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Genre:
New Adult / Contemporary / Romance
*BOOK SUMMARY*
Protect your family. At all costs.
It’d take the impossible to hurt Connor Cobalt, even for a moment.
Protect your family. At all costs.
At twenty-six, his narcissistic tendencies have made room for the people he loves.
Protect your family. At all costs.
And he loves Rose. But when his love is threatened, when his greatest dreams with her are compromised — what is the cost then?
Protect your family. At all costs.
Love will guide his choices.
For the first time in his life.
**AUTHORS' NOTE**
It's possible to only read the Calloway Sisters spin-off series without reading the Addicted series, but you MUST read Hothouse Flower (Calloway Sisters #2) before reading Fuel the Fire (Calloway Sisters #3).
It's highly recommended to read the books in the recommended reading order, which is in tangent with the Addicted series. If you choose not to read Addicted After All before Fuel the Fire, there will be a time jump.
Fuel the Fire picks up in the Addicted Timeline where Addicted After All ended. FTF will not retell past events from Addicted After All in Rose & Connor's POV. All new material.
MY RATING:
*MY REVIEW*
“I need you to keep looking at me like you’re going to burn a hole through my heart, and I need you to tell me that you love the real me. Every day, I need you, Rose.”
Warning: Fangirling ahead!
Ah, these books! ♥ These books, people, have restored my faith in New Adult genre!
“We never touched, but I made love to your mind.”
Let me tell you something. Upon starting FTF, I had enormous expectations, which was natural considering that Addicted series is my favorite NA series and Coballoway is my favorite couple. Rose is one my favorite female characters in general and Connor is my dream man. Taking all of that into consideration, this book did not fail to deliver. At all.
Once again, Krista & Becca Ritchie have amazed me with their talent and I stand by my previous statement – fan for life!
She fuels the fire in my soul, the embers slowly dying, and she tries feverishly to awaken me. I open my mouth to say the truth—what happened…the words stick to the back of my throat. I place my hands on hers, the ones clutching my shirt, as though she’s seconds from throttling me to her plane of existence—where the world is painted vibrantly in sadness, in rage and despair. I’m the one who lives in muted tones of impassivity and emptiness, needing other people to color my landscape for me.
Now, as for the plot – have no fear, no spoilers. I don’t want to reveal anything, but if you’ve read an Addicted novel before, you can expect a lot of funny bantering, sexy times, emotional moments, and plenty more. And if you haven’t, well what are you waiting for?
People can change. People can grow. People can realize that the idea of something is more frightening than the reality.
Both Connor and Rose’s characters are given more depth. I feel like only when we’re reading from their POVs, we really get to know them, I can say that now we completely understand them. In Kiss the Sky we saw them falling in love, but now we see their love grow even stronger. They are the perfect match and most definitely among my favorite literary couples of all time (right along with Catherine and Heathcliff from WH, and Tatiana and Alexander from TBH).
He has shaped my life, shaped me, so entirely, and I think about him in every action, in every extraordinary or commonplace thought. I wonder what he would do or what he would say. I’m independent, self-sufficient, and singular—I’m all of those things while carrying and feeling and living out love.
Rose is the kind of female character I love to read about – unapologetic, confident, loyal, strong, inspiring. She’s not ashamed of her choices, never afraid to speak her mind; and a woman both intelligent and beautiful. Embodiment of a feminist! And Connor.. uh, no words. *dreamy eyes* He’s my ultimate book boyfriend. You need to meet him and you’ll love him.
Moreover, I’m also glad that some old loose ends were tied (old enemies defeated), and other characters are developed more as well. Just because this book is written from Coballoway POV, it doesn’t mean that there is no Raisy or LiLo.
Furthermore, in Addicted After All, my favorite side character was Ryke; but this time it’s Daisy. My heart beat really fast on three occasions, and two of those revolved around Daisy. The Calloway sisters at the lake-house scene was heartbreaking, more so because someone very close to me experienced the same thing as Daisy did and I’m eagerly waiting for the final book!
Addicted series for me represents everything New Adult as a genre should be, but sadly is often not. First of all, there is no unnecessary drama, couples are not broken up without apparent reason, there’s no cheating, etc. Great majority of romance novels end once the couple gets together, however, with these books we observe 6 people growing together, individually and as couples, we see them developing, facing challenges and winning despite the odds. That is what makes them so realistic to me.
Furthermore, family bonds and friendships are another aspect that makes these books stand out. This time, my favorite combo was Rose, Connor and Ryke. Connor and Ryke’s friendship is the ‘newest’ and I loved seeing it get to the new level; there’s respect and new understanding between them. Hopefully, in LWD we’ll get more moments involving “older kids club.” *grin*
Therefore, Fuel the Fire was indeed one incredibly written book, it gave us everything we love about Connor and Rose and more. There are some very important issues being raised, regarding public image, labeling, sexuality. I really didn’t want to discuss anything particular in regards to plot in my review; I went into it completely blind and was pleasantly surprised along the way.
In conclusion, at the end of my review, I just want to say: thank you Krista & Becca, not only for giving us wonderful stories and characters, but for influencing us, through them. I myself feel very inspired by e.g. Rose, and certain Coballoway moments from this book I will always hold dear to me. Fuel the Fire is indeed my new favorite from the series and there is nothing better than when a book fulfills your expectations!
Connor has always had these deep blue, austere eyes that flit between serenity and hard-pressed truths. It’s as though he contains the world’s knowledge and history, the dark ages and the light ones. Behind his own entitlement lies all of these grim and wonderful facts about millenniums of people: the first voyagers, the first philosophers, the very first scientists. When I look into his eyes now, the millenniums shrink to a pool of two. Two people. Just us. The facts are swept with truths, and history is right now.
xoxo,
Beatrix
But I do hope their romance wasn't as tragic and Heath and Cath. :)
ReplyDeleteNooo, not at all. I was not comparing, simply listing some of my favorite literary couples. :)
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