All Fired Up

Pairing a nerdy chemist who studies fire with a dashing female firefighter, this sapphic rom-com from England (The One True Me and You) is scorching hot. After scientist Nicole “Nic” Wells finishes her master’s program, she moves back home to Seattle and reunites with her friend group, including her BFF and longtime crush, Skylar, and new addition Kira McKinney, a firefighter. When Skylar announces that she’s impulsively moving to Fiji at the end of the summer, Nic and Kira both believe she’s making a huge mistake and scheme together to persuade her to stay. Along the way, they end up getting to know each other more intimately than either anticipated. Their chemistry is certainly fiery, but, in part because Skylar is a therapist, the amount of therapy-speak occasionally grates, burying the characters’ raw emotions beneath jargon. Still, there’s much to enjoy here, including England’s fun deployment of the “only one bed” trope and Nic and Kira’s very queer cohort, whom readers will be excited to revisit in a sequel. Anyone in search of a sweet, slightly quirky, and certainly steamy romance will find all they’re looking for here. Agent: Eric Smith, P.S. Literary Agency. (Apr.)