It was a very cute and an amazing afternoon read for me. I really loved and enjoyed it. The MCs were fun, relatable and entertaining to read about. However, I liked the sweeping romance and, the character growth and development the most. Overall, it’s a 4 stars read for me.

Imani and Zander spent an incredible weekend following their friend and brother's (respectively) wedding. Knowing he was a player, Imani didn't bother responding to his messages. Almost a year later, Imani is back in town and Zander wants to give dating a shot to see if the feelings are a result of a memorable few nights or if they're something more. Problem is, he has to convince Imani t9 give it a shot too.
**
I like the premise of running into a one night stand coupled with falling for/changing a notorious bad boy. The execution was not there for me.

This book was close to a DNF on several occasions. There wasn't enough at stake for me to buy in and the plot was chaotic. I had a hard time figuring out the setting and time-line a few times. The trajectory was predictable (not a bad thing as you want romance to end in a happily ever after) but I did NOT feel authentic feelings between our protagonists.

Newton's previous book, How Sweet It Is, is one of the best romance novels I've ever read. So I was incredibly excited to get my hands on this! It lives up to, and may even surpass, the writing of the previous novel. If you have to choose between them for your first Newton novel, go with this one!

Cute book ! I read this less than a day it was so addicting! I could not put my kindle down ! So excited for the next book!

I enjoyed How Sweet It Is last year, and I enjoyed All Fired Up even more. The follow-up to How Sweet It Is, All Fired Up follows Imani Lewis (Kate’s BFF) and Zander (Drake’s brother). Imani is at a bit of a crossroads, and decides to take some time off from her book publicity job to visit her hometown and take care of her grandmother as she recovers from double knee replacement surgery. There, she runs into Zander, who’s “live in the moment” attitude has made him spontaneous, but a little stuck.

A second-chance (ish) romance, Imani and Zander met a year ago, but Imani is determined to keep things friendly. Good luck with that, Imani.

I love the way that Newton explores masculinity, taking men with experience that’s stereotypical masuculine (Zander’s an ex-marine), and giving them soft edges, vulnerability, and artsy streaks. Though Newton’s physical comparison of Zander to a celebrity was a little too specific for me, I both enjoyed Zander’s character and found myself rooting for him to grow, change, and heal from the things that taught him not to plan for the future. Imani was also a delight, from her focus on family, divided allegiances, and can-do attitude (but in a way that was endearing). I didn’t laugh as much here as I did at How Sweet it Is, but this book has a lot of heart, and some solid mental health representation (trauma/panic attacks). Readers should go into this one knowing that military service is discussed at length.

Though you don’t have to read How Sweet It Is to understand this one, it does provide some good context, especially to side characters. If you haven’t read it yet, it might be worth picking up before All Fired Up comes out May 17th.

Thanks to @authordylannewton and @readforeverpub for a DRC via NetGalley and a traveling ARC copy to review.

eARC provided by NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
1/5 stars
A very sweet small-town romance, but kind of boring. Nothing was really keeping me reading and my mind kept drifting away from the story as I read. I thought maybe going back and reading the first book would help me be more invested in the story but I couldn't get through that book either. I stopped reading All Fired Up and 3 fifths of the way through.

After absolutely loving How Sweet It Is, I was so excited to have the opportunity to read the second book in this series. Imani and Zander are reunited after a one night stand when Imani comes to town to help her grandmother recuperate from surgery. Despite all of their surface level differences, their summer flirtation begins to progress to something more serious.

There were so many characters that I truly fell in love with in this story, including Imani's grandmother and her parrot. It was also so lovely getting an update on Kate and Drake's relationship in this story! I really enjoyed the push/pull of Imani and Zander's relationship and their fun banter. I felt that Imani and Zander balanced each other well. There was also some mental health representation in this book. Looking forward to reading Ryker's story!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this advanced reading copy.

When Imani’s Grandmother asks her to spend the summer helping her recover from surgery, Imani is happy to help (and be in the same town as her best friend Kate). However, it’s also the same small town Zander, Kate’s brother in law, and a one night stand from Imani’s past, lives in as well. Zander is a free spirit who lives in the moment, and while their chemistry is undeniable, Imani, who is a type-a planner, can’t imagine how she and Zander could ever make it work.

