The Firefighter's Perfect Plan

I found this story a bit difficult to get into at first, but once I got into the story I did enjoy it! I loved the matchmaking Mom and Grandma! I voluntarily read this book as an advance copy! The comments regarding the book are all my own thoughts and feelings.

I’m a huge fan of the fake relationship trope and I loved that synopsis. I liked Josie and Lincoln. She’s sweet and he’s gruff and they really are well suited. I loved the large family and the potential of future books. Jean — the meddling grandmother — was the best part of the entire thing. Plot wise, it was decent. There were some really cute moments and it was amusing that the break ups never quite happened. My main complaint is that I never really got the chemistry between them. Josie’s inner monologue was more like hero worship and Lincoln’s was stoic and lacked warmth. The transition from fake relationship to real was extremely short and didn’t feel fleshed out. Overall, it was a quick read with characters I really enjoyed. I’m definitely interested in future books in this series. **Huge thanks to Entangled Publishing for providing the arc free of charge**

Lincoln and Josie have been friends since their youth. He has always been her protector. And she has always had a crush on him. I love these kind of stories. The ease and familiarity between Lincoln and Josie was perfect. And the moment they agreed to go along with their secret plan, their interactions became quite humorous. Their flirtations and concerns for others were part of what made me like them all the more. But it made me sad when he realized how he truly felt and did what he thought was best. In the end, their happy ever after was worth the angst and showed them both how truly lucky they were together. I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher through Netgalley.

The Firefighter’s Perfect Plan is a sweet friends-to-lovers through a deal romance. While I confess I’m not much into the whole friends to lovers plot, the fact that the guy is a sexy firefighter was what tipped me over. While this is by no means a bad book, the story was simply too full of the “I don’t want to mess up our friendship so I’ll push you away now so I don’t hurt you but in effect, I’m hurting us both by doing this” diatribe. And I just can’t handle that for a whole freaking book. Josie and Lincoln have been friends forever. Thanks to unemotional parents Josie was pretty much adopted by Lincoln’s family. And even when she was his little sister’s best friend, they always shared a special bond. Lincoln doesn’t have the best record with relationships, and after his last breakup, he’s decided that love is just not worth the risk. Especially since he’s obviously not good at them. Josie, tired of her mother’s eternal disappointment, blurts that she’s seeing Lincoln. Unfortunately, her mother moves back to town and soon everyone knows about her “supposed” relationship. Forced to save face, she strikes a deal with Lincoln: she’ll help him out with a video to raise money for the Fire Station if he pretends to be her boyfriend and suck at it, so they can break up asap. Their lie starts to snowball and soon every time they schedule a breakup something gets in the way, and they get deeper into trouble. I really liked both Josie and Lincoln. Both were nice, loving people always willing to help out. Josie was sweet and funny and Lincoln a total knight in shining armor. I loved how they were with each other when they relaxed and just went with their feelings. Unfortunately, the whole “friendship” issue kept getting in the way… Neither was open about what they were really feeling and I just kept wanting to conk them in the head with a blunt object to make them see sense. I will say that I totally loved Lincoln’s granny, she was the bomb. “ “Can I get you anything?” “Yes. You can resolve your commitment issues, marry my grandson, and give me great grandchildren before I kick the oxygen habit and get fit for my halo.” ” All in all, The Firefighter’s Perfect Plan is a sweet and nice romance, with some funny moments, witty banter and a couple of sexy kisses. Let me warn you now, there’s no steam to it, just some measly tingles (and not even a boner in sight). A pleasant read if you’re in the mood for a nice clean and pleasing read. *I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book*

I loved Linc in book one and was hoping we'd see him in the next book and here he is. With his surly, grumpy, Eeyore, I'm unlovable self; the same one who puts others first, protects at all costs and does good things for everyone but himself. Except Josie. Josie is different. She's a notch above and it scares him witless. Linc and Josie were doing fine until one day Linc shuts her down, goes out of his way to avoid her, despite the fact they have to work together on Casey and Kent's wedding. Josie just can't figure out what she did wrong. When she lies to her Mother ( who only birthed her God help me what a botch this woman is)about having a boyfriend and feeling safe because her parents moved away, she's got to step up her game because Mom and Dad are moving back to town. Much to her dismay, and while she's getting her new business off the ground also the timing couldn't be worse. So she gets it in her head to ask Linc. When she tries to even engage him in a basic conversation he just shuts her down. So she's scrapping that idea. Until Linc needs her help and she says no. Only because she doesn't want to be around him. Can't blame the girl there. She tells Casey what she did and Casey thinks Linc will help her, but Casey is in full on bride to be mode and doesn't know what's going on. Linc thinks he's saving her/ wait...himself first from heartbreak again because he's not good enough to love. Pooooor Linc. His ex really messed him over but he goes way back with Josie. His next excuse is they won't work. I can't give them all to you, you have to read them to believe them. He eventually agrees to be fake boyfriend thing and then they'll break up and one lie tops another and so it goes. Add in to that Linc's meddling Grandma and Mother and it's a three ring circus. Funny thing about this story is, everyone's up Linc's backside and no one is there for Josie. They're too freaking busy telling her what to do without considering where she's at with all this. Linc does when he's not self involved, he does care about her, just not enough to be honest and talk to her about things. He doesn't do feelings. Only his own. The only man in that family that has room to bellyache is Gage. End of rant. Nope not the end, I got tired of watching them push Josie at Linc and Linc in turn push her away. We don't get a lot of emotion from Josie until the end and I wish we'd have gotten more from her and less from the BWB (big whiny baby) So they have plans to break up and each time their plans are foiled by one thing or another. Until they aren't. Then you need to read the book because Linc pulls the dick move of the century. I love Josie. I do. I loved the story, I did. What I would have loved more was less bs thrown in, these things were distracting and unnecessary to the story. I can't wait to see who's up next, Rafferty's on the list. Great story Sonya!!! **advanced copy from NetGalley and Entangled for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions in my review are my own**

