Wildfire by Hannah Grace is one of the funnest, most endearing romance novels I’ve read to date. I adored her first book Icebreaker (read my review), but this follow up is even better. I was laughing out loud so many times.
“As much as I don’t want to be, I’m the moth and Aurora is the brightest flame.” p. 123
BLURB:
When Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts cross paths at a college party, a drinking game results in a passionate one-night stand. Never one to overstay her welcome (or expect much from a man), Aurora slips away before Russ even has the chance to ask her full name.
Imagine their surprise when they bump into each other on their first day as summer camp counsellors, hoping to escape their complicated home lives for the summer break.
As the summer unfolds, the tension between them intensifies. Russ doesn’t want to risk breaking the camp’s strict ‘no staff fraternising’ rule but, unfortunately for him, Aurora has never been very good at caring about rules. Will the two learn to peacefully co-exist? Or did their one night together start a fire they can’t put out?
REVIEW:
“For once I want to make a decision because it will make me happy, not because something has triggered me into acting out.” p. 37
“The feeling scares isn’t necessarily regret, it’s reflection, and I prefer to be distracted rather than reflective.” p. 53
I am 110% in my romance novel era at the moment and this new book in the Maple Hills series is just wonderful. It’s such a sweet summer romance, though it does still have some spice in there. Russ and Aurora are a great match. Getting to know them as people and as their relationship developed just brought me a lot of joy. They both have difficult relationships with the father’s for different reasons, but summing it up as daddy issues doesn’t note the nuance Hannah Grace has captured in their lives. They feel like real people, with real problems, but are able to grow and face those issues once they learn to trust others with the true of it. Russ in particular. There were times my heart was breaking for the burden on Russ’s shoulders because of his family, but watching him begin to recover and move on with Aurora’s help was really wholesome.
I enjoyed the camp setting as a way for the characters to relax into themselves and form new friendships and experiences in the one setting. And I cannot tell you how refreshing it was to read a romance, hell any fiction book, where the characters communicate and make a point of trying to avoid miscommunication because they know they interpret things differently from one another. Sure, it’s not always easy for Russ and Aurora as their thinking is skewed due to their traumatic childhoods, but they try. The sense of relief I experienced knowing they weren’t going to suddenly break up because they misunderstood one another was honestly a huge plus in the writing for me.
Wildfire was so easy to read, laugh out loud funny, and the cosy summer read I had hoped it would be. Do yourself a favour, buy the book, pour yourself a glass of wine and curl up on the couch and ignore the world for a few hours. I think I am officially now one of those people who will come back again and again for anything Hannah Grace writes.
“I achieved validation and attention through other means and became my own person, but somewhere along the way I’ve found myself in this limbo of happily doing whatever I want because people don’t care, and then being hurt that I can do whatever I want because people don’t care.” p. 59
“Don’t run away from the place that makes you feel at home. From the family you choose.” p.301
Tropes
- forced proximity
- daddy issues
- second chances
- trauma bonding
- summer romance
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Sports Romance
Series: Book Two
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