I adored the first book in this series, How Sweet It Is and I had high expectations for this book. I’m happy to say Imani and Zander’s story blew past those expectations. I loved Imani and Zander both as individuals and as a couple. They were both complex characters with so many layers to them and I thoroughly enjoyed learning their backstories, and seeing them heal from past trauma. As a couple, not only did they help each other heal and support each other, but they really encouraged growth in each other and were really able to help each other become better people. Their witty banter was top notch and I just adored these two.

Another plus were the side characters. Grandma Gigi and her parrot had me laughing out loud throughout the story. Finally, getting to see Kate and Drake from the first book and get a glimpse into their life together made me so happy.

Thank you to Forever, Dylan Newton and Izzy for having me on the Traveling ARC team. I loved getting to read this one early!

I just loved this story. When I read "How Sweet it is" I was intrigued and in love with Imani and Zander. I wonder what happened with them and the author heard my prayers and answered my questions! Such a great book.

It was also so much fun to be part of the traveling ARC!

I received this ARC through NetGalley. I enjoyed this romance novel. The story follows as the main character see if they can turn their one night stand into a real relationship, and discover more about themselves along the way. It was a great, easy pleasant read. I cannot wait to read more from this series.

"All Fired Up" begins a year after Zander, Drake’s brother and Imani, Kate’s best friend and Drake’s publiscist, hooked up at the wedding of Drake and Kate. Ever since that one-night stand, Zander has been holding a torch for Imani and thought their weekend together was the beginning of a relationship, Imani very much ghosted him and put their weekend into the hook-up category. Imani is now back in town to help her grandmother recover from knee surgery, and Zander wants to see if their previous connection meant what he always thought it could mean.

I adored “How Sweet It Is” and thought that this was a great follow up! It was so sweet and truly funny. I read almost this entire book in one sitting, I could not put it down. The banter and snark between the Zander and Imani made me smile and laugh out loud along with the banter between Imani and her grandma Gigi. That woman is one great supporting character! Gigi and that crazy bird made me laugh so many times! Zander was an easy character to connect to and quite relatable. My favorite thing about him is his super kind heart. Underneath his care-free spirit, and happy go lucky attitude, he cares deeply for people and I really enjoyed that about his character. He spends so much of the story helping out Imani and the whole town. I loved that he didn’t pressure her and encouraged her to take the lead in where their relationship stood. The characters had so much chemistry and I don’t know how Imani was able to hold off Zander for so long. I really enjoyed the writing style and I absolutely adore dual POV romances. I love when you as a reader can get both sides of the relationship. The plot flowed very smoothly and the book itself was very readable. I enjoyed this sweet and fun romance and the reminder of living in the moment being my favorite storyline. I really liked how Imani and Zander grew throughout the story, which made for a really satisfying ending. I liked the way the book wrapped up, for them personally and as a couple. They were two really different people who were able to figure out what would really make them happy. I enjoy how Dylan weaves in her previous and next characters into the current story in a way that makes you want to come back for more. It was so great to see where Kate and Drake were and to get a little insight into Ryker. I loved that we saw more of him, and what he went through, in this book. I can't wait for Ryker's story! Thank you NetGalley and Forever/Grand Central Publishing for the ARC.

All Fired Up follows Imani, a book publicist, and Zander, who owns a pottery studio and is active in the small town community. They meet again, after their one-night stand a year prior, and Zander is much more into having a relationship than Imani is. But he has a care-free attitude while she is a planner and he has to convince her to give their opposites attract love a shot.

I would recommend this to readers who want a sweet, mellow, small-town romance. It was a miss for me as it lacked the spark and energy I prefer in a romcom. I never became invested in Imani and Zander's relationship, though I did enjoy Drake and Kate in the previous novel, How Sweet It Is. The pacing and characterization fell flat for me on this one.

𝘈𝘓𝘓 𝘍𝘐𝘙𝘌𝘋 𝘜𝘗 follows Imani as she takes a summer long break from her hectic life in NYC to Wellsville where she reunites with her one and only two night stand from her best friend's wedding, whom she ghosted a year ago but still hasn't exactly gotten over!

