I did still like this book by Dylan Newton, but it was definitely not as charming or compelling as the first release. The overall mood of this book was more even keeled "That's cute."

I did occasionally have a really hard time being empathetic to Imani. While some of her backstory made her evolution more understandable, I felt that she was incredibly harsh to this sweet, marshmallow hero--even if we was a bit immature at times.

That was my main reason for downgrading it from four stars to three. She'd be almost cruel to him at times and I felt like we, as the audience, were supposed to excuse with the whole "but she has anxiety" and "remember what happened to her as a kid?" I get that. But that doesn't mean you get a free pass to be mean to others.

Will I still read Dylan Newton? Yes. Was this as good as book one? Definitely not. The first book was such a unique premise and this book was much more run of the mill romance.

DNF @ 25%.

I really struggled with this book. The characters/dialect fell really flat for me. Imani was very irritating and the disconnect between her and Zander didn’t make any sense. I found myself skimming through pages as I was not invested in the storyline at all.

Cutest cutest of cute books. Loved the writing and the story overall. Such a sweet read! Can’t wait to recommend this to so many people

Round two by this author and I loved seeing characters from other books bounce in and out of this one! All Fired Up had extremely relatable characters and they really resonated with me! Dylan has a way of making you fall in love with all her characters from the very first page.

This was a wonderful rom com, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Highly recommend it if you like rom com books.

Super cute, fun and enjoyable read that had me laughing out loud many times. Loved the characters, especially Imani’s grandma oh and the parrot who hilarious! Perfect any time read when you need a feel good romance. Looking forward to book 3.

I started reading All Fired Up early May, and four months later haven’t made it past the 25% mark but have picked it up half a dozen times. Suffice to say, this book just isn’t for me, but I gave it lots of opportunities.

I really liked the book premise / synopsis, thought the cover was strong and was hooked initially pretty early on with the writing… but somewhere around the 15% mark it just started to feel a little wordy and like some of the content could have been slimmed down as it didn’t add to the story. The characters also fell flat / boring and the dialogue repetitive. I find myself stalling at 25% four months later and I did a quick skim read (read only the dialogue) through the rest of the book just to see how it all unfolds, but didn’t really have interest in reading it thoroughly.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of the ARC, receiving an ARC in no way impacted my review.

I just loved Dylan Newton’s novel How Sweet It Is when I read it last year (review here). I was really excited to revisit the characters and town in All Fired Up and Newton did not let me down!

Here’s the book’s description:
As a successful book publicist, Imani Lewis works night and day to promote her authors. It’s her dream job, but she’s become a total workaholic. So when her grandmother invites her to stay for the summer as she recovers from surgery, Imani happily agrees. But being back in the same small town as her one-night stand may not be quite the relaxing break she envisioned…
Zander Matthews wakes up every day determined to enjoy the present because he knows from his time in the Marines that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. But he’s never gotten over the beautiful woman who blew through town a year ago, then disappeared. And he doesn’t want to be hurt again. So they agree to a deal: he’ll help Imani fix up her grandmother’s house as long as they stay firmly in the friend zone.


Whether it’s repairing tiles in his ceramics studio, dodging nosy neighbors, or soothing the most obnoxious parrot ever, Zander never fails to make Imani laugh. And soon their friendly banter is turning ever flirtier. But since Imani’s stay is temporary and Zander can’t be tied to anything beyond the most tenuous plans, will she be able to handle it when things get all fired up?
The reader has to get over some miscommunication in this romance because Zander and Imani refuse to have a full conversation about how they felt about their one-night stand and what that means for a relationship going forward. Sometimes that drives me absolutely up the wall, but I think I was in a good space when I read this one and I was able to let it go. I also really wanted the pair of them to work out and realize they were totally right for each other so maybe that allowed me to ignore their issues with communicating!

Thinking back, I think the relationship that stole the show in this book wasn’t Zander and Imani but Imani and her grandmother. Their bond was so strong and I love seeing relationships like that in books. I also just loved her grandmother so much! She was one feisty and smart lady and was too much fun to read about.

I was totally rooting for Imani and Zander to get together but knew it was SO important for them each to figure out their own lives first. Imani was clearly not happy at work, even though she was hella competent and so amazing at her job. Zander also had a great thing going but he hadn’t quite gotten a handle on the whole Adulting thing (not that I’m judging – I’m still struggling with a few areas of Adulting myself!) I knew once they sorted out their shit, the romance would follow and the pay off would be so worth it. (Spoiler alert: it was!)



The first two books were pretty connected with the women being best friends and the men being brothers. I’m not sure how book three will feel since we don’t know the third brother too well and there was no obvious love interest introduced. I’m still looking forward to it!

Content warnings in this one include the death of Imani’s mother in a house fire – which occurred when she was young but is discussed and there’s a triggering incident for her – and a complicated birth/labour scene near the end of the book.

I very much enjoyed All Fired Up and am eagerly awaiting Dylan Newton’s next novel. She’s created such a wonderful small town and characters that you just can’t help but fall in love with!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

This is such a cute book. Zander Matthews is a cinnamon roll hero. I loved Imani’s character growth and she has my dream job. I loved her relationship with Gigi and Kate. Zander and Imani’s chemistry is so good but I couldn't get enough of him. The mental health aspect of the book including panic attacks and PTSD is very well written.

After reading and enjoying How Sweet It Is, I was so excited to read this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't wait for the next book in this series (Ryker’s story).

Thank you Netgalley and Publishers for an ARC and an ALC of All Fired Up in exchange for an honest review.

There's nothing inherently wrong with this novel but being more than halfway through the novel I still wasn't emotionally invested for this couple and their supposed chemistry. Also, I wished I realized this was a companion novel/sequel prior to reading it as I am interested in the already established couple prior to this epilogue/continuation of their lives.

