#QueerLitLoft

Firecamp is second chance romance, opposites attract romance told in two halves across a 10 year gap.

In the beginning we meet Fallon Monroe and Nora Palmer, as they both arrive at firecamp for the summer. Each of them have very different reasons for attending – Fallon hopes to find her inner confidence and forge a career path for herself. Whilst Nora has an agreement with her father – make it to the end of firecamp and he’ll fund her last two years of college when Nora intends to study photojournalism.

I enjoyed the first half of the story, there is a decent amount of character development for both Fallon and Nora. During their time in the Colorado national forest, we get to understand their backgrounds and childhood in quite some detail, illuminating who they are now as twenty somethings. Plus there’s an interesting cast of supporting characters also enrolled in firecamp. Some like Gwen and Tina lend themselves to loathing, others such as Kennedy add other personal journeys to the narrative. Although Kennedy’s own path to coming out as non-binary would have benefitted from greater detail and progression. By the end of firecamp there are more than just embers burning between Fallon and Nora but, with uncertain paths ahead, a firestorm soon threatens their Colorado paradise.

In the second part of the book, Fallon and Nora’s stories jump forward 10 years; both now successfully embedded in their respective careers. A chance assignment to report on a forest fire sees Nora return to her old firecamp stomping ground where Fallon is now in charge.

Unfortunately, it’s this stage of the story that I found unsatisfying. There’s so much detail and growth in the first half of Fallon and Nora’s story, yet when we meet back up with them 10 years later it’s as if the issues of the past are no big deal; the romance felt like it progressed too quickly for the time that had elapsed. I was also fairly disappointed in the last two chapters and epilogue – there are some big transitions and decisions being made, but much of the story telling felt rushed with a lot of content left unexplored, a direct juxtaposition to the first half of the book. We also don’t see any of the supporting characters in the second half, which is a missed opportunity in my opinion given how much of a part they all play in the first half.

Ultimately, what saved this book for me, is the first half of Fallon and Nora’s journey. The firecamp, fire fighting and fire mitigation aspects of the novel were also exceptionally depicted and interesting. The downside is that I found those aspects more entertaining than the plot and the romance at times.

Worth a read if you like the story theme and are aware of the pitfalls when it comes to the romance aspects.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase from: