Read this if you love: pottery and slow burns.

This book is a good beach read. Imani’s grandmother is very funny and the foul mouthed bird was entertaining. This book does have some heavier topics like death of a parent, PTSD, and other mental health struggles.

This was such a cute read! A solid 4 stars for me. Zander had my heart from page one. There was humor, spice, and romance. Can't wait to go back and read Kate and Drakes story and Ryker's next year!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

I really enjoyed the glimpses of Imani and Zander in How Sweet It Is, so I was looking forward to seeing how their story turned out!

This one had some more serious themes compared to Dylan’s first book, this one portraying PTSD, anxiety/panic attacks, grief, and survivors guilt.

Zander is so sweet and swoony, doing so much to show Imani that he cares about her and pays attention to her needs. He is convinced they could really work together, having a real relationship after their one-night stand. But he sees that Imani is hesitant and wants to let her take the lead, even wit all her back and forth, as they spend time together and see if there could be more for them. They also had great banter! 🔥

It was fun to see Kate and Drake (from How Sweet It Is) in this one, and once again, the side characters like Imani’s grandma and her parrot, and third brother Ryker (excited for his book), added so much charm to the book for me!

The end seemed a bit rushed and unrealistic, which was really the biggest downside for me.

Thank you so much to Forever and Netgalley for providing an e-arc of this book! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

I absolutely fell in love with this world in How Sweet It Is and was ridiculously excited to get more of the Matthews brothers (and I hope we get one more for the youngest brother!)

I love the cozy vibes of this series and the fun, lighthearted feeling it brings while still addressing some heavier topics (mainly anxiety, panic attacks, ptsd, and death of a loved one in here). Dylan Newton's writing is fantastic and hooks me from the very beginning.

However I didn't end up loving this one quite as much as the previous book. Imani and Zander were great main characters and I loved their personal journeys. At the beginning I totally felt their attraction, but as the story went I on it started to wane.

I think my main issue with their romance was that too much blame was placed on Zander and I didn't feel as though either one made their life changes for their own benefit - but rather because of each other.

Imani is constantly doing this push & pull on Zander and then blaming him when things go wrong. As much as I loved the anxiety/panic rep, it was frustrating to read from a character who didn't take responsibility for her own actions. Right up until the very end.

Overall this was a fun read, but not my favorite from the author. I really hope we get a book for the final Matthew's bother though!!

In short: Imani and Zander has a 1 weekend stand nine months ago, after which she ghosted him. Now she’s back in town and Zander is determined to find out if what he felt was real.

My thoughts: I loved the first book in this series and this was a great follow up. I love Imani and Zander together, their banter and opposite attracts romance seemed natural. And can we talk about that first date? Perfection.

Read this for wonderful characters, small town vibes, strong friendships, funny moments and a bit of steam.

🔥Review - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5🔥

All Fired Up is a cute and sweet opposites attract story that revolves around Imani Lewis and Zander Matthews. After a whirlwind weekend at her best friend’s wedding, Imani has a one night/weekend stand with Zander. She thinks it’ll only amount to a fun weekend with the two staying in the friend zone, but Zander has other ideas and can’t seem to get Imani out of his head.

Almost a year later, Imani returns to her hometown to help her grandmother who will be having surgery soon. Imani sees this as an opportunity to get some time away from her current job as a book publicist and to also spend some time with her pregnant best friend. Since her best friend is married to Zander’s brother, she knows it’s only a matter of time before she runs into him, but what she isn’t expecting is for him to be the first face she sees when she returns…

On the other hand, Zander hasn’t stopped thinking about Imani since that weekend and knows with her coming into town, this will be the perfect opportunity to prove to her they could have something more then a weekend fling. While they’re total opposites, Imani being a huge planner and Zander being a more “in the moment” type, will he be able to prove they can make it work?

I enjoyed that this story was told from Zander and Imani’s point of view and I felt it really helped to add depth to their characters. The chemistry between them is so undeniable and there were a few steamy moments in there, as well. Not to mention, Zander’s character is compared to a Viking Jason Momoa and I am here for it.

Overall, I really liked Zander and Imani’s story. I loved the humor throughout and the opposites attract storyline. It also touched on some different mental health issues along with PTSD, grief, and survivor’s guilt.

If you’re looking for a sweet and charming rom-com, this is one to read!

Thank you NetGalley and Forever Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute story with really likeable main characters. I didn’t get quite as into it as I did the first book in the series, although I don’t know that I can pinpoint why. I liked that even though this is part of a series, it can definitely be read as a standalone book. I also enjoyed the male main character’s transformation. It was expected that his more care-free attitude was supposed to rub off on the female main character, but it was nice to see her have an effect on him in a similar way. I know the third book will be focused on Ryker’s story, which I have a feeling will be just a little more up my ally.
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

If there's one dynamic I love and will always love, it's when one character is a planner with things mapped out to a T and the other character is an in the moment, I'm going to win your heart kind of person. This book was so much fun, I am so happy it was Dual POV so we got to see into both of their heads while we were reading. The chemistry between Imani and Zander was so good and these characters felt so real.

