Scan barcode
A review by rellimreads
Ablaze by Swati M.H.
5.0
This is book 3 in Swati M.H.’s Elements of Rapture series. While you don't have to read Adrift & Ascend to enjoy this, they're definitely best enjoyed in order.
I loved the first two books, but this is my absolute favorite. Ablaze is broken into three sections: The Past, The Recent, and The Present - it's a long, long road for these two.
The Past. Swati M.H. crafts one of the most beautiful and thorough friendship aspects for a friends-to-lovers story that I've ever read. Add in another of my favorite tropes: Best Friend's Sister/Brother's Best Friend and I was immediately in love with Dean and Mala. They are funny, sexy, and quite a bit angsty as the tease of "will they or won't they become more" is always lingering. Inside jokes abound and watching Mala's bakery dreams come true is lovely. The secondary characters are a lot of fun and I especially enjoyed Rohan and Malcolm.
The Recent. Dean has always held Mala at arm's length with his assumption that being a firefighter and the threat that he may not always be around is not something he wants to put her through. Not sure he can deny his feelings any longer he thinks he's willing to take the leap... Whatever the opposite of the "third act breakup" is - this is it.
The Present. This is romance, I know they're going to get together and have an HEA. However, I love that I got to experience that joy for more than just a few pages. This glorious culmination of TEN YEARS gave Dean and Mala the beautiful and detailed ending they deserved.
Then, the sprinkles (hah!) on this three-layer-cake was the absolutely precious epilogue. Perfect.
It looks like Swati M.H. will be diving into Hudson's story next. Though I'd love to read one about Malcolm as well. Can't wait.
I received an advance copy of the ebook and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Merged review:
This is book 3 in Swati M.H.’s Elements of Rapture series. While you don't have to read Adrift & Ascend to enjoy this, they're definitely best enjoyed in order.
I loved the first two books, but this is my absolute favorite. Ablaze is broken into three sections: The Past, The Recent, and The Present - it's a long, long road for these two.
The Past. Swati M.H. crafts one of the most beautiful and thorough friendship aspects for a friends-to-lovers story that I've ever read. Add in another of my favorite tropes: Best Friend's Sister/Brother's Best Friend and I was immediately in love with Dean and Mala. They are funny, sexy, and quite a bit angsty as the tease of "will they or won't they become more" is always lingering. Inside jokes abound and watching Mala's bakery dreams come true is lovely. The secondary characters are a lot of fun and I especially enjoyed Rohan and Malcolm.
The Recent. Dean has always held Mala at arm's length with his assumption that being a firefighter and the threat that he may not always be around is not something he wants to put her through. Not sure he can deny his feelings any longer he thinks he's willing to take the leap... Whatever the opposite of the "third act breakup" is - this is it.
The Present. This is romance, I know they're going to get together and have an HEA. However, I love that I got to experience that joy for more than just a few pages. This glorious culmination of TEN YEARS gave Dean and Mala the beautiful and detailed ending they deserved.
Then, the sprinkles (hah!) on this three-layer-cake was the absolutely precious epilogue. Perfect.
It looks like Swati M.H. will be diving into Hudson's story next. Though I'd love to read one about Malcolm as well. Can't wait.
I received an advance copy of the ebook and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
I loved the first two books, but this is my absolute favorite. Ablaze is broken into three sections: The Past, The Recent, and The Present - it's a long, long road for these two.
The Past. Swati M.H. crafts one of the most beautiful and thorough friendship aspects for a friends-to-lovers story that I've ever read. Add in another of my favorite tropes: Best Friend's Sister/Brother's Best Friend and I was immediately in love with Dean and Mala. They are funny, sexy, and quite a bit angsty as the tease of "will they or won't they become more" is always lingering. Inside jokes abound and watching Mala's bakery dreams come true is lovely. The secondary characters are a lot of fun and I especially enjoyed Rohan and Malcolm.
The Recent. Dean has always held Mala at arm's length with his assumption that being a firefighter and the threat that he may not always be around is not something he wants to put her through. Not sure he can deny his feelings any longer he thinks he's willing to take the leap... Whatever the opposite of the "third act breakup" is - this is it.
The Present. This is romance, I know they're going to get together and have an HEA. However, I love that I got to experience that joy for more than just a few pages. This glorious culmination of TEN YEARS gave Dean and Mala the beautiful and detailed ending they deserved.
Then, the sprinkles (hah!) on this three-layer-cake was the absolutely precious epilogue. Perfect.
It looks like Swati M.H. will be diving into Hudson's story next. Though I'd love to read one about Malcolm as well. Can't wait.
I received an advance copy of the ebook and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Merged review:
This is book 3 in Swati M.H.’s Elements of Rapture series. While you don't have to read Adrift & Ascend to enjoy this, they're definitely best enjoyed in order.
I loved the first two books, but this is my absolute favorite. Ablaze is broken into three sections: The Past, The Recent, and The Present - it's a long, long road for these two.
The Past. Swati M.H. crafts one of the most beautiful and thorough friendship aspects for a friends-to-lovers story that I've ever read. Add in another of my favorite tropes: Best Friend's Sister/Brother's Best Friend and I was immediately in love with Dean and Mala. They are funny, sexy, and quite a bit angsty as the tease of "will they or won't they become more" is always lingering. Inside jokes abound and watching Mala's bakery dreams come true is lovely. The secondary characters are a lot of fun and I especially enjoyed Rohan and Malcolm.
The Recent. Dean has always held Mala at arm's length with his assumption that being a firefighter and the threat that he may not always be around is not something he wants to put her through. Not sure he can deny his feelings any longer he thinks he's willing to take the leap... Whatever the opposite of the "third act breakup" is - this is it.
The Present. This is romance, I know they're going to get together and have an HEA. However, I love that I got to experience that joy for more than just a few pages. This glorious culmination of TEN YEARS gave Dean and Mala the beautiful and detailed ending they deserved.
Then, the sprinkles (hah!) on this three-layer-cake was the absolutely precious epilogue. Perfect.
It looks like Swati M.H. will be diving into Hudson's story next. Though I'd love to read one about Malcolm as well. Can't wait.
I received an advance copy of the ebook and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.