Such a cute read I was so excited to go back and read Zanders and Imanis story after reading how cute it is. I love a second chance romance and this one just hit the spot. I also loved the mental health aspect of the read. I'm huge into mental health and normalizing so love that so many books are including it in the plot.

How Sweet It Is was one of my FAVORITE reads of 2021 and per my last review DYLAN NEWTON BLESS YOU!! I was dying to read about the other Matthews brothers and this did not disappoint in the slightest!

All Fired Up is an absolutely precious novel featuring not only Zander Matthews but Imani too !! I loved Imani in the first book but loved her even more (if possible!) after this read. Imanis values and character development is phenomenal and I was obsessed with the relationship with her GiGi! Dylan Newton consistently brings moments that makes you laugh, smile, and even tear up at parts and its wonderful. I also loved how she seamlessly flowed from How Sweet It Is to All Fired Up giving us the characters we love from her prior novel and showing how they are growing as well.

Read this in one sitting and probably will re-read soon!! Can be read as a stand alone but highly recommend reading both books in this series (I already CANNOT WAIT to read Ryker’s story)!

Special thanks to NetGalley, Dylan Newton, and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

All Fired Up by Dylan Newton
Pub Date 5/17/22 - Pre-Order this now

How Sweet It Is was one of my favorite rom-coms last year so I’ve been not so patiently waiting to get my hands on this book. Luckily, I was able to read an early copy and it did not disappoint!!!

All Fired Up features Imani and Zander, two of my favorite side characters from All Fired Up. Imani who heads to a small town to spend some time taking care of her grandmother and spend time with her best friend Kate. Imani and Zander who had a fling at Kate’s wedding are tiptoeing around and trying to hide their past and current attraction to one another. Zander is carefree and Imani is type A. Gigi and her obnoxious parrot made for some laugh out loud moments.

Both characters were dealing with their own struggles and I felt that it was handled so well and interspersed with fun witty banter and made this book unputdownable!!

Thank you to @netgalley @readforever @dylannewton for the advanced copy to review.

This book was super cute. I read her first book which this one follows behind. I loved both the same and you can definitely do as a stand alone. Thanks NetGalley for this advanced copy of this book.

I liked the first book in this series and enjoyed this one too. I liked that it jumped right in after the two main characters hooked up. I liked the small town aspect of it, and I enjoyed the characters backstories.

I loved How Sweet It Is when I read it a few months ago so I was super excited to get my hands on a digital ARC of the next in the series. All Fired Up follows Imani, a side character from the first book, and best friend of Kate. We get to see glimpses of Kate and Drake, but Imani and Drake‘s brother, Zander, are the main characters this go-round.

I didn’t have quite the same investment in their story as I did with How Sweet it Is. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed this book, I think I just loved Kate’s story so much that I found myself hurrying through parts until I could find out what Kate was doing in her new role as mom.

I really appreciate how Dylan Newton writes the male love interests. They are strong men who know how to take care of a woman without misogynistic tendencies.

I’m curious to know if the third Matthews brother will get a book next!

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dylan Newton has knocked it out of the park with her second romance, All Fired Up. For fans of Abby Jimenez, readers will laugh, swoon, and cry in perfect balance at Imani and Zander's love story. There are so many comedic moments and witty banter, many at the hands of octogenarian Gigi and a cursing parrot. But more than that, the sweltering chemistry between the main couple fights a very troubled backstory on her part and a hidden depth on his. The supporting characters, always fun in a small-town romance, do their job here assisting with comic relief and character development. I loved how much we got to see of Kate and Derek from How Sweet It Is and am already excited for Ryder's story next year.

Pub date: 5/17/22
Genre: romcom
In one sentence: Zander and Imani had a one-night stand - can these complete opposites find forever together?

I love the trend of romcom series with interconnected stories - since I loved How Sweet It Is, I was so excited for All Fired Up. If you like opposites attract stories, this is a great one to pick up! I loved Imani as a female MC - she's strong and committed to her family, but Zander helps her grow and brings out the best in her. Personal growth is so important in a romcom for me, and Newton did a great job showing both characters' growth.