- ~ -

Zander and Imani are polar opposites.
He is charming, flirtatious and quite carefree. He believes more in being happy and enjoying the present than worrying about what's to come.
She, on the other hand, is all about stability, planning and having things under control.
But both share common ground on dealing with survivor's guilt, and as they explore healthy and unhealthy methods of dealing with their respective traumas what flickers is a spark of connection, lust and maybe love!

And aside from the main leads, we also have Kate and Drake from the previous novel 'HOW SWEET IT IS' which I highly recommend reading before starting this one to get a hang on multiple situations.
Oh and Ryker - the middle brother, whose HEA is out in '23.

"𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙙-𝙖𝙬𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙚𝙗 𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙬𝙣, 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙨! 𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙜𝙤 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙. 𝙉𝙤𝙬, 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙮𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙, 𝙕𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧-"

The story also features Imani's grandmother, Gigi who in my opinion, steals all hearts because just see the aforementioned text! She is hilarious, she is grace, she is beauty!
And she has also supported Imani ever since she lost her mum in high school and is really just precious!

"𝘽𝙄𝙄𝙄𝙏𝘾𝙃!" 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙, 𝙧𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙙. "𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙁𝙊𝙊𝙇𝙎!"

Now the most hilarious element of the entire story was one hundred percent, Lancelot. Never underestimate the parrot, he has on certain occasions indirectly winged the characters closer and also added many laughs to the plot!

- ~ -

However there was one issue that I'd like to address:
I liked Zander, his humor and affinity for jokes, mostly inappropriate, which added character to the plot as opposed to Imani... now I don't hate her and I get where she's coming from but in this day and age we can really do away with not disrespecting someone's lifestyle. Cuz see, Zander is a live-in-the-moment kinda guy or in Imani's words: suffers from Peter Pan syndrome, which has been established several times throughout the book but to outright disrespect his choices and think she's the superior one just because she has stability does not really say much about Imani as a person.
Also the dialogue was repetitive at certain points.

- ~ -

Overall: It's a heartwarming story of characters with relatable struggles who make you laugh out loud and guarantee loads of fun!
It's out 5/17!

4.02 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 (𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨) & 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 & 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

Such a sweet feel good read!

Who else loved Newton's debut rom com How Sweet It Is? I adored it and was so excited to read her follow up. It included some great side characters - Imani, Kate's best friend and Zander, Drake's youngest brother.

`It reminded me of the book I just read, A Brush with Love because the guy is pursuing the girl relentlessly. Imani and Zander had a fling at Drake and Kate's wedding and when Zander thought they would start something, Imani promptly ghosted him.

The definitely had aspects of opposites attract. Zander is a free spirit and resident play boy and Imani is obsessed with lists and planning. We learn more of why they are these ways and find out their pasts aren't all that different.

We had some great cameos from book #1 along with some great new characters. And I cannot wait for Ryker's story next!

All Fired up is a fun romantic comedy full of loveable characters and enough ups and downs to keep the reader involved in the evolving story. Imani Lewis comes to take care of her grandmother, Gigi, who is about to have both of her knees replaced. Her best friend, who also lives there, is about to have her first baby. To add to the fun, Zander, who she had an amazing weekend with after her best friend's wedding, lives in the area, too. Right off the bat we see that Zander has not stopped being interested in Imani and while Imani thinks she is not interested, there is a lot to learn about this man while she spends the summer with her grandmother, her friend, and inevitably, Zander. The book is fun, light and easy. The characters are all loveable and it makes the book that much more fun to read. This is a great book for the beach or a weekend escape.
I look forward to reading Ryker's story in the future, one of Zander's brothers, who is a background character in this book but will be the star of another of Newton's books in the future.
Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for the opportunity to read this e-galley in exchange for my honest review.

I am such a big Dylan Newton fan now. I feel like a total convert. Second Chance Romance is one of my favorite tropes, and so I was really excited for this one. I think I really enjoyed Imani and Zander's reconnection story. I thought it was really sweet and I really enjoyed the tension that built up before we got to have that break.

