Book Review for FLARE UP by Shannon Stacey

Nursing a broken heart while everybody around him seems to be drowning in happiness has Grant Cutter wondering whether staying with Engine 59—or even Boston Fire—is in his future. It’s tempting as hell to pack up what fits in his Jeep and hit the road. But then a 911 call brings the woman who shattered his heart back into his life, and he knows he won’t ever be able to fully leave her in his rearview mirror.

For a few months, Wren Everett had thought the nightmare of her past was behind her and she might live happily ever after with Grant. Until she got the phone call letting her know the time her ex had spent in jail for assault hadn’t cooled his temper or determination that she belonged with him. Cutting ties with Grant was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do, but it was also the only way to keep him safe.

Now that Grant is back, he’s not letting Wren push him away again. And even with the trust issues between them, Wren dares to hope she and Grant might have a future together after all…if they’re willing to fight for it.

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With a dramatic start of the story, the second chance romance between Grant and Wren trigger all the feels from the readers, while trying to understand the reasons behind Wren running away previously, breaking Grant's heart. 
I'm a huge fan of Shannon Stacey's writing, there's so much to love about the regular people she writes about, whose lives and loves we get to know through her stories. There are tight families and friends who are closer than brothers, there are mature feelings, life challenges, and romance that is easy to relate to and believe in because of the life-like nature of it. The Boston Fire series has been a great addition to her resume, filled with passionate, vivid, true to life love stories. 
Grant and Wren are both old acquaintances to the readers of the series. The puzzling way Wren disappeared from Grant's life in the previous book baffled my mind and I was eagerly waiting for them to get a second chance to work things out between them. 
Grant is such a sweetheart of a hero, commanding alpha when needed, yet caring, loving, deeply feeling man, who is not afraid to talk about emotions and feelings and showing how much he cared for Wren and how broken he was when she left without any explanation. 
I loved him, felt for him, and cheered for him to find his happiness again. His close relationship with his family, as well as with the men in the firehouse, shows his characters and his values, the kind of man he is, and what he wants from life. His ability to forgive and move on from the hurt was the best part of the story, his willingness to give a second chance to Wren confirmed everything we had learned about him previously. 
Wren had made some bad choices in her past that had caused sorrow and pain to others as well. Some of her actions were truly just reactions to fear, and the author demonstrates Wren's reasons well and clearly, in a way that makes them understandable. Wren is such a beautiful person, she feels deeply, she cares passionately, yet all the brokenness inside her has left her reeling, in need of solid friendships and some who believes in her to be able to heal and feel complete, love freely, without fear of being left behind or punished for her feelings.
Together, Grant and Wren were truly two parts of a whole, they belonged together, they had seamless chemistry with each other, they got each other, understood and accepted each other in a way that made them the perfect match for each other.  
The epilogue gave the impression that this might be the last book in the series, I hope not, as I have loved hanging out with guys and girls of the Boston Fire series, as it has been an entertaining, emotional, true to life type of series that has captured my heart. 
~ Four Spoons

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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her favorite activities are writing romance and really random tweets when she’s not riding her ATV. She loves mud, books, football & watching way too much TV.

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