It all starts with an innocent little lie designed to get Josie’s mother off her back. When her mother abruptly decides to move back to town and her little white lie becomes town gossip, Josie convinces Lincoln, her best friend’s brother and resident firefighter hottie, to play along and act as her fake boyfriend until they can stage a breakup. She’s always had an enormous crush on Linc but has never acted on the feelings. But when her little lie begins to grow and all their opportunities to break up seem to be thwarted, their real feelings can no longer be denied, and their perfect plan goes out the window.

After Linc’s breakup with his ex, he just couldn’t stomach going through the pain of loving someone and not being enough again. So, to shelter his heart, he comes up with the perfect plan to keep his heart safe – never fall in love. Especially not with his sister’s best friend who has always been a special part of his life. But when their fake relationship turns into a fake engagement and real emotions get thrown into the mix, both Linc and Josie learn that sometimes the best parts of life happen beyond your reckless point.

I really enjoyed Linc and Josie’s friendship and banter. The back and forth and the way in which the lovers get to explore aspects of the relationship in a way they normally wouldn’t is part of what makes pretend relationships one of my favorite romance tropes. Despite there not being any sexual encounters in the novel, I think the author did an amazing job of keeping you excited by the budding romance and invested in seeing how it turns out.

Probably one of my favorite parts of the novel was the important role which family played in the story. Josie is already an honorary member of the family, even before dating Linc, and it’s adorable to see how enthusiastic his mother and grandmother are about the relationship. I adored Grandma Jean and her sassy words of wisdom. The whole family dynamic really gives this story some dimension and makes me eager to read more books in this series.

If you love sassy, matchmaking relatives, fake relationship and best friend’s brother tropes and a sweet, family-oriented hero, THE FIREFIGHTER’S PERFECT PLAN needs to be added to your TBR list.

Disclosure: I received this book free in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions shared are my own.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC from Netgalley.

If you like your books sweet (really sweet) and without heat, then this book is definitely for you. I, however, like at least some action in the novels I read. This had none...OK some kissing, but that was it.

I'm sure many will enjoy this, but I just wasn't in that category.

This was sweet little romance story. It was the kind of easy, light read that I can read by the pool on vacation. The characters are down to earth and real but flawed and gun shy when it comes to relationships.

The supporting cast is full of meddling, well-intended family members and with the small town backdrop they add a charming tone to the story. The story is a little predictable but I still found it to be entertaining and the characters were endearing enough that it kept me engrossed in the story. And who doesn't love a good-hearted fire fighter? I will definitely be checking out more of this series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

it's pretty well-established on this blog that fake relationships are like romance novel catnip for me, and the firefighter's perfect plan is the perfect blend of fake and real relationship that made this even better. josie moore has a terrible relationship with her parents, mainly because they are pretty terrible people. she's been a de facto bradford since she was a child. and in love with lincoln, her best friend casey's older brother since about the same time she became a de facto bradford.

linc is the kind of guy who instinctively wants to save you. when josie admits that she needs him to pretend to be her boyfriend because she lied to her mother about it, he agrees. he knows how terrible her mother is. nevermind that he'd been trying to stay away from josie because every time he looked at her he was tempted to throw away his perfect plan to stay single. a bad breakup had convinced him that he was a bad bet in the partner department. and hero that he is, he's decided to save every woman, but especially josie, from ending up stuck with him.

luckily linc's crazy baggage can't hold up to his family's incessant meddling. josie isn't much better because after a lifetime of being belittled by the people who birthed her, it's not surprising that she hesitates to believe that someone will pick her above anything. their love story is sweet and meaningful, beyond the attraction that blossoms between them, there is also this deep and abiding friendship. and it makes it all the better when they can admit what they truly feel for one another.

**the firefighter's perfect plan will publish on march 12, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (bliss) in exchange for my honest review.

I love escaping into these Bliss books from Entangled and this is another superb story from the highly talented author, Sonya Weiss. It is the second story in the ‘Fire and Sparks’ series, the first of which was ‘Wedding Date Rescue’. This is a series of standalone stories though there are common characters and settings involved in the books. In the first story, the romance was between Casey Bradford and Kent Wakefield, in this one it stars Casey’s best friend, Josie Moore, and Casey’s brother and Kent’s best friend, Lincoln. It is another romance that starts out as fake despite the mutual attraction between the couple.

The characters are superbly developed. Linc is a firefighter, strong, determined and always helpful to everyone but he doesn’t believe in himself and feels unworthy of finding true love. He has always cared for Casey, especially when her horrendously insensitive parents  are always trying to knock her self esteem to rock bottom with their unsupportive behaviour. When they are coming back to town, Casey tells them she’s in a relationship with Linc but they’ve decided to part. Get ready for Linc’s family to become matchmakers again!

