I volunteered to read and review an advanced readers copy of Flare Up thru Netgallery . I really enjoyed reading this story . This is a story from The Boston Fire Series . This story is a well written .
It's full of suspense and intrigue that keeps you on the edge and definitely flipping pages . The characters are fantastic .The fire fighters and their women are like a big wonderful family .
They all watch out for each other and support each other thru think and thin .
Grant Cutter and Caitlin Tasker haven't had the easiest relationship Cait's past
Throws darkness and despair at them .
I was pulled into this story from the start and I couldn't stop reading . The story held my interest the entire story .
It's a beautiful second chance with suspense and romance story .
I highly recommend taking the time to read and enjoy the .

I’ve really enjoyed this series and this book wraps everything up nicely. I do not recommend this book as a standalone because there is so much backstory, I think readers would miss a lot if this was the only book read in the series. This book is about Grant and Wren. We were introduced to them in a previous book, but then Wren suddenly disappeared on Grant right when he was about to propose. Grant has been pretty depressed about his situation and I like that as an alpha male, he showed vulnerability. His friends have been trying to help him, but he’s had a hard time moving on. One day, during work, Grant pulls Wren out of a fire in her apartment. He never thought she was still in the same city and was not expecting to run into her. So it really threw him for a loop. Since her apartment had burned down, Wren had no place to stay so Cait invited her to stay with them. Since Cait’s significant other is Gavin, one of Grant’s fireman’s family, it was inevitable that they would need to talk.

Readers will find out all about Wren’s backstory and why she ran. I was kind of mad at her for not telling Grant what sort of trouble she was in because, hello, he has like 100 fireman & police officer friends who could help!!! While they were both cautious about jumping into a relationship again, you could tell they never got over each other. They just lost 5 months together. I thought the author really showed the power of friendship and family, but the way all of Grant’s friends and family tried to support him and how they reacted to Wren coming back. Being involved with Grant means getting a huge family who has your back in tough times. Grant is so nice, thoughtful and romantic. OMG. Just perfect husband material. I loved being in the Boston Fire family in this series. It was a good story and a perfect read for these cold winter nights. I highly recommend it.

Grant Cutter got his heart broke by the women he loved and was about to proposed to. Debating on weather to stay with Boston Fire or pack it in and move on a fire call he runs smack dab into the women who left him. All is not as it seems though when he finds that woman living in a run down apartment and living quiet. Wren Everett was hoping the man who shattered her life would leave her alone but hints are coming that he hasn't. She left Grant to protect him. Now though she's faced with telling him everything. I really enjoyed this book. I loved Grant and Wren and i loved them together. The only thing i had a bit of a problem with was the wrap up. I expected a confrontation and didn't get one. I felt there was a build up for something big to happen and then it really didn't. Still a OK read and i enjoyed it.

Find out more about Shannon Stacey and this series here www.shannonstacey.com

Grant is a firefighter done with love after Wren - the woman he intended to propose to - left him/broke up with him over the phone. Harsh, right?
Poor guy.

Imagine his surprise when 5 months later he sees Wren while at a fire. In an apartment that was practically condemned to begin with.
We soon learn why Wren broke it off with him, but I gotta say, she was an idiot. I enjoyed this book even though she annoyed me at times.
Grant was amazing the while time. I kinda think he was too good for her... she did have some redeeming qualities...

The ending was great!
I recommend this book and this series.
This is book 6. It can be read on its own.

This series is a really good one, and you don’t have to read them all but it really does put the whole story together. I didn’t think I’d like Wren, but when I found out her back story I really could enjoy this book fully. Grant was a great character and I love the communication he and Wren had together in this book. I loved the epilogue!

Firefighter, Grant, has been depressed for several months because the girl he planned to ask to marry him disappeared 5 months ago. He hadn't seen or heard from her until he shows up at a fire one day and rescues her. When Grant finds out why Wren just left him (because she was afraid for his safety due to her abusive ex) he's baffled by why she didn't tell him. Frankly so was I. I liked the Grant a lot but couldn't really see what he saw in Wren. I enjoyed the romance but had to suspend my disbelief in her reasoning.

