All Fired Up

When Imani Lewis goes to stay with her grandmother in a small town for the summer, she's relieved for the break from her workaholic schedule in publishing. She's not so relieved that she runs into Zander Matthews, a man she had a one-night stand with at her best friend's wedding.

I didn't read How Sweet It Is before diving into All Fired Up, and this worked really well as a standalone novel. Imani and Zander have great banter and balance in their relationship, and I loved that they had adult conversations and dealt with mental health, opposing outlooks, and the big life events of their close relatives. The setting was fun in a small town (close to where I live!) in NY with a hot air balloon festival. We also got to meet a hilarious, foul-mouthed parrot and Gigi, Imani's grandmother, who both provided some great comedic relief. I loved the dual perspective narrated by Emma Love and Max Lloyd-Zander and think audio is the way to go for this book!

Thanks to Forever for the ARC and to Hachette Audio for the ALC!

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced listening copy! This was the kind of soft but thoughtful romance I was looking for, and it did not disappoint. Imani and Zander had shared a one night stand at Kate’s wedding, but will the chemistry between them last or be rekindled when Imani comes back into town? Imani is a book agent that moves home to her smaller town from New York City to take care of her grandmother, Gigi. Imani loves order, planning, and spreadsheets, similar to her pregnant best friend Kate, who also lives in this small town and needs help prepping for the baby. In the midst of all this planning and caregiving, Imani is also dealing with her feelings for Zander, a ceramist, veteran, who likes to take each day as it comes.

This book is laugh out loud hilarious, with a very funny parrot for great comedic relief and many great mishaps throughout the small town. But this comedy balances serious topics that the author handles well and with empathy: PTSD, survivors guilt, and panic attacks. Zander is a great support system for Imani and she figures out her future, and the nice thing about this book is that Zander also learns about himself from Imani through listening and growing as a person. Another thing I appreciate about this book is that the friendships and family relationships are also handled well, balancing out and giving Imani and Zander support systems to help them figure out how to fall in love, while growing as people. The author also uses a dual point of view, which I think works well as Imani and Zander figure out how they balance their chemistry with a relationship. This was my first book by Dylan Newton, and she’s a great and fun writer! I’ll definitely be reading or listening to her again. I recommend this book for fans of romantic comedy, mental health representation, and steamy chemistry between the main leads.