ARC provided by the author’s publicist for review
FIREWORKS Is the Sweet and Sizzling Sixth Installment in Sarina Bowen’s True North series
They say you can’t go home again. In FIREWORKS by Sarina Bowen, Skylar Copeland left Colebury, Vermont 12 years ago and never looked back. But after an on-air gaffe at her TV job, she’s put on leave and finds herself back for a weekend with her stepsister, Rayanne, who promptly steals her rental car and ditches her at a rest stop. Rayanne’s gotten tied up in her ex-cop stepfather’s drug business. Skylar isn’t left totally high and dry, she has instructions to get to town to go look for someone she’s avoided for 12 years, Benito Rossi.
The old feelings surface almost immediately in spite of Skylar’s best efforts. With no car and really no choice, Skylar sticks around to track down Rayanne and try to help her get out of whatever trouble she’s gotten into. Benito, now in Vermont law enforcement, invites her to stay with him (eyebrow waggle). Hello, second chance romance with a dash of romantic suspense.
FIREWORKS is a bit of departure for Sarina Bowen. Skylar isn’t cut from the same cloth as most of Sarina’s heroines. At 29, she’s still sorting things out —professionally, sexually, emotionally. In the 12 years she’s been gone, she’s come a long way, but hasn’t made all the strides she’s wanted to. And in someways, it seems that being back in Colebury lets her fall back into old patterns, looking to Benito for protection and support.
Flipping between 12 years ago and current day, the story lets you in on Skylar and Ben’s history (individually and together) and it explains so much about their dynamic. The effects of verbal abuse and a sexual predator stepfather (content warning) ripple out for years. Skylar and Ben’s emotional connection is one of the highlights of the book and it creates the foundation for igniting the fireworks Skylar’s been missing in her life. The two of them together sizzle, and it’s amplified by the fact that they knew each other so intimately in high school.
That said, FIREWORKS read much more new adult than adult contemporary for me. Skylar is a young 29, and more of a damsel in distress than I would have expected from a Sarina Bowen heroine. You find out why in the course of the story. Benito is an eternal protector, so it’s easy to see why all the feelings come flooding back for the two of them. And it’s why when a high school-esque mini-drama comes in to play late in the story, Skye overreacts.
Although the Shipley and Rossi families are very much in supporting role, we get glimpses of Griff and Audrey, May, Zara and Alec. Seeing Zara try to make up for past Mean Girl behavior is an absolute delight. The Gin Mill and the Busy Bean coffee help anchor the story. And of course, they serve pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting at the Busy Bean. I took my cue from that and made the Butternut Squash, Coconut and Ginger Muffins in the October issue of Bon Appetit. So good.
It’s weird to say a story that involves drug trafficking and a predatory stepfather is sweet, but FIREWORKS is just that. It’s a satisfying installment in the True North series, but it might have been a better fit for me if I met Skylar and Ben another five years on.
3.5 stars.
Read my previous Sarina Bowen reviews, including Speakeasy (True North #5) and Brooklynaire (Brooklyn Bruisers #4)
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