I have to confess that I did not read the previous books in this series. Thus the reason I feel I was not able to totally be engaged in the story.
The story about Grant Cutter and his ex Wren Everett was interesting but this push and pull of their relationship and second chance romance just didn’t pull me in. He was too nice, and she was just going back and forth with the poor man.
A good story, but that was it.
I was entrusted a copy of this book by Netgalley. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, for this free eARC.

Flare Up was my 1st book by Shannon Stacey. When I requested this book, I did not realize that it was number 6 in the series. 🙈 From now on, I'll have to pay better attention. Even though I knew nothing about the characters or their back stories, I jumped right in, and enjoyed this book.

This book was about second chances. Grant is nursing a broken heart. Right away we get thrown into action, and Grant is responding to a fire call, where he finds his ex, Wren.

As he learns Wren's reasoning for leaving him out of the blue, he quickly realizes how much stress she is under. As they get to know each other again, the man Wren is most afraid of, comes back into her life, and in the worst way possible.

Now Wren has a choice to make. To run again, or let Grant and her family, help her this time.

Pub date January 29th, 2019.

Grant was ready to pack up everything he owned and move back to New Hampshire. Living in Boston no longer holds the same allure after Wren broke his heart. How could she just tell him it was over? He had been ready to take the next step to buy a ring. Helping Wren take the next step and protecting her is all that matters. Rekindling their relationship will define icing on the cake. The one important thing was to keep her safe and fallin love all over again.

LOVED THIS.

I enjoyed all the books in this series but Flare Up is my favourite out of all, just because Grant is #husbandmaterial. I love how soft he is with Wren, but also how protective he is without overpowering her or disregarding her feelings. Wren breaking up and ghosting Grant was a shitty thing that's happened and there was a deeper story to that, but I love how they dealt with it--by honest communication and Wren acknowledging and apologizing for hurting him.

The epilogue made me cry.

FLARE UP by Shannon Stacy is another story in the amazing Boston Fire series! This book is about Grant and Wren, each book in this series covers one of the firefighters. Wren has a troubled past with a crazy ex-boyfriend. This story also gives us a chance to visit with the firefighters we've come to love in previous stories!

I normally love second chance romances, but this one left me feeling meh. I felt like Grant’s book was written because it was an expected conclusion to a series rather then the character yelling “hey, I need my story written too!” I’m sad I wasn’t more vested in whether or not Grant and Wren got an HEA. I was just hoping Grant wouldn’t get ditched again before the end of the book!

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

ARC received for review

Another great book in this series.

I was unsure about this one, because I thought Wren was shady in the last book. But of course, she had good reason to be. I liked how Ms. Stacey didn't drag it out, but we found out pretty quickly what Wren's reasons were. Grant is just as yummy as all the other guys. I'm thinking this is the last book with the way the epilogue was written, but I could be wrong.

Shannon Stacey’s second-change romance trope begins with a character’s rather illogical stupidity—Wren leaving Grant because she’s afraid of hurting him as an ex hunts her down—is how ‘Flare Up’ begins. The backstory quickly unravels (Stacey doesn’t take too long in expounding this history after Wren walks away) and from there on, the story rolls on without too much angsty rehashing. Past Grant’s heartbreak and the bit where he gets justifiably angry, there’s still the hero-complex that insists on keeping Wren safe despite his better judgement.

For someone who moans that characters seldom talk it through like the adults they are, it’s easy to appreciate that Stacey doesn’t leave the unfinished business between Grant/Wren before the slight suspense and action kick in. I liked that they talked it out and laid all the cards on the table, and if the story’s a bit of a slow start with a lesson learned, who am I to argue?

Still, Grant/Wren’s actual getting back together—along with the time taken to get back their footing—was where it flagged and got staid for me, but maybe that’s because I’m the sort of reader who likes the first-time thrill more than the tentative steps back into vulnerability in a second-chance romance. In fact, I was looking forward to more firefighting action but instead stumbled into pages of Wren’s slow reintroduction to Grant’s circle of friends and their eventual coupledom.

