A review by dith_kusu
Feel the Fire by Annabeth Albert

4.0

I liked this; I think the previous second book with Garrick and Rain might still be my favorite, but I appreciated this gentler "high school sweethearts reconnected", second chance romance type of dynamic, and I liked both Tucker and Luis individually and them together as a couple, what that happy ever after together meant for them both. It's great that they are both in their mid thirties, in a place in both their lives where they're evaluating what they want their lives to be moving forward, in a stabler family dynamic way while also pursuing their dreams and leaving behind any life regrets they'd had in the past. This meant that both Luis and Tucker were mature, and didn't have any dumb miscommunication moments so prevalent in romance- I loved that they talked out their situation, had realistic roadblock moments, and found their own ways towards their happy ever after that wasn't frustrating to read along the way. Love the cats Blaze and Sparky, and I do wish there had been more background into Luis's life prior to the start of this book, seems like the loss of his partner Mike years before was more glossed over here to me, but maybe it's just that he's handled the grieving process and is now in an okay-er place about it. Here, I thought the fire department elements was not as prominent as in the first two books, and the inclusion of details about fire investigation on arson was more simplified than what the real-world application would be? But ultimately this wasn't too big a deal, and I still enjoyed the culture of the federal fire unit workplace, the nature of their jobs, the cameos of their coworkers and friends of this series and the setting of more rural central Oregon. Tucker's twins added a "kids" dynamic that was more different to the usual kidfic romance where the children are usually younger and are in need of more intense parenting- I liked that Tucker's sons were teens about to head off to college and fly the nest, and the dynamic of how Tucker, his ex-wife coparent and their stepfather, Luis coming in as the new partner for Tucker, was a more interesting changing transitional relationship with Walker and Wade who are about to embark into adulthood. All the talk that applied to the kids and also Tucker plus Luis, about being resistant to inevitable life changes, but being brave and willing to take risk to pursue their dreams anyway, I found quite touching. Wonder if there would be more books forthcoming in this series- that would be nice.