What starts out as a little lie to her mother completely blows up in Josie's face when her mother shares her news with the biggest gossip in town. So instead of being able to clean up her mess without Lincoln ever knowing that she told her family they were dating, she needs him to pretend they're together at least until they can plan a big public breakup. There were so many shenanigans in this book that made me laugh. My heart broke for Lincoln after how badly he was burned in the past but there were more than a few times that I wanted to shake him for being so committed to his plan of never falling in love again. Over and over I just wanted to hug Josie for how horrible her family is but she powered through every single time. I loved all of the interactions between Josie and Lincoln and was pulling for them from the very beginning. I'm really loving the Fire and Sparks series and I can't wait to see what comes next!! *This is my voluntary review of an advanced reader copy*

This story is cute but after meeting Lincoln in the first book I was hoping for something more in his story. This is a fairly typical fake relationship story with nothing that makes it unique or special. I did love Jean and all her meddling ways. Linc and Josie never had a chance with her on the case. The story does have moments of good humor like the attempted breakups but it just wasn't enough for me. I never truly felt the chemistry between Linc and Josie. For me this was just an OK read.

It all starts with an innocent little lie designed to get Josie’s mother off her back. When her mother abruptly decides to move back to town and her little white lie becomes town gossip, Josie convinces Lincoln, her best friend’s brother and resident firefighter hottie, to play along and act as her fake boyfriend until they can stage a breakup. She’s always had an enormous crush on Linc but has never acted on the feelings. But when her little lie begins to grow and all their opportunities to break up seem to be thwarted, their real feelings can no longer be denied, and their perfect plan goes out the window. After Linc’s breakup with his ex, he just couldn’t stomach going through the pain of loving someone and not being enough again. So, to shelter his heart, he comes up with the perfect plan to keep his heart safe – never fall in love. Especially not with his sister’s best friend who has always been a special part of his life. But when their fake relationship turns into a fake engagement and real emotions get thrown into the mix, both Linc and Josie learn that sometimes the best parts of life happen beyond your reckless point. I really enjoyed Linc and Josie’s friendship and banter. The back and forth and the way in which the lovers get to explore aspects of the relationship in a way they normally wouldn’t is part of what makes pretend relationships one of my favorite romance tropes. Despite there not being any sexual encounters in the novel, I think the author did an amazing job of keeping you excited by the budding romance and invested in seeing how it turns out. Probably one of my favorite parts of the novel was the important role which family played in the story. Josie is already an honorary member of the family, even before dating Linc, and it’s adorable to see how enthusiastic his mother and grandmother are about the relationship. I adored Grandma Jean and her sassy words of wisdom. The whole family dynamic really gives this story some dimension and makes me eager to read more books in this series. If you love sassy, matchmaking relatives, fake relationship and best friend’s brother tropes and a sweet, family-oriented hero, THE FIREFIGHTER’S PERFECT PLAN needs to be added to your TBR list. Disclosure: I received this book free in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions shared are my own.

LOVED this book!!! Josie told a tiny white lie to get her mother off her back about her dating life, but because of the Murphy's Law governing her life, the lie takes on a life of its own when her parents come back to town and start talking about her relationship with Lincoln....the one that is the fake lie she told. Somehow she ropes Lincoln into helping her, and the lie takes on a life of its own. But what happens when Josie isn't sure what's a lie and what's the truth? This is a delightful novel that is the very best of the friends to lovers romance genre. Fans of the genre will love this one and want to put it at the top of their TBR list. The author is on my must read authors' list, and, if you're a romance fan, should probably be on your must read authors' list as well.

When Friendship becomes Love 3.5* A lie that escalates, meddling matchmakers and a man who needs to be shaken hard to realise that the reason he is always there for Josie is because she is his soulmate. I loved the meddling Granny Jean and enjoyed the repartee between Lincoln and Josie but didn’t really feel the emotion/chemistry, which was disappointing as I loved the first book. The Bradford family are loving, supportive and fun to read about - I look forward to finding out how Rafferty and Grayson meet their matches. I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.