The actual stalker-business sort of does pick up towards the end of the story, but the build is slow nonetheless, which never quite led up to anything more than a whimper of a climax when I’d been expecting a little more bang. In short, it’ll be a slow, pleasant read if you like more romance rather than suspense/firefighting, but sadly, this one turned out to be more of a miss than a hit for me.

I'm totally hooked on firefighters lately, so this was right up my alley :)

The story was sweet with a little heat. Although the premise sounds good, it left a little bit of a bad taste with me. I can understand what motivated the characters, but I can't necessarily agree wiht it and it made it a little far fetched.

This is a hard call for me because I"m a HUGE Shannon Stacey fan and I really love this series.

3.5 stars. I loved the idea of finding out why someone left him and seeing if they could rebuild, only that's not what this felt like, and even the characters address that they're kind of just skipping right back to where they were--even as the hero says five or six times that he doesn't get why she didn't tell him. I didn't see him shift that or build off of that or anything.

But what left me feeling most confused was I never really felt sure what type of book I was reading. It felt like it kept almost being a suspense and so I kept thinking OOOO SS is writing suspense! but it never *really* went there.

And, so, sadly, this is a 3.5 for me. I can't wait for what Ms. Stacey does next as she is a go-to author for me.

Well, apparently this is the month of disappointing series enders. 😩

And for this one in particular, I am TRULY pained to write the review I’m writing.

I really enjoyed the five previous books in the Boston Fire series (the first three I listened to the audiobooks, the last two I read). I loved the humorous banter between the firefighters of Engine 59 and Ladder 37. I loved these manly men who loved their women - but were without the grunting, chest banging, order barking behavior of the stereotypical alpha-male hero. I loved how the author stayed away from the cliche storylines, and instead had realistic stories, with mature people. There was no literary ground being broken by these stories, but they were solid, entertaining books.

So, I was really looking forward to Grant’s story. We met him in the previous book, and at the beginning he was dating Wren and really excited about her, and then we learn she broke things off out of the blue. I love a man who is heartbroken when he loses the love of his life, and doesn’t go all manwhore to get her out of his system!

When Flare Up begins, the men of E59 and L37 have responded to a fire in a run down apartment building. While searching to make sure no one is still in the building, Grant hears a faint noise, busts down a door, and rushes in to rescue...Wren.

First he’s stunned, then he’s angry. But after a day, he decides he wants to see her.

Wren has mixed feelings about seeing Grant again. She left Grant because of her dangerous ex-boyfriend, not because she didn’t love him. So she’s glad to see him, but knows she hurt him badly. When Grant shows up where she’s staying (at his friend’s apartment), Wren is apologetic, but still reluctant to tell Grant why she left. When she finally does tell him, he tells her how stupid her reason was. And quite frankly, I agreed with him. If anyone has the resources to keep you - or your friends safe - it’s a firefighter.

Anyway, after their reunion, all is forgiven pretty easily and they decide to get back together. After that, not much really happens other than they both go to work, and Wren spends all her time looking over her shoulder for her ex. Where the strength of the previous books was that the stories were people living their lives (without ridiculous situations and over-the-top angst), for some reason it didn’t work this time.

Maybe it was because this story tried to be suspenseful, but ended up feeling flat. There were things I thought were clues - a man in a hallway, a man standing by the road - that ended up being random details that never tied back to the story. They never went anywhere and were never mentioned again. These aren’t exactly plot holes, but were loose ends for this reader who likes everything tied up nice and neat. Also, the resolution with the bad guy happened off page, then they lived happily ever after. All their problems and issues solved.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad book. Just not what I was looking forward to reading. As in the previous books, the banter between the guys is humorous and plentiful. But it departed from the previous books where the characters were mature, and talked through their feelings/issues. Even some of the “humor” was more slapstick and silly instead of clever (making jokes about eating bad seafood and the issues that supposedly caused??? Are these men adults, or are they 4th graders?).

And finally (while I’m on a roll listing all my grievances about this book), the bad guy’s name is Ben. That’s right...Ben and Wren. Really??? Does that not make anyone else’s eyes roll??? Could the author NOT come up with a name that didn’t rhyme with the heroine’s?!