This is a story where fear of being hurt or not good enough makes the hero wary of even trying. It has some sweet, cute moments - especially as they keep planning their break up then finding reasons to postpone it, Jean is also a brilliant, meddling grandmother who hates being called Granny and is an experienced, determined, matchmaker - they just don’t stand a chance! It is a quick read with lovely characters and I look forward to reading more in this series (and by this author) in future.

I requested and received a copy of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review after choosing to read it.

This story started out with such hope but then plummeted, in my opinion. The author has good characters and a fun storyline, but my biggest issue was the heroine's past career was as a therapist yet she continued to feed into the lie of their relationship and do everything a therapist would say not to do. Her actions drove me to the point of not wanting to finish the book. I will read another Ms. Weiss story in the future to see if this one was a fluke.

This story is cute but after meeting Lincoln in the first book I was hoping for something more in his story. This is a fairly typical fake relationship story with nothing that makes it unique or special. I did love Jean and all her meddling ways. Linc and Josie never had a chance with her on the case. The story does have moments of good humor like the attempted breakups but it just wasn't enough for me. I never truly felt the chemistry between Linc and Josie. For me this was just an OK read.

The story follows Josie a small town freelance photographer/videographer who is living in her hometown surrounded by friends. She has a strange and limited relationship with her family, her mother is unintentionally cruel to her without even realizing it. Then enter Lincoln her longtime "friend" and light romantic interest. He is a local firefighter and hometown hero. Josie has told a little white lie to her mother that she and Lincoln had been dating, broke up and are now trying to work out their issues.

She pitches the situation to Lincoln who is hesitant and laughing to play along. As their fake relationship continues to escalate and the lies are dug deeper with the pushing of Lincoln's family who absolutely adore Josie they find that their feelings for each other have been growing for years.

A romantic story that ends with love, commitment and the joy of family.

Loved it!
This is my first book by Sonya Weiss.

What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
"Granny"
The humor
Fake relationship
Part of a series: Fire and Sparks
Standalone
HEA

I look forward to reading the other books in this series.

A well written romance with a good plot and believable characters. The author is new to me and I enjoyed her writing. I recommend to readers who enjoy a good romance.

I think Lincoln thinks he's the cat whisperer, "he stood and walked over to the animal. “You can’t barge in, buddy. It’s rude.” The cat blinked at him, then yawned and ignored him." If I had to grad Lincoln on his giving of the compliments I give him a big fat F, “if I was going to make the mistake of getting married, you’d probably be the first woman I’d think of.” He’d meant it as a compliment, but the words came out all mixed up." I liked this book, Lincoln just had no game the man was always messing up making things entertaining.

The Firefighter’s Perfect Plan by author Sonya Weiss is such a heart melting read that gets the heart fluttering. A story full of fetching characters and many laugh out loud moments with each character stealing the limelight. I liked Josie and Linc’s characters who are a good pairing in the story. They were hilarious with the one liners and heartfelt at other moments. Jean’s character is simply hilarious. A great story with a small town backdrop that was a joy to read.
Review copy received from Entangled Publishing via Netgalley

Josie tells a lie to her mother that she was dating Lincoln. Now that her mom is in town, she has to convince Lincoln to pretend to date her and break up with her.
After Lincoln’s girlfriend broke off with him, he has made a perfect plan to protect his heart - not to fall in love. But when Josie comes to him for help he can’t say no.
I enjoyed reading the firefighters perfect plan, and especially enjoyed their unsuccessful attempts at trying to break off. Jean, Lincoln grandma was a laugh riot. I can’t wait to see who is next in the series.

When Friendship becomes Love 3.5*.
A lie that escalates, meddling matchmakers and a man who needs to be shaken hard to realise that the reason he is always there for Josie is because she is his soulmate. I loved the meddling Granny Jean and enjoyed the repartee between Lincoln and Josie but didn’t really feel the emotion/chemistry, which was disappointing as I loved the first book. The Bradford family are loving, supportive and fun to read about - I look forward to finding out how Rafferty and Grayson meet their matches.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

When given the chance to read this I jumped right on it because I’ve loved the first book in the series and this one is just as good. It was a quick and fun read. I'm so much in love with the Bradford clan. I want them to adopt me.

You can't be blinder then Lincoln and Josie were. They've been in love with each other for a long time, but just couldn’t see it for what is was – TRUE LOVE. I was so sad to see how much Lincoln was fighting his true feelings. And when he told her he didn't love her? I never wanted to physically harm someone more in my life.

But then comes, what I see now is Sonya Weiss trademark; THE GRAND GESTURE. OMG I was smiling silly while reading it.
» Because I know now that I loved you long before today. It happened over the years and my stupid plan; my perfect plan to guard my heart and not fall in love, never even had a chance. My heart was yours from the moment I saw you. «

Let me tell you little something; with the way Sonya Weiss writes this series I’m think it will be one of my favorites by the end of it. Super excited for the next one.

