Bright Fire: A Sweet Later in Life Second Chance Romance

Enjoyed This Series… Until This Novella — I’ve enjoyed this series that takes place in a fictional small Oregon town near Portland. I live in southern Oregon, and I love to read books set in my state, fictional or not! I’ve read other books in the series and have found them charming and often accurately reflecting the sometimes kooky nature of my state. Unfortunately, this novella missed the mark in several ways. As always in a series, it is fun to visit with characters you know from other books. But this particular novella is so short. I think shorter fiction forms are more challenging for a writer—even one with skill—as you really have to keep it all tight: characterization, plot, setting, motivations, etc. While this author is certainly skilled, she could not accomplish that in this book. The book felt like the start of the story, not a complete story unto itself. We didn’t understand the bedrock of the heroine’s issue until far too late in the story. The “story” seemed almost random to me. We saw various characters come and go, but it didn’t seem to have much purpose. I was watching the percentages click by quickly with little interaction between the hero and the heroine—or at least little that showed a romantic growth arc. I felt like I kept waiting for something to happen. Then the book wrapped up too quickly, without much fanfare. It was just DONE, without the author really wrapping up the story or the romance. A lot of plot threads were left hanging unsatisfactorily. It didn’t really feel like the romance was left in an HEA state… it was just a barely HFN. Others in this series have been wonderful but not this one. -- I received a free copy of this book, but that did don't affect my review.

Love a good second chance story that has some twists and turns and bumps in the road. Small town settings are great for these kind of romances because you have people that like to give their opinions when not asked for. Entertaining characters help tell the story. Good read. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.