Samantha is a stressed out tech CEO preparing to take her company public. AJ is a grumpy middle school teacher with relationship scars. Sparks fly from the moment they meet, first sparks of annoyance then sparks of passion. I really enjoyed the early parts of the novel. The back and forth between Sam and AJ is really fun. But once they get together the focus seems to become more concerned with steamy sex than the rom-com story. Overall it’s still a fun book but the back half of the book just felt a bit unbalanced to me. (3.5 stars) Thanks so much to Lainey Davis and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an eARC of Fireball.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fireball-lainey-davis/1141311983?ean=2940160743134&bvnotificationId=277afdcb-daff-11ec-a2b8-0e90078e760b&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/209493589

https://www.amazon.com/review/R18AJD25ZPWTJ5/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

This was a fantastic enemies-to-lovers romance. I was able to identify with Sam in many ways, and that immediately got me hooked. It was a quick read, very light-hearted and witty. I would absolutely read more books from this author.

I had a really hard time caring about the heroine, especially at first, so this became a DNF for me. It also didn’t help that the provided kindle copy had a lot of formatting issues, which made it hard to read.

Samantha and AJ come together in Fireball in a fun enemies to lovers book with lots of spice!

This was a fun and quick read that was simply un-put-downable. From the unique twist that the FMC is the high powered business exec while the MMC is the opposite to the lovely way the characters were able to work through past traumas to create a love story.

It was overall fun, flirty, and a book I would absolutely recommend and read again!

Fireball: An Enemies to Lovers Romance is a Romance that entangles two unlikely partners: both smart, both clever, and both with high thresholds for....cake. Yeah, cake.

The cover artwork is cute. The illustrations match well with what I had pictured the main characters to look like. It's very on trend at the moment with illustrative covers. The cake on the floor is a great addition and its a pivotal moment that you learn later on.

Quickly we learn that Sam, one of our two main characters who is the CEO of a soon-to-be launching data analyzing app, is not only start but also holds a lot of secrets. Before her computer analytics and software development fame, she was the appointed center of her falling apart family. Her father is high ranking in the military and treats his family the same way as his soldiers, her brother is completely unhelpful, her sister doesn't want anything to do with the family unless she gets credit for something good and her mother is, well, dead. Yikes. Sam takes care of everyone first, including her company and even though she feels like she has it all together, maybe she just needs someone else to help take care of her once.

In comes AJ, our second main character who is a middle school science teacher who also is coming out of a rough few years. Two years prior his "almost" fiancé, Lara, dumped him which has left him scarred since thinking he wasn't worth anyone's time because she said he wasn't good enough for her - to his face. What a complete jerk statement and honestly, not only his friends are happy to see that relationship crush but overtime so his he. But, when he meets Sam he thinks she's just another Lara and basically just a CEO who cares more about herself and her company than anything else. Oh, how wrong he could be.

I really enjoyed this read more than I thought I would. The characters were well thought out and felt real. Not only were the main characters well written, but I felt the secondary characters were well done. Not only that, but I'd love to go to a FOOF gathering any day.

Seeing Sam's character discuss data management and analyzation really hit home. Before I was a SAHM, I was a Data Director and Analyst therefore I enjoyed some of her speeches and how powerful and passionate she was about it. Alongside, how AJ enjoyed teaching and his craft, including data on birds that she helped him with. Seeing their connections between science and data was well written and enjoyable.

Also, I loved that Davis included mention and discussion about non-binary and people that use pronouns, "they/them/their". Fantastic inclusivity.

Four Stars. I would have given five, but I felt that some of their character connections were rushed until they "launched" at each other. Alongside, I felt a good amount of the plot after they first "launched" at each other after the cake on the floor incident to the end of the book held a bit too many "launches". I would have liked to see a bit more character and romantic development before that first "launch" instead of them being argumentative which each other and then hastily jumping each others bones.

Would recommend. Now, I'm going to try to find some cake, but not one that's been on the floor.

Thanks to the author, Lainey Davis and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy to read and review. Review will also be posted to my blog (www.kagoodsell.com/book-reviews), GoodReads, TikTok (@unearthingeco), as well as NetGalley reviews.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Lainey Davis and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Likable characters, cute story, quick read.

Mein Leseerlebnis

Das vorliegende Buch ist das erste der Autorin, das ich gelesen habe. Ich bin daher ohne große Erwartungen an die Geschichte herangegangen.

Beim Lesen ist mir schnell aufgefallen, dass mir der ruhige und lockere Schreibstil zusagte. Ich fand es leicht der Geschichte zu folgen und mich auf sie einzulassen.

