~ * ~ Mari‘s Review ~ * ~
4.25 Stars!
I really liked Hudson and Jude, they had amazing chemistry from the moment they met, but they aren’t in the same place. Hudson wants a relationship and Jude doesn’t think he deserves one. My heart broke for Jude, he has so many issues with his self-worth due to his past. I wanted to strangle Jude a few times because he liked to self-sabotage himself, especially where Hudson was concerned, thinking that Hudson was too good for him and not realizing he had come a long way since his wild days.
While I enjoyed the book, for the most part, I thought the secondary characters kinda overtook the story at times, and seeing that I was reading this as a standalone, I felt a bit lost during certain scenes in the book. Still, some of them were fun and interesting and I wouldn’t be opposed to reading their stories in the future.
Overall, Down in Flames was a great read, with a captivating storyline and a couple I was happy to root for. Definitely recommendable!
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn’t a requirement. ***
~ * ~ Tracy‘s Review ~ * ~
4 Stars
I barely read the blurb because hello… Hockey Player!l? Check! Firefighter? Check! Both? Sign me up!
For the most part, this was an enjoyable read, but as part of a larger verse’, by the author’s own admission at the end of the story, it brings two worlds together, at times there were too many side characters and their significant others to keep up with and it all became a bit convoluted and confusing.
As for Hudson and Jude, I really liked them, but I wish the first half of the story had focused more on them. They hook up at the very beginning of the story, and it’s super hot, but then the story becomes too much about them individually. I craved getting to the meat of the story. I wanted to get to the romance portion of their story and the first half felt like filler with all the aforementioned side characters.
Once we finally get to the romance, well, Hudson and Jude were smoking hot together and as much as they tried not to fall in love, watching them do so was sweet and amazing. I loved the sexy times, but I also loved the tender and sweet moments they shared.
While I liked both Jude and Hudson, there were times I wanted to slap some sense into Jude. His feelings of unworthiness both broke my heart and irritated me at times. All these feelings of unworthiness lead to a predictable situation, that I saw coming from a mile away near the end of the story, which left me again, wanting to shake Jude.
The ending was sweet and made up for the anxiety that kept me in knots throughout the story. While I haven’t read any of the other stories that are connected to this one, there were a couple of other MM couples that I think I’ll be checking out, as well as a couple of guys I met here that I hope will get their own story.
This was a good read and while I found the story could have been tightened up a bit and focused more on Hudson and Jude, it was still an enjoyable read that I’d recommend.
* Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn’t a requirement. *
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