Sky Ridge Hotshots Review

Three books. Three authors. Three insanely hot and emotionally wounded hotshot firefighters.

After about four weeks, I have finally finished the Sky Ridge Hotshots series, and I definitely have some thoughts. So buckle up and join me for the ride. SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ALL THREE. And trigger warnings, there are going to be discussions of death, mental health, sexual encounters, and PTSD.

I unfortunately did not read them in order, so I can't really comment on how well the stories flow together, but they are very intertwined across the three books and all of the authors did a great job at interlocking pivotal moments within the stories. And while I'd love to start by gushing over Rowan Kingsley, let's go through them in order. And to preface, before these books, I have not read anything previously written by any of the authors, so these are my first impressions of their writing.

The first book of the series, Fight, is written by Sloane St. James and follows Callahan Woods and Prescott, or Scottie, Timmons.

While I did enjoy the story and the characters, it wasn't my favorite of the series. It took some time to really suck me in and get me interested in the story, and in the beginning, I found it quite hard to believe there was much chemistry between Cal and Scottie. They already have sex nine chapters in (in an ambulance, no less), and it ends with Cal having a PTSD episode, which is rarely brought up until many chapters later. I think it's great to have the representation, however, it wasn't really integrated within Cal's character development. There are a couple times he has some flashbacks and even has a couple panic attacks, but it's brought up in random moments between large stretches of time. As the story went on, I did find their banter and Cal's care for her so incredibly heartwarming. The constant consent check-ins, even in non-sexual scenarios, was insanely hot. "Still with me?" OH YOU BETTER BELIEVE I AM, CAL!

In terms of the writing, there were times I had to go back because something didn't click in my mind and/or make much sense, and some things were a bit repetitive in terms of world building; something this book shares with the third, though not on a scale as bad as that one. I also had an issue with 11 chapters of Cal and Scottie on a mountain. I get the need for them to be separated together, and trust me I LIVE for the forced proximity and only one bed trope, ESPECIALLY DURING A SNOW STORM, it's a classic for a reason. But...did we need 11 chapters of them stranded to get the chemistry we needed? Some things felt unnecessary, like a whole page describing him leaving to go get water. Plus, it's practically forgotten that she has a concussion, I feel like that should be a bigger issue. Maybe that's just me but it got boring at a point, it was dragging on. I will say, the dead squirrel scene...one of my favorites. Of course, we get a happy ever after, and don't even get me started on the fact that Cal lives in the house Scottie has been dreaming of since she moved to Sky Ridge. That is one plot twist I did NOT see coming. And I ate it up. 10/10, no notes. Below is my overall review of the book.

Now, onto my favorite...the second book of the series, Protect, written by Paisley Hope. After reading this book, I can happily say I plan on reading more by Paisley, including another firefighter MMC book that I hope to get to soon. This story follows Rowan Kingsley and Violette Taylor. Violette is the twin sister of Jacob Taylor, a fellow hotshot of Rowan's that was killed in the same fire that killed their supervisor. I've read one second chance romance before this one, and now it has become one of my favorite tropes. Rowan and Violette were together for a short time in high school before things fell apart, and now, ten years later, they meet again when Violette moves back to town with her daughter, and surprise surprise, is the nurse that helps Rowan recover after he falls into an ash pit; the same type of accident that killed her brother.

Everything about this book had me hooked. Rowan was determined to keep Violette in his life no matter how hard she pushed him away and the understanding this man has for the things he has done wrong while also admitting that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her drives me wild. Not to mention how quick he is to care for her daughter just as much as he cares for her. The moments they shared together, from taking care of her when she was sick to taking her to a concert for her favorite cartoon when her dad backed out last minute, everything about them had my heart SWELLING WITH LOVE. Again, I'm not one for single parent stories all that much, but something about this one was just so fucking perfect.

I could go on and on about this story. The connection they have and the grief they share with the loss of Jacob is heartbreaking, but it makes for even more of a heartfelt story since they know what the other is dealing with. AND THE TATTOO HE GOT FOR THEM!!! The whole protons and electrons thing was so so cute, and then for Violette to realize that he got the symbols tattooed on the same arm he has a tattoo for Jacob because "Jacob was my biggest loss and you were apart of that" HURT ME SO GOOD.

Also, I would like to highlight the mental health conditions brought to light in this book but especially the OCD representation that is actually OCD. It's also mentioned in the third book by Violette, that she would perform compulsions so that her dad would come back from work safe, but realized that it doesn't always work because she did the same for Jacob, yet he never came home. That representation is absolutely needed, along with all of the other conditions like PTSD and grief/depression, and I loved how well it was done, even if it was brief. Below is my overall review of the book.

The third installment of the series was...a huge letdown for me. Honor follows Xander and Teddy, Xander is Cal and Rowan's supervisor and Teddy is Cal's sister. Now this book...I had a lot of issues with. And it's not exactly the story, I liked the idea and the tropes aside from the pregnancy, I didn't particularly mind the single mom aspect, but the writing was...atrocious. I mean, I've read tons of better fanfiction than this. It was insanely repetitive, specifically with short phrases and words. I can't count how many times the word "zonked" was used to describe being asleep, the amount of times it was repeated from Teddy's POV that Xander is her brother's best friend and boss. We get it. It doesn't need to be repeated every single chapter. Not to mention all of the cringe slang used. Just to name a few, "roman empire", "yesss queen", "OG badass", "black shirt that clung to his chest and biceps like paid actors". I mean, I could go on. There was not a ton of variety used with describing things from multiple standpoints and it made it so beyond annoying.

I will say, I loved Xander a lot, and he is definitely a top tier yearner. The things he says to Teddy, when he hears her come while moaning his name and then brings it up to her, MADE ME MELT. Towards the end, it did get a little better, especially with the angst thrown in and Xander finally reading his dad's letter after shouting at Teddy that he's going to leave for the fire he gets called for and nothing will stop him. However...him coming back and her already being pregnant with his baby...yawn. So predictable. Maybe it's because I spoiled it for myself, but I could also see it coming.

Speaking to the heavier topics of the book, Teddy loses her husband when he responds to a call as an EMT, with her being the dispatcher that sent him, and that can't be an easy thing to go through. Obviously, we see that, she struggles with the thought of taking her ring off throughout the whole book, she can't seem to let him go, and understandably so. They were together for over a decade, she can't be expected to just let him go. But I find it very hard to believe that she moved on so easily to Xander and referred to it as a silly little crush, only to get pregnant with his child six months later. I understand everyone grieves differently, but if she really did love her husband, it makes no sense as to how she moved on so easily. The timeline was just super messy to me and really put me off from the story. Below is my overall review.

All in all, I did enjoy this series and this world that has been built by talented authors. While I enjoyed more over the other, these characters have truly stolen my heart and I really do wish there was more to read of other background characters, just to keep this universe around longer.

-- Lo --