Die beiden Hauptcharaktere fand ich teils interessant, teils aber auch etwas anstrengend, vor allem AJ hat mich manchmal zum Kopfschütteln gebracht. Das fing direkt beim ersten Treffen von AJ und Samantha an. Seine auf mich überzogen wirkende Reaktion auf ein Missverständnis war für mich schwer zu verstehen.

Auch AJs Vorgeschichte konnte seine Reaktionen für mich nicht überzeugend erklären. AJ war schlicht kein Charakter, mit dem ich komplett warm geworden bin. Samantha fand ich etwas einfacher zu fassen, eine tiefe Verbindung konnte ich aber auch zu ihr nicht aufbauen.

Die Liebesgeschichte fand ich teils nett, teils uninteressant. Das traf auch auf alles zu, was gerade in Samanthas professionellem Leben passierte. Samantha steht im Buch kurz dafür mit ihrer Firma einen großen Schritt zu gehen und Details dazu findet man in der Geschichte. Das sollte man wenigstens etwas mögen, um mit der Geschichte Spaß zu haben.

Das Ende des Romans war vor allem aufgrund eines Streits zwischen den Hauptcharakteren nicht mein Fall. AJs Verhalten wirkte auf mich überzogen und ich denke, dass man die Geschichte auch ohne Konflikt gut hätte beenden können.

Insgesamt hatte ich ein gemischtes Leseerlebnis. Manche Passagen und ganze Kapiteln konnten mich gut unterhalten, andere ließen mich kalt oder ärgerten mich. 🖤🖤🖤

Für wen?

Schaut in eine Leseprobe rein. Wenn ihr in dieser die beiden Hauptcharaktere interessant findet und vor allen mehr über AJ erfahren wollte, für den könnte diese Liebesgeschichte eine gute Wahl sein.

NetGalley and the author were kind enough to provide me with an eARC of Fireball in exchange for an honest review. All opinions below are my own.

This is the first book in a future series and it features Sam, a tech CEO, and AJ, a school teacher, who have a misunderstanding resulting in Sam trying to make AJ like her. It has the grumpy/sunshine trope and quite a few spicy scenes.

I really liked this novel and how many important topics it covers: women in STEM, family expectations, found family, finding yourself and dealing with your baggage.

The author's style is very enjoyable with nice banter and easy-to-like characters.

Definitely recommend it to those who enjoy romcoms with some spice.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of "Fireball" by Lainey Davis.

My gosh, I loved this!! Samantha and AJ were both well developed and had an amazing blossoming love story. There was a rift and conflict, which I usually dislike. However, in this case, I did enjoy the conflict as it felt fitting and needed in this love story. Lainey Davis knows how to write and I will definitely be adding this one to my shelves ASAP.

I have recently discovered Lainey Davis's books, and I absolutely LOVE them! This latest one, Fireball, is no exception - it actually might be my favourite! It seems quite a number of her characters from previous series overlap, so I will definitely be going back and checking out more of her back catalogue as well (mentions of other series, besides ones I have read so far, gave me this clue).

AJ (Adriel) and Sam meet when he's sent by his school to attend her company's community day (she's the CEO of a tech company she started in college, which allows the sharing of scientific research and similar, so that people don't have to continually do the work over again). Their initial interaction does not go well, when he tries to find out about a field trip for the students and she suggests it isn't really something that she figures would be the right fit between the company and the school. The attempts to apologize and make-up lead to worsening interactions between the pair, but eventually the field trip happens, they end up having to spend more time together and of course, their very initial attraction becomes a lot more.

Many other characters make appearances that have had their own stories already (or may in future), which is great, Sam has her girls in "Foof" (fresh out of f's), and they have a lot of meetings to discuss the status of her budding relationship (while AJ discusses with his teacher pals), and there's just a whole lot of "big tech energy" going on!

Fireball is very quick read at 200ish pages, so if you are looking for a really quick, low (relatively low) angst, opposites attract, sort of a grumpy sunshine storyline, good amount of steam, and romcom, then this is it! Look no further - you have found the one. Lainey really knows how to bring everything together in a short amount of pages, but really packs it in with a great impact. I'm going to be remembering this one for quite some time to come. I recommend this one for everybody, but especially those that enjoy the above.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley, and this is my full and honest feedback.
(My review is being posted to Goodreads, Bookbub, Bookstagram and Amazon on May 22)

I finished this whole book in six hours straight. I just couldn't get enough of the serotonin , it was like lainey davis laced the pages of her book with steam.
But to be honest , i just loved the characters , the character representation . The novel was very accessible to read and the writing style wasn't unclear or confusing. The pace was a little bit fast but other than that everything was perfect.
Waiting to read the entire series.

Thank you netgalley for the arc.
Wish you all the best lainey for the book.

A great read, enemies to lovers.
Sam and AJ don't get on when they first meet, but then they keep bumping in to each other. Can she convince him that he is wrong about her and give them a chance?

