I enjoyed reading The Firefighter's Dilemma by Mariah Ankenman. It was a cozy romance novel with one of my favorite characteristics for a main character: a firefighter. The story, while easy to guess dialogue or scenes at times, was still entertaining and I couldn't put the book down. I finished it in one sitting! This is one book that I would absolutely recommend to anyone looking for a good romance novel.

I really like the friendship the two MCs have for each other. Eli makes Stephanie feel valued in her career as a firefighter. Stephanie gives as much crap as any of the guys in the firehouse and they all respect her.

I liked that they were asked by their chief to compete in a charity show and this forced them to not only be teammates in a different sense , but to confront their feelings for each other. Even though there are two bedrooms, there is only one cabin that keeps them in very close proximity. Their desires ignite....in the competition and off. I liked the fire puns used to describe their secret time together.

I really loved that Stephanie and the show got Eli to really look into his passions outside of his firefighter legacy.

I don't know what it was about this book but it wasn't it for me. I'm not sure which ethnicity the author is from but randomly making a character Latine. I don't know the book wasn't for me and the whole plot was like predictable.

not a fan.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Stephanie and Eli. They are both firefighters. Their boss called them into his office. He stated he wanted them to compete in a web based reality show. They both agreed to do it. There was a lingering attraction. They competed together and separately. Stephanie and Eli let their attraction grow. When the reality show was over Eli and Stephanie declared their love.

"The Firefighter's Dilemma" by Mariah Ankenman is a delightful and charming love story that'll tug at your heartstrings.

Stephanie Díaz has to work hard to prove herself as one of two firefighters stationed with Station 42, especially given her dreams of becoming chief one day. And it’s because of those aspirations and the crap she dealt with at her last station that she has one rule – never ever date or sleep with a coworker.

Eli Ward made a promise to his dying father that he would become a good firefighter and eventually chief like him and his grandfather. And he’s so close to realizing that promise.

When the chief of Station 42 decides to volunteer Stephanie and Eli for a charity reality show in the mountains with the added incentive of a promotion for the best performer on the team. Both of them are determined to win the competition and the promotion for different reasons, and nothing will get in the way of that mission – not even the attraction between them.

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Written in third-person POV, “The Firefighter’s Dilemma” follows Stephanie and Eli as they participate in a first responders reality show for two weeks while battling the fire of the attraction raging between them.

I enjoyed the characterization of Stephanie and Eli. They were both the same amounts strong and competitive while still having their own flaws that make them unique. Stephanie is an independent woman with ambitions to become the youngest female fire chief, she’s a perfectionist, and so heavily competitive and planned that she creates contingencies for her contingencies without knowing what she’ll even be encountering. Eli on the other hand is a legacy firefighter working to fulfill a promise he made to his father on his deathbed. He can’t cook to save his life and he’s infinitely more go-with-the-flow than Stephanie. He’s competitive and protective of his family and team. You’d think their competitive nature would be a hinderance to the story, but it just works so well. The do still have their own flaws that make them work well together, and having those separate ambitions and dreams leads them to make startling realizations later in the book that has them second-guessing everything they believed they wanted in the beginning.

The pacing of this felt too slow at times, but thankfully the stakes and adrenaline from the competition plot makes the story flow quickly enough to keep interest without being boring. And thankfully this is also a short book.

The romance between the two took a while to boil over and materialize in this book, and it’s apparently been hinted at and developed more in the other books of this series, but there’s still enough to this book that it doesn’t feel limiting to not read the others before this one. The chemistry was also red-hot between them too and the spicy scenes were enjoyable as well. I was a bit annoyed that they were only together a few times in the book with Stephanie constantly afraid that they would be discovered by everyone else. It was very repetitive to keep reading her fighting that fear.

I also kinda disliked the expectations of the Chief and his motivation for offering a recommendation for promotion for one of them. It felt icky to me and it felt like it wouldn’t have mattered how well they did at the job, and only what they would get from doing well in the reality show.

But it was still an enjoyable read and I don’t regret the time I spent reading it, I would have rated it higher but I just wanted a little bit more stakes and motivation than I got.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

The Firefighter's Dilemma is a lot of fun and heart and a great way to end this series. I loved the reality competition show aspect, the chemistry between the two is off the charts, and it had a very satisfying ending. It is a fun and quick read.

Thanks to Entangeld Publishing, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this unbiased review voiluntarily.

This is a super fun to read, often funny, touching friends-to-lovers, firefighter romance. It's the third in the series and the first one I have read, so I didn't have the background to Stephanie and Wards friendship but it didn't really matter.

There was plenty of tension between the two from the beginning, and if the plot was a little predictable, who cares? The characters were well-written, as was the snappy dialogue and I really enjoyed how Stephanie seemed to open up a bit at the end.