Ironically, I'm also interested in the story for the ex-marine brother that we've yet to get a book for. So, although All Fired Up did not work for me, I think I'm still intrigued by the author's writings enough to try another one of her novels in the near future.

Note: The ALC narration is fantastic and truly no criticism needed about the narrating.

This title features a cast of quirky characters with a small town feel that always tugs on my heart strings. I also loved the HGTV fixer upper feel of this book. However, as sweet as this book is it did feel repetative. Overall, a feel good book sure to make you smile.

Overall this was a pretty cute read. I did feel like the first half of the book kinda dragged while the second half was much faster paced.

Imani and Zander definitely had chemistry and I enjoyed them as a couple. I loved their first official date! I didn’t really get a feel for who Zander was on his own though. I did enjoy getting to see Imani work through some of her anxieties.

I did not know this was the second in a series when I requested it, but I don’t think that impacted my ability to understand and enjoy the story.

While this was a cute story with some aspects that I enjoyed, I ultimately don’t think it will become a favorite or be a super memorable one. For that reason I rated it 3 stars.

While this was a cute story with some t

I was unable to finish this book-- I found the writing to not be for me (too many adjectives) and the character stream of thoughts could be a bit annoying. I DNF'ed at about 15% in because I did not think the rest of the book would pull me in.

I really enjoyed Dylans first book. It was an easy read and I was excited when I got an arc of this one!
You can read this as a stand alone but there are characters from How Sweet It Is that do appear.

I really enjoyed Zander and Imanis story! I love stories that have character build up and this had some of my favorite tropes: opposites attract, second chance romance, friends to lovers!

Such a cute fun read! I loved reading about Wellsville NY (where I work). It was a light, fun and quick summer read! Thank you

An adorable, touching and fun story that I enjoyed from beginning to end. Imani is a wonderful character that I was excited to get to know better. Her life has not been easy and she seems to have a very hard time getting close to people other than her best friend and grandmother. Zander hopes to find a way to get through the tough shell that Imani has around her heart but is having a very hard time doing so. The chemistry between Zander and Imani is undeniable and fabulous and yet Imani has a very hard time admitting she has fallen for Zander. She suffers from PTSD over an awful event that changed her life while she was young. She is a strong loyal granddaughter and friend but shies away from romantic relationships.
Zander is an unbelievably patient man who knows what he wants and plans to get it at any cost. What he wants is to have Imani in his life but she is in denial that they would make the perfect couple. As a couple they are so much fun and very compatible I was rooting for them to have a happy ending but they both have large personal obstacles to get over before they can be with each other happily.
This is the second book in the Matthew's brothers series. We briefly meet Imani and Zander in the previous book, How Sweet It Is, and are witness to their immediate attraction to one another. Even though this is the second book it can easily be read as a stand alone book but I highly recommend reading the previous book because it's wonderfully sweet.
This book covered many heavy topics, such as anxiety attacks, with many light hearted moments. There is a foul-mouthed parrot, Lancelot, that provides many comic relief moments and had me giggling throughout. It was also fun to see how Kate and Drake from How Sweet It Is are doing. I hope we have the opportunity to get to know the other Matthew's brother, Ryker, in another installment in this series.
This was another wonderful visit to the colorful town of Wellsvile. Imani and Zander are a couple strongly deserving a happily ever after but to get them there they have many hurdles to get over. This book is full of emotion and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
I am very grateful to Forever and Netgalley for the opportunity to read a digital copy in exchange for a honest review of this wonderful book.

All Fired Up by Dylan Newton
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This is such a great follow up to How Sweet It Is. Such a perfect opposites attract romance. Which I love so much because I think it’s so relatable to real life. Being able to find someone who balances you.

Zander is just so swoony and so so patient.😍

Imani is peppy and caring. And I loved how we really learn the deeper issues of anxiety through her. I feel it’s so relatable.

I loved these characters so much. This is the absolute perfect summer read. And as always such a cute cover. This book has the full package.

I enjoyed this book just as much as (if not more than) the previous book. Zander is much more my type of hero. I adored his zest for life and patience with Imani. He was so sweet and supportive and no one seemed to give him enough credit.

After this book, I will read anything that Dylan Newton writes. Hopefully, we get Rykers story next.

The fact that I had two false starts and then stopped at 31% for almost 3 months should have been indication enough, but I gave it another go and started from scratch for the THIRD time 🤦 Time to just admit that this book is simply not for me!

It wasn't terrible, but I found it a slog to get through despite a rather great cast. I loved Gigi and Kate! However, the leads aren't a good match at all. Imani was terrible to Zander despite constantly needing to be rescued and using his help multiple times. I can't recall if she even did anything sweet for him?

I also really disliked how everyone tried to change Zander and admonished him for not fitting into conventional ideals of 'success'. Sure, his mother had a point but overall this subplot, the romance and the tropes of opposites attract + changing each other for the better didn't work for me at all.

The novel mentions Zander's tattoo with "Chinese symbols" quite a few times and I wish the author had just written the actual Chinese characters, because I had no idea what she was referring to until I Googled "mindfulness in Chinese" (正念). If you are going to mention my culture, then please give it the due respect and not act like Chinese audiences do not exist.

What I thought the book did well was how it discusses survivor's guilt, grief and trauma. I was actually thinking that I would love to read Kate and Drake's story, not knowing that it already exists and All Fired Up is a follow-up. So maybe I'll still read that one.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've tried a Dylan Newton book before and it wasn't for me, so I'm not sure why I decided to try this one. I think it was Read Now, but I should have known better. Her writing is just not for me. I'm sure others will enjoy this one, but I just couldn't get into it.