Thank you #Netgalley for an early read of #AllFiredUp

All Fired Up by Dylan Newton follows Imani Lewis (overworking book publicist) and Zander Matthews (laid back ceramicist) after their hook up at Kate and Drake's wedding from How Sweet It Is.

Imani returns to her hometown to take a much needed break, help Kate with her baby shower and support her grandmother after a surgery. Zander is still heartbroken from being ghosted from what he thought was the best weekend ever but agrees to stay in the friend zone to help Imani.

Whether it’s repairing tiles in his ceramics studio, dodging nosy neighbors, or soothing the most obnoxious parrot ever, Zander never fails to make Imani laugh. And soon their friendly banter is turning ever flirtier. But since Imani’s stay is temporary and Zander can’t be tied to anything beyond the most tenuous plans, will she be able to handle it when things get all fired up?

This was a great second-chance romance with highlights of panic attack/PTSD experiences that were well-portrayed. How Sweet it Is and All Fired Up are both must reads to prepare for the third Matthews brother, Ryker.

Thank you to Forever Publishing for an advanced copy of this book!

Thanks to Forever Publishing for giving me this e-ARC. I loved this author's first book so I was excited to read this one.
Imani temporarily moves to her Grandmother's small town to take care of her and is reunited with Zander, the sweet man she had a weekend long fling with a year before. What ensues is a sweet second chance romance complete with a great cast of characters, hot air balloon rides and throwing clay. This could be read as a standalone but the characters would be better understood if you read "How Sweet It Is" first. I read this in a couple of days... I recommend as a fun beach or pool side read this Summer

I really enjoyed How Sweet It Is and was excited to find out that happy go lucky Zander would be getting his own book. All Fired Up can be enjoyed as a standalone, but characters from the previous book do appear. There are some serious topics woven into the story, so please be sure to check the CW's.

Things to look forward to:
- Tropes like: opposites attract, second chance, small town, friends to lovers, he falls first
- I loved the chemistry between Zander and Imani. They shared an amazing weekend together, but I liked that the second time around, they took time to become friends and truly get to know each other before letting things shift.
- Imani's character growth. She makes a few missteps here and there (though understandable given her history), but I felt like her journey was much more fleshed out than Zander's. I loved her relationship with Gigi as well as Kate.
- Amazing cast of secondary characters. I already mentioned my love of Gigi and Kate, but the entire Matthews family is equally wonderful. I'm already excited about grumpy Ryker's book. I could have maybe done without Lancelot, but he did provide some interesting comic relief. LOL
- I loved the overall message to be present/mindful and that it's never too late to chase your dreams.
- Zander. He was such a sweetheart cinnamon roll. I loved how patient, yet persistent he was. He was so caring and giving and I may have swooned a time or two at how thoughtful he was. I do wish that he would have had his epiphany about his future sooner though and more page time devoted to his personal growth. Things happened so quickly that it made the ending feel very rushed.

I both read and listened to All Fired Up and really enjoyed the narration by Emma Love and Max Lloyd-Jones. Both employed a variety of voices that made it easy to distinguish between characters and conveyed so much emotion in their performances. They're both new to me narrators, but I look forward to listening to them more in the future.

Overall 4 stars
Performance 4.5 stars
Story 3.5 stars

CW: grief, death of parent (past, fire related), injury/hospitalization of loved one, panic attack, insomnia, discussions/mentions of: PTSD, military injuries and recovery, bipolar, struggles with body image and food

*I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy of this book*

So, I loved this book. I fell in love with Book One #HowSweetItIs and I loved book two just as much!
.
Imani has a successful, solid job as a Book Publicist but she takes the summer off when her grandmother asks her to return home while she’s recovering from surgery. She happily agrees. She could use a break and her best friend and her husband are there, but her best friend’s brother in law is there.
.
Handsome Zander lives there and she’s been trying to avoid him since their secret weekend together, but thrown together she knows she can’t stay away.
.
I simply loved this and I need a spin off with Gigi and Mrs. Nowakowski! I loved how Imani took a leap (yes, I see what I did there) and bought a dance studio. I loved that that this ended with the recital and let me tell you as a dance mom recital is my favorite day of the year. Recital always ends in happy tears and the recital in this book had me shedding many, many happy tears!
.
This book is out today! Huge thank you @readforeverpub and @netgalley for an advanced arc in exchange for an honest review!

All Fired Up is a delight. The entire time I was reading this one I often thought, "this is real life. Life is messy!"

Add in a foul mouthed bird,
a wonderful grandmother,
a decades long friendship/sister bond,
a bulky beautiful man,
cake galore,
clay galore,
hot air balloons,
slow burn angst,
Lists (I love LISTS)
pink rhinestone belly shirts,
and positive mental health help,

And you have a solid contender for my favorite book of the summer.