There's some heavy content here, but there's also plenty of comedy. From ceramics mishaps to an obnoxious parrot to a hot air balloon ride gone wrong, this book kept a smile on my face. Romcom lovers - don't miss this one!

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

All Fired Up by Dylan Newton is a rom-com that is basically friends to lovers trope! There are some deeper issues that they introduce and so many sweet moments as well! Limited spice but very heartfelt!

*Thank you so much to the publishers for gifting me an early release copy to give an honest review. My opinions are my own*

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Even though I thought it would be a more “opposites attract” trope, the slow burn romance was fun too. The storyline progressed well and the side characters were the best! Honestly, I think I loved GiGi and her crazy parrot more than I did the main characters 😂

Imani had great character development throughout but I think Zander’s was rushed and I was a little disappointed with it.

Besides that, Zander was the ultimate guy we wish we all had chasing after us. I liked the quirky little things he did for her, and the way he supported her through everything. Also, that hot air balloon scene did not disappoint 🔥

This was such a light, funny little romance and I definitely recommend it!

This was adorable! I loved the relationship between Imani and Zander. The banter was next level and the parrot was the best side character I could have ever hoped for. This is a nice sweet rom-com that is perfect for the Summer. I hadn't read Dylan's first book in the serious but after reading this one, it's going to the top of my TBR.

When Imani has a wedding weekend fling with Zander, she thinks she can easily put it behind her as she gets back to her NYC book publicist job. Until she takes a leave of absence to help her grandmother for a summer right back in Wellsville where Imani's best friend, Kate, and her husband live - and Kate's husband's younger brother, Zander. Once they're back in touch, it's hard to ignore the zing between Zander and Imani but she's not sure she wants a fling and he can't commit to a relationship.

I really enjoyed this book - it's such a quick and easy read and I was able to totally escape into Wellsville and this cast of characters. I didn't read the first book in this series, but I thought All Fired Up stood alone very well. Imani and Zander have so much chemistry, it almost makes the slow burn worth it. I thought the character growth for Imani was great, but was a bit too rushed for Zander at the end - I wanted to see him have his 'aha moment' just a little earlier in the book so it doesn't feel like he wraps up all of his flaws in 5 pages. Overall, I really enjoyed this and look forward to continuing to read this series!

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I adored Dylan Newton’s debut How Sweet It Is, and now she has given us another Matthews brother story that was nicely spiced, and very sweet (it made me tear up twice). The descriptions are fantastic and really allow you to see what’s going on.

I loved Imani’s relationship with her grandmother along with how issues were addressed and dealt with. I also really liked that other characters featured as prominently as they did.

I’m really looking forward to Ryker’s story next!

I fell for Dylan Newton’s writing while reading How Sweet It Is. With All Fired Up, book #2 in this series, we get the story of Imani Lewis and Zander Matthews, who we were introduced to in book #1. Imani is a successful book publicist who is a workaholic. When her grandmother asked her to stay with her for the summer to help her recover from surgery, Imani can’t say no.

This brings her back into Zander Matthews orbit, the guy she had a one-night stand with at her best friend’s and his brother’s wedding less than a year before. Zander doesn’t take life too seriously and commitment isn’t his thing. The three pottery shops he owns are only open when he feels like it and he plays the field, so not to get too attached. However, he can’t get Imani out of his head.

How is it ever going to work between a normally scheduled every minute of the day Imani and Zander, who does what he wants when he wants? And since Imani is only in town for the summer, there’s a limit to their time together. Can Zander show Imani that going with the flow can be just as fulfilling as her dream job as a publicist? Can Imani make Zander understand that he needs to grow up and make a plan for his future? Will they find a compromise to make a life together or at the end of the summer, will Imani leave town to go back to her workaholic ways? This book gave me a lot of the same feels as How Sweet It Is and I can’t wait for more words from Dylan Newton.

