Fireproof by Delancey Stewart

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Title: Fireproof
Author: Delancey Stewart
Series: Busy Bean #8
Published by: Heart Eyes Press
Release Date: September 13, 2021
Format: eARC
Pages: 311
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Source: Heart Eyes Press
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 COYER Summer
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:

Blurb:

The newest barista at the Busy Bean is about to steam the place up...

Former Marine Mason Rye can make a cappuccino with military precision, but he finds it much harder to serve up a smile. It’s not that he doesn’t like people. But he knows from experience that once you let someone in, it hurts like hell when you lose them. And Mason’s lost too many people already.

So it’s pretty damn inconvenient when his old Marine buddy shows up on Mason’s goat farm with his younger sister in tow. Heather’s work in Washington D.C. has turned dangerous, and she needs a safe place out of town.

Mason doesn’t need a new roommate, especially not a pretty, single one who insists on rearranging his spice rack and giving his chickens cute names. Although there’s no denying the haunted look in her blue eyes. Every time her fear shows its face, he wants to reach for her.

The problem is that she wants him, too. And when Mason breaks all his rules, they practically burn down his bed together. But her life is in D.C. And the threat against her is over.

Unfortunately, neither of their hearts is fireproof...

Warning: this stand-alone novel contains cute goats, bossy Marines and small town charm.

My Review:

I received a free copy through Heart Eyes Press in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

3.5 stars — This book had a super strong start, I was so intrigued by both characters, I connected with them, and I was excited to see them break through each other’s walls.  And for the most part, I got great stuff…but for me, it dragged a bit and I got impatient with our MCs.

Heather was wonderfully bright and sunny, positive, and just the perfect amount of sassy.  I loved the way she would tease Mason, and how she wasn’t afraid to dig in and help wherever she could see an opportunity.  You could truly feel how easily she came to care for her new Vermont peeps, and I loved that for her.  The problem, unfortunately, is that she hung on to the whole :my home is in Washington” thing WAY TOO LONG.  Like, I totally understand a bit of confusion, reluctance, etc…  But it just kept coming back, and she just didn’t learn.  She sort of made a step in the right direction, but at the first sign of trouble she was back tracking.  I was bummed about that.

Mason may have had a standoffish personality to many, but it hid the most wonderfully soft heart.  I ached for what he went through in his childhood, and how fundamentally it had affected his entire life.  But when he loves, he loves fiercely.  He was delightfully smart and passionate about the farm, and the changes he was bringing.  I loved learning about walipinis, and seeing him strive to make things work.  But, just like Heather, he was ridiculously stubborn holding on to his old beliefs and protecting himself.  I think I got it a bit more with him than Heather, but it still got to the point where I was just frustrated.

As for the two of them together?  I really loved their chemistry — from friendship to more.  You could genuinely feel them connecting and coming together, and it was very satisfying.  But, again, 2 stubborn souls made for a really frustrated Lenore.

The secondary characters were pretty great too — from Mason’s sister Amelia, and uncle Billy; to Heather’s brother Kevin; to the glimpses of Audrey, Zara, and Roderick we got.  And of course there was the star of the show: Rascal.  That puppy was everything.

So yeah.  Solid book, I would definitely have rated it higher if it hadn’t started to drag with their equal stubbornness.