Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this arc. I didn't feel the chemistry was really there. I really wanted to love this story but unfortunately I did not.

Feelings caught, feelings hidden.
They had one hot night that casually happened while Miriam's sister and Jordan's best friend were developing their own relationship (book 1 Heated) and it was supposed to be nothing more than just that. They quickly construct a friend zone to keep things uncomplicated...supposedly.
I could practically paste a lot of my review from book 1 here. Such as: "I liked this book but I thought I would've liked it more. I really wanted to. The wordy over-description of everything got on my nerves. It was distracting." Etc., etc. I guess that's the writer's style - which is not bad - I guess I just maybe like my reading to be a little more bland?
Miriam's outlandish, rude, crude, very blunt, bratty personally works great as a side character but when she is the main character it's overwhelming.
I was disappointed in this follow-up to Heated. Again, I wanted to like it but just didn't. It was just okay.

This series is steaming up to be perfection. I love the family dynamic and their personalities are just everything. I need more naima!

Good friends Miriam and Jordan have been in the friendship zone ever since a hot hookup months ago. While both are harboring feelings, neither wants to wreck what they have now. And since one of them doesn’t believe in love, that seems likely. This slow burn, spicy contemporary romance also has elements of Cyrano and a good amount of time focusing on their careers and friendships, too. It was a quick, engaging read, and I’d recommend it to anyone who loves a romance with a strong, independent heroine!

Jordan has been in love with Miriam almost since the minute they met. Miriam was hurt badly in the past by an athlete an believed they are all liars and cheaters. Miriam is a genius and always felt like an outcast because of how smart she is and being hurt in college only made her feel worse. Jordan is scared to tell Miriam how he really feels about her because she is so set on not ever falling in love for fear of getting hurt. Jordan really does love Miriam and it shows in how he helps another teammate try to win her heart but in doing so he ends up hurting her even more. I enjoyed this book a lot. It was nice to see the unrequited love from the man and Jordan really did try his best to be just a friend to Miriam letting her figure out how and when she was ready to be with him. There was no major drama or angst there was an issue they had to fight through, but I thought it was all written very well and not over dramatic.

what happens when an athlete wants to break up with someone. They hire a breakup company. What happens when the girl of your dreams does the breaking up for the aathletes. You are an athlete and definately not on her dating radar.

THis book was fun, romance, humor, heartbreak, and a HEA

First of all, I would like to thank NetGalley and Montlake publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book. This was my first book by Naima Simone and I can honestly say that I loved it.
The plot was entertaining and really well-written. I could feel with both main characters, they fit together like a pair of gloves. What I loved the most though were their thoughts, friendship, and Miriam´s sense of humor.
Through the words of this author, I could see Miriam´s drawn illustrations playing like a movie directly in front of my eyes and her graphical story "Ravaged land" also became alive. I have to admid that alhough I am not the biggest fan of animes I truly appreciated the graphical vision.
This book was definitely a page-turner with everything man loves in a book.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Miriam and Jordan. Miriam is a co owner of a company with her two siblings and also a graphic designer. Jordan is an NBA player. There is an attraction. They have a one night stand and decide to be friends. This works till the attraction breaks through and they become lovers. They have some issues but together they work them out and fall in love.

Miriam has been burned before and is not willing to put herself out there to let it happen again. She's sworn off athletes and relationships in general - and for good reason. Jordan is everything Miriam wants but refuses to let herself admit to needing. He's the definition of the man she's been trying to avoid since getting burned.... or is he? I absolutely loved both Miriam and Jordan - two people fighting against who they were taught to be growing up and who they both know they are now. This book will stay with me long after finishing the last page, that's for sure!

Jordan and Miriam had pretty amazing chemistry and the badass-ness of Miriam from the beginning to the end was great! I also loved the love life lessons that I learned from Jordan and the way that Miriam learned as time passed about love and life made reading the book more meaningful. It was a pretty quick read and I found some of the wordings kind of cliche yet it was a good book overall :)

Absolutely couldn't put it down. 3.5 hours later... bam! Love the spunk and chemistry between the characters. Plan to read more books by the author!

Friends to lovers is not usually my fave trop, but I demolished this book in like a day and maybe that's bc I'm a perv and wanted to get to the part where they do sexy times. Spoiler alert- it was worth it.

Miriam is a quirky Mensa member who was dicked over(literally and figuratively) by a football player in college. She now has a “no athletes“ dating policy. She is best friends with Jordan-a rugged, tattooed, pierced basketball star. During a weak moment the two have raging hot sex, which is followed by her telling him it was a mistake and banishing him to the friend zone. Jordan is super hot for Miriam but stays in the friend zone in which he has been imprisoned.

Despite her no athletes policy, Jordan sets Meriam up with one of his teammates and she agrees only because he’s a widow- apparently her "no athletes" policy has fine print about widowhood. Also, despite the oppressive friend zoning, these two spend most of the book internalizing their white hot lust for each other (lots of groin tingles and sexually tense fists) and acting like they are dating with a lot of hugging and emotionally nurturing each other. They wasted 75% of the book not boning.

