✨ "Alone time are two words most in this town don't know the meaning of. Just like privacy and boundaries." ✨
Thank you so much to author Madison Myers (@madisonmyersauthor on Instagram) for the advanced copy of the book so I had the opportunity to read and post my review on release day!
SOME SPOILER-FREE THOUGHTS: This was my first time diving into a Madison Myers novel and if there's one thing I need all my book besties to take away from this review, it is that she was BORN to be a writer and tell stories. Her ability to paint a picture not just with imagery, but with emotion and texture is a true gift that not everyone possesses. She had me so emotionally invested in Rory and Wyatt's story and this is only book one! I don't even wanna know how I'll be by the end of the series. And I will be reading to the end of this series because this book didn't give me nearly enough of Smoky Heights! I need more and I can't wait for it to come!
Author: madison myers
Finished: october 14, 2024
Reading Method: e-book (arc)
Star Rating: 4/5 ⭐
Spice Rating: 4/5 🌶️
What To Expect:
✨ Second Chance
✨ Small Town
✨ He Fell First (and He's Still Down Bad!)
✨ Hookups with an Expiration Date
✨ Family Drama
✨ Slow, then Super Fast Burn
✨ Hot Shot NYC Lawyer FMC
✨ Local Mechanic MMC
✨ Public Displays of Spice
✨ Dual POV
TW: Dying Relative (Cancer)
SPOILERS IN
3...
2...
1...
✨ "We've all got our weaknesses. For some, it's alcohol. Others, gambling. For me? A brown-eyed girl with thick hair and a hell of an attitude who gave me her virginity at sixteen and an apathetic outlook on life when she up and left me five years later." ✨
For as much emotional depth as this book had and the rollercoaster of feels I went on throughout the entirety of it, looking back on it as I write this review the only word I can come up with to sum up my experience is happy. This book just made me so happy.
Not just from the story of Rory reconnecting with her loved ones and herself in returning to her hometown, but also in Myers writing. Every time I read a line that just perfectly epitomized the written word, I highlighted it with the biggest smile on my face and tucked it away in the recesses of my mind as inspiration for my next writing session. Truly, a brilliant author who was put on this planet to share her creative outlook with the world.
But back to Rory and Wyatt...
Right off the bat I knew their story was going to be different. I was actually just discussing with someone recently about how you always know who someone's going to be with in a rom com because they're the only person they are intimate with (unless it's a why choose, polyamory, harem, etc. situation). Even if it's like, "they're in a relationship that's boring/bad and then meet someone who's exciting blah, blah, blah." But then this book immediately surprised me as we kicked off the entire story with our FMC hooking up with her casual NYC guy.
I was immediately invested. I knew right then this story was not going to be told as linearly as most rom coms and I was right. While we did hit all the main arcs and classic trope moments, the way Wyatt and Rory interact was so fresh and unexpected. I never knew what an exchange with them was going to entail and I loved it!
And oh gosh, can we talk about Wyatt? Like, is it not every girl's fantasy for the perfect man to be in love with you since you were a teenager and build a life for you despite the fact that you were off chasing your dreams? For him to hold onto the hope deep down that you'd return because he knew that it could never be anyone but you? To not only die a little inside when you left, but to grow so that when you come back he's the mature man you need him to be?
Swoon!!
I kept waiting for his internal monologue to go off on some tangent about how he could never forgive her or how despite how their attraction was clearly still there, he would never let her back in because he wanted her to know what it felt like to be rejected. But nope, he couldn't do that. Because he just loved her so much that he literally could not hold any animosity towards her, no matter how hard he tried to show it on the outside.
And then in addition to the love story between Rory and Wyatt, we got the love story between Rory, Laura Lee, and Lexi. Their reconnection as a family, even though they were coming back together as they were losing each other. It was so beautifully heartbreaking, but paralleled perfectly next to Rory and Wyatt's story to enhance that message of keeping those you love close to you because you don't know how much time you have with them.
So book besties, no matter what your favorite trope is, what your favorite genre, favorite writing style, I must insist you go read Rekindling the Flame by Madison Myers right now! Go go go!! Seriously! NOW!
All My Love,
Jane-Anne
Comments