Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Wildfire

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Wildfire by Hannah Grace

13 reviews

andeng's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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bzliz's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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

3.5

I found this so much more enjoyable than Icebreaker. I think the sports element of the first book was a bigger thorn in my side than I’d previously thought. I’m glad there were other characters to interact with and nobody was a real “rival” here. My least favorite parts of the story almost exclusively consists of scenes with the other hockey players; there’s too many of them and they’re relatively interchangeable.

My biggest complaint is honestly that there are too many direct parallels between this book and the last one. Both couples have a sexual encounter prior to really talking to each other while at least being semi-drunk at a party, it happens in the same room of their hockey house, and both women even had the same friends with benefits situation with the same guy prior to their new situation beginning. It feels unnecessary.

I liked that Aurora and Russ had different flavors of daddy issues and got to work through those together. Aurora’s relationship with her singular friend (why can’t these women have more than one female friend prior to becoming hockey girlfriends?) felt more solid than Stassie’s in the previous book. I actively believed that they cared for each other. Russ is a hard type of main character to have but I can understand why the BookTok girlies would love someone like him; he’s thoughtful and kind while being adorkably shy and has some secrets that he’ll share only if someone can be the perfect woman enough to get close to him.

I’m undecided on if I’ll be reading the third book in the series or not. Henry is probably my favorite side character (like everyone else) but I’m not particularly jazzed about returning to the college again.

Content warnings:
Sexual content (on page):

These people have so much sex, I could not possibly list the instances. It is explicit and on page, that’s the whole warning.

Addiction (on page):

Russ’s dad has a gambling addiction and regularly asks him for money, insulting and berating his son if he doesn’t send it. He does start to change after being in an accident and being kicked out by his wife and he does get involved with Gamblers Anonymous.

Toxic relationship (on page):

I’m using this to refer to each lead character and their relationship with their parents. Russ’s dad gets abusive when things aren’t going well for him. Aurora’s dad actively doesn’t value her as his daughter or even as a person and he verbally abused her on the phone when she doesn’t scamper to his side when beckoned so it doesn’t look bad to the cameras. They both suck and only one of them makes any attempts to turn it around.

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sebradley29's review against another edition

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medium-paced

5.0

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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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."

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author2223's review against another edition

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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

4.75

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megcarrick's review against another edition

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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

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annamay1021's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

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kamreher's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

*blushing*

spice 🌶 - a 4 🌶 spicy

length - just right. but i woulda taken more pages lmao

reading speed - read in 2 days
did it make me cry? - nope

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

I read Icebreaker last year because I’m always wanting to discover new authors. I loved Icebreaker like I still think about that book daily. When Hannah Grace announced that this was going to be a series, I was all over. I tried not to be obsessed with this book, but I just can’t help it.

There are two points of view in this book. Thie first point of view is Aurora Roberts. She is struggling with knowing who she is and having to deal with her family. Her father pays for her dorm and her college tuition but expect for that he is a pretty shitty dad and every time he rings Aurora, he always got something nasty to say or is expecting something from her because he is paying for college. Her mum is constantly complaining about how she never feels her children and is make Rory feel bad, but they can never a normal conversation because of this, she always seems to pick the worse guys who treat her like shit. She has never felt peace at college or at home, there is only one place she’s felt peace – Honey Acres Summer Camp. The second point of view is Russ Callaghan. He is finally in a good place with school and hockey. He has got some good mates and if he is distracted, he doesn’t have to think about his family issues. His dad has a gambling issue and is constantly asking Russ for money and Russ is done with giving him money. His mum knows about the issue and isn’t doing anything but letting him carry on with it even if it means they have excessive debt and must sell their house and downsize and his brother is constantly on the road and is expecting Russ to pick up the family drama. Russ doesn’t want to go home over the summer break so gets a job at Honey Acres. Aurora and Russ cross paths on what of the last parties of the year and a drinking game end with them spending the night together. But Aurora leaves before Russ knows her full name. Then they both get the shock of their life when they must work as camp counsellors. The camp has a strict no staff fraternising rule, but the tension is getting too much during the camp and Russ doesn’t want to head home early, but Aurora has never been one for the rules.

I love the relationship between these two characters. Aurora made me want to cry with the issues going on with her family. I wanted to give her a hug all the time especially when she was talking about her dad being emotionally abusive and how they affected her growing up. I wanted to punch Aurora’s dad square in the face multiple times during the book. Russ was such a sweetheart, he was so worried about how he was coming across to Aurora and being all shy. I love that he wanted to make sure she was alright and then had his own issues but wanted to make sure she knew what to do about her own problems rather than deal with his family shit. Just like the first book, I loved the found family trope and how Henry was the only one who truly knew about Russ’s problems and how JJ was having a heart-to-heart with Aurora to let know that he was happy for them both. I appreciate Hannah talking about broken families and I want to thank her for that.

I just wanted more, I loved the epilogue, and I could have a book a year with a life update on my favourite couples. I tried my damn hardest not to get so quickly obsessed with this book, but it was so freaking hard that I gave up quickly and just obsessed with it.

P.S. I blushed and squealed when I saw that Henry’s new fling was called Becky.

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vj_thompson's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

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