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A review by bee_thebibliophile
Forrest for the Trees by Kilby Blades
5.0
Forrest for the Trees has been on my TBR for months and I’m SO glad I finally picked it up! This new addition to the Smartypants Romance universe was the perfect combination of sweetness, suspense, action and fun.
Sierra Betts is a park ranger at Smoky Mountains National Park and spends her days hiking her territory, developing new research studies to keep the park flourishing and dealing with an old boys club work environment after her supervisor Olivia is put on bed rest. As a woman of color in an industry largely dominated by white men, she’s constantly on guard and working hard to prove herself and prove her worth. Sierra’s incredibly driven and motivated but also lonely since moving to Tennessee from California.
Forrest Winters is the federal fire marshal for the park, frequently crossing paths with Sierra and riling her up every chance he gets. He’s a firefighter first, having spent years doing that job to prepare him for more responsibility and drive him to do more, focusing on prevention and technology to help prevent future devastation and heartbreak. He’s an axe-wielding outdoorsman who feels the most at peace when he’s out in nature. Forrest is an incredibly sweet guy who has been waiting for the right woman to come along and he knows that woman in Sierra.
These two together were incredible - I loved that Forrest had been interested in her for the past year and she had no clue because she couldn’t see past her first impressions of him. Their connection felt so real and their chemistry was out of control…I loved seeing it grow and change into more. Not only do they both share a love for nature and the outdoors, but they’re both ready for a relationship, know what they’re looking for in a partner and aren’t willing to settle for anything less than what they deserve. Their partnership, banter and deep connection really made their story unique.
The suspense and mystery piece of the story was so unexpected and interesting. I felt myself trying to figure it out along the way but I never could have predicted how it all played out and I loved that it brought together so many other SPRU characters from other series to solve it. One of the most underrated things this book does is highlight the inequalities that women face in male-dominated (or even just male-supervised) fields. The adversity that Sierra faces in front of her superiors and even her coworkers is (unfortunately) very realistic and I really appreciated the way it was handled both with Olivia being an amazing manager but also with Forrest and others highlighting the inconsistencies of how Sierra was treated vs. her male counterparts.
I love returning to Green Valley every chance I get and I especially love returning for a story that makes me fall completely in love with the characters. I couldn’t get enough of this book and am really hoping this isn’t the last SPRU book we get from Kilby Blades!
Sierra Betts is a park ranger at Smoky Mountains National Park and spends her days hiking her territory, developing new research studies to keep the park flourishing and dealing with an old boys club work environment after her supervisor Olivia is put on bed rest. As a woman of color in an industry largely dominated by white men, she’s constantly on guard and working hard to prove herself and prove her worth. Sierra’s incredibly driven and motivated but also lonely since moving to Tennessee from California.
Forrest Winters is the federal fire marshal for the park, frequently crossing paths with Sierra and riling her up every chance he gets. He’s a firefighter first, having spent years doing that job to prepare him for more responsibility and drive him to do more, focusing on prevention and technology to help prevent future devastation and heartbreak. He’s an axe-wielding outdoorsman who feels the most at peace when he’s out in nature. Forrest is an incredibly sweet guy who has been waiting for the right woman to come along and he knows that woman in Sierra.
These two together were incredible - I loved that Forrest had been interested in her for the past year and she had no clue because she couldn’t see past her first impressions of him. Their connection felt so real and their chemistry was out of control…I loved seeing it grow and change into more. Not only do they both share a love for nature and the outdoors, but they’re both ready for a relationship, know what they’re looking for in a partner and aren’t willing to settle for anything less than what they deserve. Their partnership, banter and deep connection really made their story unique.
The suspense and mystery piece of the story was so unexpected and interesting. I felt myself trying to figure it out along the way but I never could have predicted how it all played out and I loved that it brought together so many other SPRU characters from other series to solve it. One of the most underrated things this book does is highlight the inequalities that women face in male-dominated (or even just male-supervised) fields. The adversity that Sierra faces in front of her superiors and even her coworkers is (unfortunately) very realistic and I really appreciated the way it was handled both with Olivia being an amazing manager but also with Forrest and others highlighting the inconsistencies of how Sierra was treated vs. her male counterparts.
I love returning to Green Valley every chance I get and I especially love returning for a story that makes me fall completely in love with the characters. I couldn’t get enough of this book and am really hoping this isn’t the last SPRU book we get from Kilby Blades!