Bullets & Bonfires

by Autumn Jones Lake

[Nicole Lynn]

I was lucky to have the opportunity to receive an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A longer version of this review appears on my blog PopCrunchBoom Books

I ended up reading this book in one day! I haven't read a 'couldn't put it down' book in a while and I was excited that I was glued to this story.

This was my first Autumn Lake book and it definitely didn't disappoint! Bree and Liam had a lot of great chemistry, but even better than that these characters had depth. Bree's battered, but definitely not broken. While she's embarrassed to be home and that she ended up in an abusive relationship, it doesn't stop her from healing, getting even stronger and moving on with her life. I loved watching her grow as well as her interactions with Liam!

Liam was definitely the protective type, but I think it had a lot to do with already being half in love with Bree anyway. Sometimes I wanted to shake him since he kept deeming Bree 'off limits' since she was his best friend's sister. I totally get it, but on the other hand I'm like 'you're an adult! you already love her! ugh do something!' haha. Other than that, Liam was such a great character. I loved that Lake wrote the story in alternating points of view in order to peek into Liam's mind. It was nice to see him not only struggle through his attraction and feelings, but also see him grow and heal in his own way as well. I loved how both of these characters healed and grew better because of each other. This story wasn't all about the sexy times (which of course were fabulous!), but also about two characters finally finding each other, then growing and bettering each other together.

Of course a 'protection' romance story couldn't be without some suspense! Lake did a great job of keeping the tension of Bree's situation going throughout the novel. There were some suspenseful moments that kept me gripped to the story even if I saw some of them coming.

There are so many little scenes and actions between the characters that I loved and I so wish I could share, but of course, no spoilers here! ;) I will say that I loved the little interactions between Bree and Liam and how their former relationship growing up together really showed in their present relationship. I just loved seeing them fall in love.

I'd definitely recommend this novel to romance lovers, especially those who love a second chance romance or the forbidden love trope! Liam and Bree's story was a delight to read about and I'm so glad I got to meet these two characters and see them & their relationship grow!