This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my review of Icebreaker on my blog, now!
I was a bit skeptical to go into this interconnected standalone sequel considering how I felt about Icebreaker, but I was so incredibly surprised on how much I enjoyed this book. Hannah Grace's writing definitely improved, and the forbidden romance was one hundred times more interesting to read about compared to the friends with benefits trope that Anastasia and Nate had in Icebreaker. Russ and Aurora's backgrounds are also leagues above when it comes to drawing the reader in and making them feel for the characters. Obviously, we do not want our characters to have suffered, but the raw emotions that both leads were able to portray were complex and well-developed.
Aurora's personal life was so interesting - I did not expect her to have such a complicated relationship with not only her father, but also her mother. Considering her father's business ventures and celebrity-esque status, I was worried that the author would not be able to incorporate it into her struggles in the book. However, Grace was able to truly create a family dynamic that weighed on Aurora's personal life, as well as create her father as someone that readers grew to despise as the story went on. Even with their limited interactions, I felt as though I would recoil from the way that he spoke to Aurora and the expectations that he would set for her even though they were not nearly as close.
That being said, the home life of Russ is just as convoluted as Aurora's, and honestly has much higher stakes but in a different sense. Without revealing the exact issues that riddle Russ and his father, I can say that Russ receives just as much pressure from his father as Aurora does from her. The sibling dynamic with Russ and his brother is much different compared to Aurora and her sister's relationship, and the author was able to show two sides of sibling interactions this way - supportive for Aurora and manipulating for Russ. I could have read even more about Russ and his brother's relationship as I found it really elevated the development that Russ experienced.
Russ and Aurora's forbidden relationship was fun to read - there was a sense of urgency and secrecy as you read the book, and knowing that they were both at risk of being fired the entire time made it all the more juicy to watch play out. Watching them constantly run around and hide in every nook and cranny at this summer camp had me cackling, and it was refreshing to see how much Aurora and Russ cared about one another from the beginning, rather than this being a summer fling turned something more at the very end. Their spicy scenes were low-key wild and so much better than the ones in Icebreaker - they were also well-placed out in the book and did not overwhelm the overall plot of the book.
This installment has renewed my faith in Hannah Grace's writing, and while this is still technically a hockey romance, it did not feel like it. While you do not need to read Icebreaker in order to read Wildfire, I would say you can read it for the background of the school and how important their hockey team is, but it could be skipped in all honesty. Wildfire provides readers with a steamy, emotional, and fun summer romance that will have you wishing you were at the camp too.
You can add Wildfire on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.
