Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Wildfire

Reading this book felt like reading people chronically on twitter interacting in real life.
The conversations seemed too unrealistic between the couple, especially during "deep", "emotional" or "romantic" moments. I wish Honey Acres as a setting was explored more alongside the whole camp atmosphere.
The side characters also deserved more moments to shine, as I really loved Xanders banter with the other characters.
Some moments in the book gave me whiplash just from how quickly the scenes and conversation topics were changing. Some moments and conversations also felt like they finished too abruptly before moving on.
TDLR: Great setting, funny side characters, unrealistic mmc and fmc.

Content Warnings

amre23's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was fun and cute. The more serious topics/traumas were similar between the MFC and MMC. This at times was great to show how people with similar issues/trauma can support each other. This did also cause some lulls in the story because there wasn't a lot of diversity with their issues. If you're looking for an easy summer story with occasional drama then this would most likely be a book for you.

The way the toxic parents were handled did seem realistic and how the characters moved through the issues/progressed were stressful at times, If you've experienced these similar issues, but also relieving around any resolutions.

Happy to see the continuation of the characters from Icebreaker also making appearances.

Content Warnings

roorooreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

One of the easiest five stars I've given in awhile! This book was exactly what I needed. This book is achingly romantic, funny, charming, and full of butterflies. A light and fluffy summer romance at its finest but with lots of deep personal problem that the characters work through. If you are looking for a good time you have found it in this book. This is the kind of Romane that I look for. Not only one where the characters fall in love with each other but that makes me fall in love right along with them. I truly ached for these characters and their romance and I couldn't be happier. It was truly wonderful and even though I just finished it I want to read it all over again.

Content Warnings

graceev's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

4.5

Content Warnings

kelly_e's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Title: Wildfire
Author: Hannah Grace
Series: Maple Hills #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: October 3, 2023

I received a complimentary eARC from Simon & Schuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted #Ad

T H R E E • W O R D S

Dissimilar • Sizzling • Juvenile

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Maple Hills students Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts cross paths at a party celebrating the end of the academic year, where a drinking game results in them having 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 for her full name.

Imagine their surprise when they bump into each other on the first day of the summer camp where they are both counselors, hoping to escape their complicated home lives by spending the summer working. Russ hopes if he gets far enough away from Maple Hills, he can avoid dealing with the repercussions of his father’s gambling addiction, while Aurora is tired of craving attention from everyone around her, and wants to go back to the last place she truly felt at home.

Russ knows breaking the camp’s strict “no staff fraternizing” rule will have him heading back to Maple Hills before the summer is over, but unfortunately for him, Aurora has never been very good at caring about the rules. Will the two learn to peacefully coexist? Or did their one night together start a fire they can’t put out?

💭 T H O U G H T S

I absolutely (somewhat surprisingly) adored Icebreaker earlier in the year, so I was eagerly anticipating Wildfire, book two of the Maple Hills series. Unfortunately, so many of the elements I loved about book one were missing from this second installment, which left me rather disappointed.

I will start off by saying the romance between Russ and Aurora was wholesome. There's definitely a bit of a miscommunication vibe going early on, but it never overrode the development of their relationship. Both main characters have family issues that are at the heart of the story, yet there is a great emphasis on working through things together and developing an open line of communication.

There is a different sense of found family with the staff of the summer camp that I liked. However, I really missed all of the characters I'd come to love from book one. Additionally, I missed Maple Hills and the hockey backdrop. In my opinion, its because so many of the things I loved from book one were missing that I really struggled to form a deep connection with Russ and Aurora's story. Even the spice level felt completely different.

Wildfire was a bit of a letdown after being so excited to pick it up. One of the complaints about Icebreaker was the length, and that's exactly how I felt about this one. The summer camp setting felt completely different and honestly, made it seem like a standalone. I will still continue with the series (book 3 is Henry's story!!), but I am really hoping for a return to the college setting and sports romance trope.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the ONS trope
• readers who like the summer camp romance

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"You don't turn your back on people because they're not perfect."

"It's incredible how shame fills the cracks other people create."

"It's no secret that I love books. I love stories about people I don't know, and place I haven't been to. I've lived a thousand lives between a thousand pages, but no story, no life, no page has ever made me as happy as you do, Russ Callaghan."

Content Warnings

kb33's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I loved this! So many real life funny moments and quips. And the characters were some of the most real I’ve read - they had flaws, big and small, and some they knew about and didn’t know how to fix, and they talked to their friends and each other about the flaws, and I loved it. Mmc is a college hockey player, but this book takes place over the summer, so there’s no hockey.

Content Warnings

culzean's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

cdoubet's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

More...