***I received this ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review***

A fake relationship romance, Though the plot was predictable but I still enjoyed this story. It had all the ingredients of a good story with emotions. Drama , romance and I enjoyed the chemistry between the characters. A fast paced page turner and a perfect weekend read. Thank you net gallery for providing me with an Advance Copy of this book.

This second book in the Fire and Sparks series shows just how vulnerable love can make you when opening yourself to the possibility of pain thereby not even giving it a chance. Lincoln was the epitome of such a person... Josie was just the opposite, her kind heart gave her the advantage with no hesitation in giving her love to the man she'd loved throughout her life. They were drawn to each other, but Lincoln's self worth was a stumbling block for both of them.

Ms Weiss has created characters who are engaging, drawing you into their lives, bringing with it an investment in their happiness. Getting there may have been a challenge, but as the characters are written you'll feel as if you're part of their story. Lincoln could not have been more lifelike if he was standing before you...his struggles were heartbreaking. It was easy to feel Lincoln's lack of self worth when it came to Josie, and heartbreaking just how many times he walked away from her... towards the end when he did for the last time, it was emotionally draining.

The concept of a fake couple is not new, but in Lincoln and Josie's case, their lives prior to the arrangement added another element, being friends first gave them more believability. The humor with which they approached the arrangement was enough to leave you laughing out loud. The banter between Lincoln and Josie was priceless.

All in all, this a story that will leave you wanting more about the lives of the two remaining Bradford brothers, Grayson and Rafferty

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

Having enjoyed Wedding Date Rescue, the first book in Sonya Weiss' Fire and Sparks series I was excited to read The Firefighter's Perfect Plan especially since the end of Wedding Date Rescue hinted at some unresolved sexual tension between Casey's brother, Lincoln and her best friend, Josie. That being said, I felt slightly let down by their story. I did love how every time Lincoln and Josie tried to "break-up" something got in the way and of course Grandma Jean was a hoot as always! Still, I didn't like Lincoln as much as I liked Casey or Kent which made it hard for me to root for the couple. On top of that, I felt like not much happened in terms of the progression of the romance in this book which made it difficult to buy into Josie and Lincoln's "relationship". Still there were a few sweet moments here and there, and I do love the Bradford family enough that I am intrigued enough to want to read playboy Rafferty's story.

I loved Linc in book one and was hoping we'd see him in the next book and here he is. With his surly, grumpy, Eeyore, I'm unlovable self; the same one who puts others first, protects at all costs and does good things for everyone but himself. Except Josie. Josie is different. She's a notch above and it scares him witless.
Linc and Josie were doing fine until one day Linc shuts her down, goes out of his way to avoid her, despite the fact they have to work together on Casey and Kent's wedding. Josie just can't figure out what she did wrong. When she lies to her Mother ( who only birthed her God help me what a botch this woman is)about having a boyfriend and feeling safe because her parents moved away, she's got to step up her game because Mom and Dad are moving back to town. Much to her dismay, and while she's getting her new business off the ground also the timing couldn't be worse. So she gets it in her head to ask Linc. When she tries to even engage him in a basic conversation he just shuts her down.
So she's scrapping that idea. Until Linc needs her help and she says no. Only because she doesn't want to be around him. Can't blame the girl there. She tells Casey what she did and Casey thinks Linc will help her, but Casey is in full on bride to be mode and doesn't know what's going on.
Linc thinks he's saving her/ wait...himself first from heartbreak again because he's not good enough to love. Pooooor Linc. His ex really messed him over but he goes way back with Josie. His next excuse is they won't work. I can't give them all to you, you have to read them to believe them.
He eventually agrees to be fake boyfriend thing and then they'll break up and one lie tops another and so it goes. Add in to that Linc's meddling Grandma and Mother and it's a three ring circus. Funny thing about this story is, everyone's up Linc's backside and no one is there for Josie. They're too freaking busy telling her what to do without considering where she's at with all this. Linc does when he's not self involved, he does care about her, just not enough to be honest and talk to her about things. He doesn't do feelings. Only his own. The only man in that family that has room to bellyache is Gage. End of rant. Nope not the end, I got tired of watching them push Josie at Linc and Linc in turn push her away. We don't get a lot of emotion from Josie until the end and I wish we'd have gotten more from her and less from the BWB (big whiny baby)
So they have plans to break up and each time their plans are foiled by one thing or another. Until they aren't. Then you need to read the book because Linc pulls the dick move of the century. I love Josie.
I do.
I loved the story, I did. What I would have loved more was less bs thrown in, these things were distracting and unnecessary to the story.
I can't wait to see who's up next, Rafferty's on the list.
Great story Sonya!!!


**advanced copy from NetGalley and Entangled for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions in my review are my own**