This was a cute enough story, but Zander's extreme immaturity really didn't work for me. He finally gets it together at the end, but it was almost too late.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

After reading and loving How Sweet It Is, I was so excited to continue this journey with book two! In this book, we see ambitious book publicist Imani traveling back home to take care of her grandma while she recovers from knee surgery and helping her BFF prepare for her upcoming birth. But she's thrown into more work than she anticipates, and is forced to spend more time with her former one-nigh-stand, Zander (brother-in-law to her BFF). Can Zander learn to plan for the future a little bit more, and Imani learn to go with the flow and follow her dreams?

This book was an enjoyable, albeit uneventful, romantic comedy with cute side characters, fun dates (hot air balloon!!!), and a sweet HEA. However, it follows the relatively simple rom-com format where we see a career woman giving up everything she's been working towards in the big city to start fresh in a small town on a different path with a new man--it's basically everything Emily Henry's Book Lovers poked fun at. And there's nothing wrong with it--I love me a good Hallmark Christmas movie--but it does feel like its been done and done before, and after seeing what this author can accomplish in the charmingly quirky How Sweet It Is, this one didn't live up to its predecessor.

I will certainly continue with this series, and think Newton is an excellent writer, but I hope book three really shakes up the status quo!

Thanks for Forever for my eARC and finished copy!

4 stars - 7/10

This book was a perfect balance between comedy and real-life problems. I loved how one minute the book felt heavy and deep and the next you were laughing out loud. Imani and Zander are so perfect, I loved both of these characters so much. The overall message of living life in the now because you don’t know how long you have is so true and was done very well! I didn’t live the beginning. It felt like everyone was trying to make Zander into something he wasn’t but only for a second and then everyone flipped and loved him for Imani. That was a little confusing but overall I really enjoyed this book. I can’t wait to see what Dylan Newton writes next!

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and the author for an advanced copy of this book for my honest review.

This was a charming opposites attract, second chance, small town romance. Imani is back in town to take care of her grandmother after a surgery, and she knows the guy she hooked up with one night, Zander, will be there. They both have hidden feelings towards each other, and maybe now that they’re in the same town they ca many it work.
I loved how Imani and Zander found the best in each other, and their mutual support inspired both to make positive changes in their lives. That’s the best kind of relationship, knowing that if you try something new there will be a safety net if you fall.
I also enjoyed the balloon descriptions, so interesting! 4 stars.

Synopsis:
After one wild night together, two complete opposites plan to stay firmly in the friend zone, but life has other plans in this delightful romantic comedy, perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez.

As a successful book publicist, Imani Lewis works night and day to promote her authors.  It’s her dream job, but she’s become a total workaholic. So when her grandmother invites her to stay for the summer as she recovers from surgery, Imani happily agrees. But being back in the same small town as her one-night stand may not be quite the relaxing break she envisioned… 

Zander Matthews wakes up every day determined to enjoy the present because he knows from his time in the Marines that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. But he’s never gotten over the beautiful woman who blew through town a year ago, then disappeared. And he doesn’t want to be hurt again. So they agree to a deal: he’ll help Imani fix up her grandmother’s house as long as they stay firmly in the friend zone.

Whether it’s repairing tiles in his ceramics studio, dodging nosy neighbors, or soothing the most obnoxious parrot ever, Zander never fails to make Imani laugh. And soon their friendly banter is turning ever flirtier. But since Imani’s stay is temporary and Zander can’t be tied to anything beyond the most tenuous plans, will she be able to handle it when things get all fired up?

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a great summertime beach read. Zander and Imani had a 1 weekend stand a yr ago. Imani is in town for the summer helping her grandma. Is their one weekend stand maybe more? Cute characters, full of rom-com cheesiness we love and a snarky grandma with the perfect quips and innuendos.

This was a cute book, but I wasn't in love with it. It fell flat in comparison to the first book and its story. That was sweet. This felt repetitive and didn't have me emotionally attached.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

There's definitely a place for a perfectly adequate romcom, and that's what All Fired Up is. I didn't walk away with any particularly strong feelings, but I more or less enjoyed reading it.

This book ticks a lot of those Hallmark-style romance boxes: a small town, a career woman who's starting to question her job, a carefree guy who's only interested in living in the moment. They come together with tons of chemistry, and clash with just as much spark. Imani and Zander were solid leads, if occasionally one-note. They both grew by the end and it was rewarding to see.

The main thing that dragged down my reading experience of this book was the writing itself. There was far too much expository dialogue and narration, huge paragraphs of text explaining backstory in large dollops that broke up the flow of the story. The way that backstory was presented didn't feel unique, and ultimately resulted in the leads feeling a bit cookie-cutter. It was easy to predict the "twists" because of this, and the characters' path to getting together almost felt too smooth, despite the predictable hiccups.

All in all, All Fired Up was fine, with some good moments, but it was held back by the weight of its own writing.

3/5