I definitely didn't realize that this was the second in a series, so I can't wait to go back and pick the first one up. This one really did feel like a standalone to me, but I love that because it felt really like its own book as opposed to just sort of picking up where something else left off. I also appreciated this was a nice balance between the steam and closed door sides of the romance novel world. I just thought it was a really fun book and I can't wait to revisit it again later. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this one. I really enjoyed it.

Dylan is quickly become one of my favorite authors. Her characters are unique and her storylines are both different and creative. In her second book we pick on on Imani and Zander’s story. Imani is a boss lady book publicist and Zander, a former Marine and now owner of a ceramic studio (my mind immediately went to the pottery scene in Ghost).

Imani has come back to town to help her Grandmother and can’t help but be drawn to her former one night stand Zander. We get to enjoy their story unfold with great banter, a naughty parrot and so many feels. We were definitely team Zander in his pursuit to win over Imani! This read was full of laughs, fun characters and the sweetest HEA. If you need a book that just makes you happy, Dylan has got you covered!

Thank you to netgalley and the author the an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Imani Lewis has a job in publishing in NYC, but she is taking the summer off to take care of her grandmother, Gigi, as she recovers from knee surgery, while also helping her best friend Kate prepare for her first child. What she didn't expect was to be spending time with her former two-nightstand Zander Matthews. Before she even arrives at her Gigi's house, she is forced to ride in a car and go to a restaurant with Zander, and admit they hooked up at his brother Drake and her best friend Kate’s wedding. The tension is quickly broken with an incident involving a silk shirt, motion sickness, and a bedazzled raunchy graphic tee. Zander is on a mission to convince Imani to go on a first date while Imani has decided that between the long distance and Zander's fly by the seat of his pants lifestyle, they can't be any more than a fling. The problem is anytime they're in a room together they are attracted to each other like magnets. Can Imani keep Zander at arms length? Will Zander finally get the first date he's dreamed of?

This was my first time getting a traveling ARC, and what a cool experience! I got this book and it hooked me from the start. As you may know, I am a fan of romance that keeps the reality of life in the forefront. This book deals with survivor's guilt, anxiety, unhealthy and healthy coping mechanisms, among other things. For both Imani and Zander, their pasts and the emotion fall out of what they have each been through has a huge impact on how they are in relationships, just like in reality. I appreciated watching them both struggle and grow while also having a feeling a peace and "rightness" around each other. This was a great read that I would recommend to romance fans looking for anxiety and survivors guild representation, second chance, friends to lovers, and steamy scenes in unusual locations.

loved the first book of this series and i have been looking forward to this follow up since I finished the last one.

I love the small town feel and all the very real characters in this world.

Unfortunately - I felt zero connection to the characters this time around.
Zander was so cinnamon roll perfect to the point of exhausting and Imani was frustrating and selfish, so not who I pictured she was based on the first book.

I dislike when stories tell you things are happening instead of showing - and I definitely felt like I missed the falling in love and just got dragged along this partial view of their love story.

I had to force myself to finish this story because I had lost interest about a third of the way in. I feel so sad that I felt this way. I hope that the next story is more similar to the first one.

I got an ARC COPY through NetGalley for an honest review (yay!)

Firstly, I want to thank netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this arc for free in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

I had no idea that this book was the second in a series, but it absolutely reads as a stand alone novel. I loved this book. It was well written, the characters had great chemistry and it didn't feel forced. I enjoy a romance where the conflict is really not with each other, but with themselves. Zander and Imani both had some internal demons they had to fight in order to be able to love one another.

Zander is such a great, wholesome, selfless man who will literally give the shirt off of his back to anyone who needs it. Imani is a kind, caring, and gentle soul who had to take on far too much in her youth and developed some control issues because of it. I could see myself in Imani, and I think that allowed me to connect with her so well.

After finishing All Fired Up, I immediately went to get Dylan's first novel to read Kate and Drakes story.

I found Dylan's writing to be similar to Abby Jimenez and Tessa Bailey's - only a little less hot and a little more sweet.

All on all 5 stars on this one!