This series is so fun, and I love a good first responder romance. This is the third book in The Mile High Firefighter series by Mariah Ankenman. It follows the Stephanie and Eli story, they have worked together for years and have been friends just as long, but while Eli has always had a crush on Stephanie, she has made it abundantly clear that she does not date anyone she works with. Things get complicated though when they need to team up to win a competition, where they spend a lot of one-on-one time together and things begin to warm up.
This book has some great tropes including forced proximity, friends to lovers. I loved the added reality tv competition to this book. It added such a fun element to the story, it was interesting and exciting. I would have really liked to have read more about it and them competing, but we got a lot of past tense where we heard about it after the fact. I liked that they started out as really close friends, you really saw how they knew each other and the trust between them was amazing. There was a lot of one side flirting, and I would have really liked to see more tension and chemistry from them because it was a little bit of a hard transition believing that they went from just friends to more.
Overall, I found this book to be so fun, and I cheered for Eli and Stephanie the whole time and it was a book that really kept me engaged. I would recommend checking this book out, as well as the whole series.
I received an advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

I love this series so much! Mariah Ankenman's books are perfect for when you're after a super fun and light-hearted with some spice sprinkled in.

I have been rooting for Stephanie and Eli from the moment we first met them back in book 1 and I'm so glad we got to see their story play out. The chemistry between these two was off the charts! I just loved this one and I loved the competition element of it all!

I definitely recommend Mariah's work. This is the second series of theirs I've read and I have loved them both.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mariah always gives a winning story in the Mile High Firefighters series! Watching the character development of these two characters over the last two books in the series, I was excited to see what their story finally looked like. It did not disappoint. I'm typically hesitant about reality show based stories but this one had enough outside elements and character development that it worked for me. This was an expected good time that fully delivered on the premise.

Mariah Ankenman's third installment in her Mile High Firefighter's series is fast paced, quippy and entertaining. If you love a contemporary romance that is infused with fun, interesting characters and delightful situations than The Firefighter's Dilemma is sure to work for you! Ankenman's writing is accessible, witty and full of charisma.

This novel is interesting and unique, and if you love a firefighter romance you are sure to find this highly enjoyable. A battle of the First Responders web show is such a delightful set up to force our two battling firefighters to examine their true feelings for the other. This set up is perfect to create moments of energy and humor. A reality show also gives the hero and heroine the perfect circumstances to work as a team and embrace and learn from the other. Ankenman also knows how to pack in the heat and sensuality, these two have blazing chemistry which make this a quick and entertain read.

I think Mariah Ankenman is an author worth putting on your radar! Her firefighter series is a wonderful place to start and this novel is so fun and it is so delightful seeing a fireman and firewomen go head to head with each other learn to respect and compromise for the other.

I’ve been waiting for Ward and Diaz for what seems like forever but they were definitely worth it. Once they got out of their own way, they were perfect for each other.

A quick sweet story about two firefighters, Eli and Stephanie.

I really enjoyed the First Responders web show. I am a reality TV nut and would find this interesting.

The romance was a bit rushed, but it was obviously brewing a long time prior.

I enjoyed both the mains and was rooting for them. I didn't realize this was a series, and reading the first two might have helped lay some groundwork for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

As always Mariah Ankenman has an amazing ability to combine a steamy romance with such a sweet story!

Stephanie and Eli have the same idea when they apply for the same promotional job. As both of these characters are very competitive, things start to get heated.

This book is a dual POV which I loved!
Overall the story was a little predictable but enjoyable.

A massive thank you to the author, netgalley and publisher for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this book.

I really enjoyed this book! The story was interesting and I am a sucker for characters that have history. Their time falling in love felt very rushed, however. There wasn’t enough of it in my opinion.

Mariah Ankenman does it again! I absolutely adore her novels and now comes my favorite "couple", Diaz and Ward, Sparks flew in the other novels that gave us small snippets of this flirtatious banter but, it was something wild when we finally got a novel about these rambunctious duo. The challenges, the flirting, and THE SPICE. I just loved every moment of it!

4.25 stars

Holy Hannah this one is hot!!

First off, shout out to having a diverse FMC and she's a firefighter!! We need more characters like this! Diaz and Ward have the best banter!! That's one of my fav parts in reading romance and theirs' was perfection!! The spice was well written! This was a fun, fast, easy read! It did feel a little rushed to me but I still enjoyed it. I didn't realize this was a series when I requested it. I think it can easily be read as a standalone but I"ll definitely be going back to read the first 2 books!

Thank you Mariah, Netgalley, and Entangled Publishing for my review e-copy!!

An amusing and heartwarming romance. The banter was great and I liked seeing their relationship move from banter and competition to romantic. Overall, an enjoyable read.

This was a sweet friends/co-workers to lovers romance. From the beginning, I fell in love with Stephanie and Eli and the ways in which they balanced one another out. Where Stephanie was strong minded and extremely disciplined was Eli laid back and approachable. Their differing personalities not only made them wonderful friends and eventual lovers, but also the perfect team to take part in the Battle of the First Responders competition.

I loved the type of competition that was created for the story, and were it something that were to happen in real life I’d be invested in it. While it was great getting to see some of the competitions that the teams took part in, I would’ve loved to have gotten to see more interaction between Stephanie and Eli and the other teams. The only other team interaction that was shown was that between them and the nurses, Kayleigh and Cora; and while the friendship that was formed between Stephanie and Kayleigh was great to see, I also wanted to meet all of the competitors even if it was just to know their names.

Having never read any of the authors previous works, I really enjoyed this book and appreciated the fact that despite this being the third book in the series, the story is a stand-alone and no previous knowledge of other characters or previous events was needed. it should be noted however that I look forward to reading the two previous books and hope to see more books in the series be produced.