When We Ignite: Book One (Fire Between Us 1)

As a trained story editor, I will tell you that I do not read without editing. It is not a skill that I have, to be able to just. . .read. This story took me by complete surprise. I only walked away with a few notes. That rarely happens. I'm going to break this down on the things that Alex, the author, executes correctly that most (unfortunately) do not succeed in doing. 1) Alex told the story in LIVE scenes and not within inner dialogue. The excessive use of monologues in the internal thought, is a common issue among genre novels. Telling the story, for instance a childhood traumas -- inside the characters' head, versus putting it into scenes and unveiling these tidbits throughout the story. This goes for literally any detail, past anecdote, or potential plot. The reader does not need to know it ahead of time. We need to learn it when the other characters discover it. Putting it into actual scenes, puts it into action and makes the story alive Alex does an incredible job with this right off the bat. Simple things like not revealing that there are other siblings in the family. Not until they literally take a seat at the table. Learning what has happened to their parents' relationships, when the opposite MC learns it. There are many many instances in the story where she developed the narrative based around constructing scenes and not being lazy -- downloading it inside someone's head. 2) Description. You'd be absolutely shocked how little description a lot of authors give…

4.5 Stars Wow! I absolutely LOVED this book. I already enjoyed Alex’s debut novel but this one was even better. Sebastian (aka Ash) is the oldest of the Langley brothers. He’s 34 & newly appointed CEO of the family business. He’s handsome, charming, confident and can command the room with ease. He has a reputation of a playboy and doesn’t commit in relationships. Ethan is a young 19 year old college kid who is still trying to figure out what to do with his life. His parents are pressuring him to pick his path and he’s still unsure what it is he really wants for himself. When Ash first sees Ethan, he’s instantly drawn to him. Ethan is intrigued during that meeting but believing he’s straight, just shakes it off at first. However, the chemistry between them is undeniable and they continue to be pulled to one another. I loved the slow burn here. Ash was not forceful while Ethan was exploring his sexuality. He wanted Ethan to want him in return and voiced that multiple times. While Ash typically demands all the control, he let Ethan take the lead on their explorations. The tension between the two was STEAMY!!!! I absolutely loved it. While they mess around some, they don't physically have sex until you're 70% into the story. With this book being part of a duet, we clearly have much more to the story to explore and I cannot wait for book 2 to come out. When I read the epilogue, “FOUR YEARS LATER”, I got all teary eyed. I need to know how this goes!!!!!