the first book in this series). Zander is Drake's brother (also from How Sweet It Is). It was nice to revisit Kate and Drake a lot throughout this book as well. Imani's grandmother, Gigi, and her bird are absolutely hilarious too!
After Imani and Zander spent two nights together after Kate and Drake's wedding, they go their separate ways. Imani is a Type A, planner and Zander has a more laid back personality. Imani ends up in the same small town as Zander for the summer to take care of her grandma. This leads to Imani and Zander spending time together. Their chemistry is talked about a lot, but I never truly felt like they were lusting for one another. The hot air balloon scene is pretty great though!

Overall, a quick, light romance read - 3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

This book is adorable. I really appreciate how it deals with mental health and gave room for flawed characters to grow and change throughout the story. It's well written and has some really good themes carried through both the main characters as well as the supporting characters around them. I was cheering for them the whole time. I also enjoyed the dual POV style of writing - to get both sides of the MCs views incorporated in the story.

I have not read How Sweet It Is Yet, but I definitely will be after having finished this book! I've always enjoyed romance series that are centered around family groups - so the three brothers in this story intrigue me - I'm looking forward to Ryker's story next summer! Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher & author for an advance copy of this book for me to read and review.

Let me say I absolutely loved the first book on the series, How Sweet It Is. I found that book a very fast and entertaining read and gave it 5 stars. All Fired Up is the 2nd book in this series. For me this book was a little slower paced and a slow burn romance. Overall I still did enjoy Imani and Zander’s story. There were many LoL moments between the 2 of them and I enjoyed the “when will they finally just get together “ part of the story. Overall if you enjoyed the 1st book so think you will enjoy this too. For me it was just a slower book for me but sometimes I enjoy taking my time with a book.

I picked up How Sweet It Is without knowing anything about the author, and I absolutely devoured the book! Then, I saw they had a new book out, and I snagged it without even reading the synopsis. So, I was so surprised and delighted to find that this story follows the romance of two side characters from How Sweet It Is!

All Fired Up starts up with Imani, a book publicist coming to stay with her grandmother who is having a surgery and could use some help recovering. When her best friend is supposed to pick her up at the airport, she finds Zander instead…her one night, okay two night, stand and also her best friend’s brother in law.

What follows is honestly quite a sweet story of a man in love waiting for the girl to be ready. I really enjoyed how patient Zander was while Imani worked through all of her emotions. Zander has his own bit of growth as well, but Imani stole the show for me in this one.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. I think I loved How Sweet It Is just a bit more for the comedy aspect but enjoyed the slow-burn romance of All Fired Up!

Imani is a publicist who has taken a leave of absence from work to help her grandmother, Gigi recovery from surgery, and to help her best friend, Kate, as Kate prepares to give birth to her first child. Oh yeah, Imani also has to deal with the fact that she brushed off Kate’s brother in law, Zander, after she had a two-night stand with him the weekend of Kate’s wedding. But Kate doesn’t know about that. And when she connects with Zander again, sparks begin to fly. But Imani does not give in to her feelings because Zander is so carefree and she perceives him to be unserious. Cute banter, but I could have done without Gigi and Imani giving each other the middle finger. That was weird. Also, X-rated Gigi was a bit much.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC but this story wasn’t for me. I didn’t enjoy the main character or the writing style

Already a Dylan Newton fan, I was excited for ALL FIRED UP, especially after getting to know bits of Imani and Zander in HOW SWEET IT IS. Readers of Newton’s first book will recognize Imani as Drake’s publicist. Now she gets her own book with Drake’s younger brother, Zander, who has a ceramic studio in the town where Imani is spending the summer taking care of her grandmother after surgery. After an intense hookup, the two now must face each other after leaving things off…not so great. It was so fun getting to see these two in the aftermath of their fling. ALL FIRED UP gives you fiery chemistry between Imani and Zander, some funny slapstick moments, and more insight into the depth of the characters and their backgrounds. I’m already excited for the third book in this series!