Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Up in Flames

When I was working on my book journal, I was trying to figure out why this book wasn't as big of a hit as past SJ/EF books for me, and I think what it boils down to is simply: it's more serious than I prefer my KU romances to be. It's not inherently a fault of the book, and the authors made it clear that this book is different from their others. It just isn't the kind of romance book I want to escape into. So that being said, let's get into what I did and didn't love.

LIKES:

It's a good representation of a (past) toxic relationship and friendship. I like that we get to see how both Remy and Sanden were affected by their closeness with Eman (the toxic ex bf/bff respectively). There's some on-page continued (attempted) manipulation and threats of physical abuse, so watch out for that if it's triggering for you, but it's well done and I appreciated seeing how both characters grew in how they reacted to it.
I really like that both MCs go to therapy and work on themselves instead of falling into a codependent relationship with each other that's doomed to crash and burn.

DISLIKES:

CW: There's a graphic car accident (pile-up on the highway) that the characters respond to as firefighters. The CW at the front of the book doesn't really warn for this clearly, and it doesn't spoil anything plot-wise to know it's coming. From the front of the book, it says "Content warnings include emotional manipulation, domestic abuse recovery, death of a child (referenced off page), and any situation the fire department might respond to (car crashes, fires, dead bodies etc)" -- so "car accident" is really thrown in there as a parenthetical possibility, rather than communicating that it's a pretty graphic, deadly scene (no character injury, though).
It's a little odd to me how quickly Remy and Sanden jumped to awesome friends after Eman leaves Remy at the altar, especially since Sanden has kept Remy at arm's length for so many years (and I get why, I get he was pining). It just felt like a sudden and slightly unnatural jump from "at-arm's-length" to "I'm going to be the person supporting you through being left at the altar by the ex-toxic person from both our lives".
The amount of sex clashes with the "take it slow and healthy" thing that's attempted here. Especially since it felt like every time the characters needed/were going to have a serious conversation, they fell into bed instead. I'm all here for smut (hence why I've read all of the SJ/EF books...), and even here for smut in the context of more serious topics, but it felt like the smut was at the expense of the serious themes, ya know?

Ratings: Plot: 3 // Characters: 4 // Spice: 4 // Humor: 3.5 // Representation: 5 // Romance: 2
Pov: Dual 1st person
Tags: left at the altar; ex BFF's ex/ex's BFF; past toxic relationship/friendship; firefighters; pining; MLM; gay MCs

Content Warnings

enayqueerbooklover's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad fast-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

4.75

This book gave me a lot of laughs as I always expect from an Eden Finley/Saxon James book, but also an unexpected depth of trauma & emotion that isn’t usually there. So much more complex, nuanced and angsty than usual, and it really moved me. It’s next-level writing from this pair.

Swoon /5 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Angst /5 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Steam /5 ♨️♨️♨️♨️

Plot /5 🧐🧐🧐🧐

LOLs /5 🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭

Paramedic Remy is abandoned at the wedding altar by his fiancé Eman. Eman’s head groomsman, firefighter Sanden, is left to break the news to Remy, complicated by the fact that Sanden has had feelings for Remy for years. He’s also realistic about Eman’s personality, and suspects he hasn’t been treating Remy well for a while. When Remy is understandably devastated, Sanden offers to go on the honeymoon with Remy, to keep him company & help take his mind off it. This part is typical Finley/James writing - hilarious banter, lots of LOL moments, fun & flirty with s3xy times.

When they return home, the book takes a turn to an emotionally deeper, heavier read. We discover that Eman is emotionally abusive & manipulative. While he’s a truly odious character, he’s brilliantly written because he actually made me cry in frustration & distress over the things he did to Remy. And while Remy has revelled in his new connection to Sanden, he realises he needs time & therapy to get over Eman. At the same time, Sanden experiences a traumatic event as a firefighter that activates PTSD from an experience when he was younger. Phew, this one is bloody tough to read too. So both Remy & Sanden have significant mental health challenges that they need to work through. The way mental health & therapy is represented in here should be given all the stars.

Thank God, there is a wonderful happy ending for Sanden & Remy. And there’s also retribution towards Eman, which I’m embarrassed to say I was gleefully hoping for. And aI have to highlight a bloody brilliant reference to one of my fave movies “Love Actually”!

Content warnings for emotional abuse & gaslighting, toxic relationship, past death of a family member, grief, and mental illness.

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Content Warnings

zabeishumanish's review against another edition

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dark emotional

2.5

***Trigger Warnings*** God this book has so many, and god damn do you need to take them seriously. Everyone of the trigger warnings listed for this book has graphic effects on the mental health of our two main characters. In fact, the trigger warnings and mental health of the love interests is the only major plot of the book, so the focus on these issues is intense.

This is a fine book, but not what I was expecting. Based on books Saxon and Eden have written both together and separately, I never would have excepted a book this emotionally brutal. I’ve read both authors back catalogues and I’m not wrong to have anticipated some romcom elements in this book. There isn’t so much as a hint of comedy in the book. Nothing but emotional brutality.

This book isn’t what I was expecting. And it isn’t what I wanted. Had I been expecting the intensity I might have read it on a different day and enjoyed the story. But as is I did not have a good time. This was so emotionally brutal, I couldn’t even enjoy the sex.

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avahernandez's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny fast-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

Content Warnings

cherryblossomreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Sooo that happened 😍

Okay, jeg er... Wauw. Da den startede, var jeg helt okay med, at det her var en fluffy, blød fortælling om at hele efter traumer. MEN så vendte det hele og der blev faktisk gravet i de traumer, og den blev mørkere og mere alvorlig og jeg elsker det.

Læs TW, hvis du har nogle emner, du er sårbar overfor.

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