I loved the nod to characters in the other Lainey Davies series of books too.

Can't wait for the rest of the series.

This was a fun, pretty well written book. I am a big fan of a grumpy-sunshine story and this definitely felt along those lines. I didn’t love how quickly their relationship got physical and especially felt strange and their first physical interaction. There wasn’t enough lead up to it for me, so AJ’s actions ended up seeming a bit creepy. I would have liked more romantic interactions between the main characters and not just physical ones. I appreciate that AJ ended up in therapy, but Sam still forgave him way too quickly after he’d treated her very badly.
I enjoyed the writing….it was a nice, easy read that got me right into the story, but there were a few phrases I hated….like “pleasure zone” (just no). Also, the title do the book is an odd choice, to me.
I know one of the side characters from this book (Chloe) will be featured in the next book. Normally I’m not the biggest fan of romances with already married couples, but something about how they were described in this book actually makes me look forward to reading that story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lainey Davis for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

2.5⭐️

This book was okay! I liked the STEM focus, and I liked that the heroine was very career-driven and had a successful company that she didn’t give up for love or anything like that.

I felt the plot and romance was underdeveloped and I didn’t feel much of a connection. It definitely was not enemies to lovers either. I think the characters could have done with more development and the pacing was off. For that reason, I think it could have benefitted from being longer.

Overall, it was a decent read but not something I’d be inclined to read again.

This was a cute rom com series starter. I liked that AJ was Jewish as I haven’t seen that in many mainstream romances, and I really enjoyed Samantha’s friend group and the focus on her career and her figuring out what she actually wanted to do. I also liked that AJ recognized the issues that he had from his past relationship and that he had to deal with this (mainly his anger issues). There was something about the actual writing style I didn’t love, but that’s a personal preference and it wasn’t enough to significantly effect my enjoyment of the book.

I've previously read the Stag Brothers series by Lainey Davis, and was intrigued to see her works in a different genre. I picked this particular book as I'm usually drawn to books set in STEM areas, especially when strong females are included.

The author beautifully mixes different upbringings, social classes, religions and also provides a nod to the LGBTQI+ community with the inclusion of the non-binary character Shane; let's hope this becomes mainstream so I don't even feel the need to mention it in a review!

I thoroughly enjoyed the way Sam and AJ were portrayed as well as the other characters, especially Sam's diverse group of FOOF* friends. AJ's friends were more in the background in this story, but I'm hoping they'll all get their own books going forward. A great first book in the series!

The second book in the Bridges and Bitter series, Liquid Courage, is already available and I'm guessing there're a few more to come covering Sam's and AJ's friends.

* you'll have to read the book to learn what this abbreviation stands for

I adored the book. Loved all the characters int the book. If you are looking for an enemies to lovers rom-com this is definitely one of the books you need to read. I also tend to enjoy grumpy/sunshine so knew just from the description that the book would be great. And i was right the book was absolutely amazing. I also love how inclusive this book was with the LGBTQ+ community. I also love the fact that Aj's family accepted Samantha into the family despite her not being Jewish. It just shows the pure true heart of some people.

Over all i loved the book due to the amazing plot and the great spicy scenes that were included. I totally recommend this book.

Fireball is a cute rom com that follows Sam, a CEO and founder of a tech company and AJ a teacher for the Pittsburgh school district. They start out as an enemies after a bad first interaction but things do turn around. I found I really enjoyed Sam and found her super relatable (I especially loved the found family in this book), but AJ wasn't really my favorite. He didn't seem as fleshed out to me so he fell a little flat.

I liked the premise of how these 2 characters meet and I felt their relationship progression was mostly pretty normal (except for their first "interaction" that just felt all kinds of weird and out of place for me). I did also find the describing of AJ to be a little odd as Sam seemed to be really into his body hair?? It came up a bit too often for me, that I found it jarring rather than sexy.

Overall I thought the story was cute, the relationship and its progression worked for me and I easily read this in one sitting. Great book to veg out on the couch with or read at the beach.

I really, really enjoyed this book! It was super cute and light, and so romantic! It hooked me from chapter one.

Samantha is a tech genius trying to push through her company's IPO. AJ is a middle school science teacher who doesn't think Sam's company can (or wants to) help out his students. When his cynicism clashes with her determination to be liked, the results are a surprise to both of them.

I enjoyed both of the main characters: their motivations, their interactions, and the explosive way they eventally came together. Their story was a strong, well-written one. It was, however, quite hard to keep track of the many, many background characters, particularly Sam's friendship group - I wasn't sure who was being set up for future books, who had already had a book, and who was just superfluous. Also the subplot with her family just kind of fizzled out. Overall though, a fun start to a series and I'd be interested in what comes next.