I really, REALLY feel bad that I didn’t like this book. I even contemplated not posting this review until there were a bunch more already published - because I truly hate that this may knock down the book’s rating (even if only temporarily). But at the end of the day, I’ve agreed to post an honest review. And the honest truth is that Flare Up hardly sparked an ember for me.

* thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin - Carina Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

The last thing Grant Cutter expected when his crew is called out to an apartment house fire, is to run into his ex, Wren Everett, who basically ghosted on him five months ago. On the verge of proposing, Wren's sudden disappearance without any explanation given, really gutted him. So, he's not exactly sure how to feel when he sees her again. All he knows is Wren needs his help, and he still cares enough about her to offer it. But can they get over the hurt her leaving caused to try and build together that life left behind?

Five months ago, when Wren Everett's buried past seemed to catch up with her, the only thing she could think to do, to keep everyone she loved safe - including Grant - was run. Being totally in love with Grant, Wren couldn't run far, and when he rescues her from a fire in her apartment building, she's brought to the realization how much she's missed him and wants to start over. But the issues in her past are still seemingly unresolved. With all the hurts between them still fresh, can Grant and Wren even start over?

I think it's kind of essential to have read Under Control, the previous book in the series, prior to starting this one because that book, secondarily, gives readers the starting conflict between Wren and Grant. You could definitely pick up this book not having read the previous and enjoy it just fine, but I think there's something said for getting the background and seeing where Grant is coming from when Wren leaves him without a trace.

With that in mind, however, I really liked how the contemplation in Grant and Wren's relationship. I mean, seriously, how do you move forward with someone when you discover they kept a huge, and life-altering, piece of their past from you? Further more, the idea that somewhere in Wren's mind she didn't feel like she could come to Grant with the problem that he would be able to help her solve it, so she ran. It's not exactly that she thought him incapable of offering help, it's the knee-jerk reaction of her past finding her in her present. The Pavlovian signal in her brain just telling her to leave quickly or the consequences will be the same as before.

I thought it was interesting to see this couple work through these issues, and essentially, grow and move forward almost like starting a new relationship. It was interesting to see how Grant and Wren really fit together. In the previous book, you don't see them with that one-on-one time they get when they become the central focus in their own story. So to see them together, you know that they really feel right together.

If nothing else, this series has really been about families and the interconnectedness between the families we're born into and those you make for yourself. There's a lot of people looking out for Grant, that don't want to see history repeat itself in regards to his relationship with Wren. But I really liked that, even though the majority of these people are Grant's friends first, they weren't combative or dismissive with Wren's side of the story. You could see how the hurt of Wren leaving went beyond just Grant's feelings, it effected various people around her, showing her how important she is and how much of an impact she has. It's something that Wren hasn't felt for a very long time, stemming from the issue in her past.

It all circles around to the fact that Flare Up really wraps up the series. We see each pair from previous books make some kind of connection or appearance in Grant and Wren's story. Grant was the last hold out from Engine 59 / Ladder 37 in regards to finding his Happily Ever After. Now that everyone's settled it's time to close shop. It's been an enjoyable time. Can't wait to see what's next.

I've received a ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Novel was a little longer than what I thought it should've been. Felt like the story dragged on. Unfortunately I felt no connection to the content not characters. 'Meh' storyline that I just couldn't resonate with. Sadly this just wasn't my cup of tea.

This one was not my favorite, this is the 6th book in the Boston fire series and it's Grant and Wren book! Grant is a firefighter at Boston fire engine 59, Wren is running from a crazy ex! They were dating and all of a sudden Wren skips town! Grant gets called to a fire right in the beginning of the book, it's in a really run down building and lo and behold! He finds Wren in the building! This happens as I said right away well Grant wants to protect her and they start back in the relationship immediately! No build up nothing?! Grant was gonna ask her to marry him and she leaves him then the first time he sees her like the next chapter almost they're sleeping together again?! I'm it was just to rushed i guess? Like I said it wasn't my favorite of the series. Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!