I will say that this is the yearniest friends to lovers book that I’ve ever read. Hey chuckleheads- you both want each other JUST GET TOGETHER!! With any lesser author, I would have thrown this book across the room due to my frustration with these peoples weak sauce excuses for not being a couple. But Naima Simone is a goddamn queen ruling over her smutty romance kingdom. She is able to implant you into the characters' inner turmoil and drama and wrap you up in their past traumas so that you totally buy their nonsense and you believe all of their bullshit. And the way she writes lust and sexual tension is magic. She’s a must read author for me.

This is the second book of the series (book 1 review is pinned next to this). Def recommend for a lusty, panty burner read.

Smut- 3.23 stars
Romance- 4.54 stars
Story- 4.72 stars
That cover model looks like John Travolta- 5.18 stars

Stars: ☆☆☆
Steam: 🌶️🌶️

Friends to lovers, second chance, miscommunication, stubbornness, and insecurities. Duel POV.

Successful and sexy basketball star Jordan Ransom is secretly in love with his best friend Miriam Nelson except Miriam has friend-zoned him after an amazing night together. Miriam is part owner of BURNED a successful full-service break-up company and has an issue with dating athletes. They both have been secretly pining for each other, but events from their pasts have scarred them. They both need to find a way to break down their walls which are making intimacy and communication very difficult.

An enjoyable read. I just wish the unique idea with Miriam part owning a break-up company was explored more, but sadly that was not the case. Plus, the cover model not matching the way Jordan is frequently described was a bit distracting while trying to connect with the character. This is my honest option, freely given.

I wanted to love this book so much, but unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it and had to Do Not Finish at about 40%.

I really wanted to love Miriam and Jordan’s story. But this story just wasn’t for me.
Miriam and Jordan are friends. Miriam doesn’t date athletes and really she just doesn’t like them. Yet, her best friend is one. She helps his teammates break up with whoever they are with. They have a one night stand and really neither of them can stop thinking about it.
I just couldn’t get into the story, these characters. I spent most of the time just kind of frustrated with how they were acting and wish they would just go for it instead of just taking their time.

Miriam’s character was interesting and complicated. She’s a certified genius who isn’t taken seriously or given the credit she deserves because she doesn’t fit the typical mold. She’s independent, a little outrageous, and very much herself. I adore her. Actually, I kind of want to be her when I grow up.

I loved the relationship between Miriam and Jordan. It’s easy but with the constant edge of lust they both ignore after their one-night hookup when Miriam firmly friend-zones the basketball player.

Jordan, a prime example of the rags to riches story, struggles still with feelings of inadequacy, with being alone, and honestly just with feelings in general. He’s spent a long time shoving everything down he isn’t very in touch with himself. As he’s benched for an injury he worries he’s letting the team down and that his position won’t be waiting for him when he returns. The only place he doesn’t lie to himself is admitting how much he wants Miriam but accepts that he would rather have her in his life than lose her by pushing for more after she friend-zoned him.

While I liked the cast of characters and their individual plots and developments, I did struggle with the dating plotline. Jordan’s teammate expresses interest in Miriam and instead of admitting the truth he feeds his friend Daniel details about Miriam and allows Daniel to pretend he’s what Miriam wants. While done with good, if idiotic, intentions, the whole thing felt kind of gross and manipulative. It was no surprise when it blew up in all of their faces.

Despite all of that, it was a fantastic story with excellent characters, great writing, and I immediately went to grab the first book in the series when I finished this one.

I love that this book involves characters that are real with real issues. Jordan and Miriam are friends who become more than friends. Who doesn't love a friends to lovers trope right? However, this novel fell short for me personally. This was more of a slow burn and if your a fan of that then this is right up your alley. Also Miriam was written as strong character but some of her choices made me think what is she doing. Overall it was not what I expected but this author is usually great so I will give further books a chance.

**thanks to NetGalley and publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review**

I really wanted to like this book but I have to say that I was not a fan of Miriam. Written as a strong, smart character, there were too many internal monologues that made me question her strength as a female character.

I'm confused... Looking at the cover, I don't feel like that's the book I read.

In my head, Jordan was an African American basketball star... Just as I believed Miriam to be African American (all though - there were parts mentioning her blonde hair - In retrospect, perhaps I got it wrong)... But I guess that is not really a good thing, if I can't get the mental images right.

But, anyway, the story was a rather classic friends-to-lovers romance - nothing bad about that, but also nothing new.

This book upset me because they were really playing with my emotions the back and forth the lies and omissions of feelings. I felt exhausted by the time it was over. However, Naima always manages to keep me coming back, this story was captivating and we got to see more of Burned Inc which I love and I can't wait for more in the series!