This is the second book in Adele Buck’s First Responders series. The first, Fake Flame, was a fun read that I read and reviewed earlier this year. And the Anti-Social Season carried through on the tone of the first book. As with many romance series, reading the prior book is not required to follow along, but it is fun to see past characters again.


Thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.


The book moves right into the action of the novel. Complicated family relationships, mental health, and job insecurity are all dealt with throughout the book. The narrative switches between Simon and Thea’s points of view, which is helpful as miscommunication or misreading is a frequent problem for them.


I didn’t fall in love with this book and Simon and Thea. The dialogue felt a bit flat for me. And their past in high school is brought up quite a lot. Both are in their 30s and Simon, at least, seems to still dwell quite a lot on high school, even though he has put in obvious work to be different from that time in his life. And with all the emotional baggage that both characters confront, their quick progress in moments of emotional turmoil to physical intimacy honestly feels unwise, like neither has the opportunity to process their emotions or even really think about what they need to communicate to the other. However, the author clearly does try to avoid that or show the progression of the characters as they start to recognize the pitfalls that are tripping up their relationship. I wish the book was longer so that there was more time for things to develop, such as the processing of the emotional changes and the side characters who are only very briefly seen but seem quite fun.


This is definitely a Winter Holiday romance. Both mention and celebrate family holiday traditions, especially Thea’s Italian ones. They have many cute moments and there is a lot of sweetness in this book as they navigate job stress and family drama. Thea and Simon clearly care about each other. This is a quick, fun holiday read with a good deal of spice.

As a person who loves social media and then hates it the next moment, this book was so entertaining. I liked the characters being forced to work with one another and the attraction between them. I think Buck did a great job with the overall pacing of the story. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Great cover as well!

Second book in the First Responder series. I have not read the first book, and I don’t think it was needed (although I may go back and read it now).

Thea and Simon knew each other in high school, but not well. Now adults, Simon is assigned to help Thea learn more about social media for her new job. They don’t really seem to connect at first, but once they learn to communicate better, things start to align. Lovely holiday romance plus some steamy scenes.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for The Anti-Social season to come out October 22, 2024.