This is the second book in the series and can be read as a stand alone. It was so nice to connect again with the Matthews brothers. Zander is the youngest and seems almost grasshopper-y in his approach to life. He’s happy and fun and very much in the moment. He’s also beloved in the town, quick to drop everything and lend a helping hand. He also owns and runs a pottery studio. Imani, a book publicist up for a big promotion is taking the summer off to take care of her amazing grandmother, Gigi. Imani is feeling stressed and unfulfilled and is looking forward to some time to figure out her next step.

I loved so much about this book- Imani and Zander just made sense to me and I was rooting for them. They both have some personal growth that needs to happen (which I love in a romance- it’s so important to ground in oneself to be able to successfully partner with someone). Also, their friends, family, and the cantankerous pet bird are wonderful side characters that I can’t wait to see again in the next book!

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

Dylan Newton is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors! I adored How Sweet It Is and this next installment about the Matthews brothers of Wellsville, NY is just as good! I read it on a cruise last weekend and it was the perfect relax-by-the-pool read!

Xander is a happy-go-lucky kind of guy - he has a big heart but not a whole lot of ambition. He's just interested in doing enough to have some extra funds to help his community and to live his best life. On the other hand, Imani Lewis is a go-getter - a type-A, spreadsheet toting book publicist for Xander's brother, Drake. Opposites attract, but can opposites go the distance!?

I zipped through this book - it went too fast - and now I can't wait for Ryker's story, the last Matthews brother!

P.S. This Florida girl loved the little references to my home state - the Sunshine Skyway and Tervis Tumblers.

Thank you to Forever/Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

Dylan did an amazing job at describing the characters and scenes in this book. I felt as if I was there. I loved the fact that she incorporated the characters from her first book in the series into this one. After falling in love with Kate and Drake from the first book, it was nice to be able to see how their story continued. The comedy in this book made me laugh out loud just like in her first book. She is an amazing author and I am looking forward to many more of her writings.

⭐️⭐️/5 (2 stars)

This was fluffy and light, but I prefer my romance novels (even rom coms) with a bit more depth to the story and characters. I found myself wanting to skip pages just to get through it, which is never a good sign. The cover is beautiful though!

Thank you NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a pretty sweet romance. I love that it was about rekindling the relationship between Imani and Zander after a whirlwind weekend together. It made me so happy to see Kate and Drake so much in the book and I’m actually really happy I read their book before diving into this. I felt like I just understood the dynamic between everyone a little bit more. I think Imani and Zander were so great for each other and really seemed to balance everything out between them. I didn't love the conflict at the end of the book but I'm glad it seemed to get resolved fairly quickly and in what seemed to be a healthy way for Zander and Imani. Overall it was very sweet, I think I maybe would have liked to see a bit more of Imani and Zander in a relationship without some kind of situation happening to have teared them apart, but otherwise this was such a great romance.

An ARC from NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an honest review. I LOVE this book. I couldn’t put it down. I realized after I read it that it’s the second book in the Matthews Brothers series, but it did great as a standalone! This book was very sweet, cute, romantic, and heartwarming — such a beautiful story.

Book tropes: second chances, interracial romance, slow burn, best friend’s husband’s brother

“Everyone deserves the chance to chase their dream.”

Imani, a publicist for authors, was offered a big promotion at her company. She puts the thought of her job on hold as she travels back home to care for her grandmother before her double knee surgery. She soon runs into Zander, her two-night-stand from almost a year ago. She ghosted him after their fling at her best friend’s wedding, assuming that their chemistry was purely physical and fleeting. Zander has been pining over Imani since their time together and has a mission to make her give him a chance to explore their connection.

I love Zander so much. I adore how selfless he is, how he’ll go out of his way to help anyone and everyone, even giving the shirt off his back (multiple times). I love Gigi’s humor and the gray African parrot that cusses. I admire Imani’s strength and courage to face her reoccurring nightmares about her past. I truly don’t know how to praise this book enough. I can’t wait to go back and read How Sweet It Is and look forward to Ryker’s story! Highly recommend, 5/5