Wildfire

The review

Aurora Roberts and Russ Callaghan meet at an end-of-year party, spend one night together, and part without her ever giving him her full name. Then they both turn up as counselors at the same summer camp, the kind with a strict no-staff-romance policy. Wildfire takes the Maple Hills crew out of the ice rink and into a cabin-and-campfire summer, and it is the softer, sadder companion to Icebreaker.

Grace builds both leads around what they are running from. Russ, a Maple Hills hockey player, is carrying the shame and fallout of his father's gambling addiction and expects to be let down by everyone. Aurora is getting away from a cold, critical family and looking for the sense of home camp once gave her. The romance is two people learning they are allowed to want something for themselves.

The camp setting does a lot of work. Shared shifts, bonfires, lake days and a rule they keep breaking give the book a built-in forced-proximity engine, and the supporting cast of fellow counselors keeps it funny. Fans of the Icebreaker friend group get cameos and context without the book leaning on them.

The heat: four peppers. The door is open and the scenes are explicit and fairly frequent, though readers generally find it a touch less steamy than Icebreaker. The tone stays warm and playful even when the backstory gets heavy.

Know before you start: it is book two of Maple Hills but follows its own couple, so it reads fine on its own, and it ends happily. The emotional material around family and addiction is more prominent than in Icebreaker, so if you want pure fluff, temper expectations. If you want a summer romance with a bit of ache under the sunshine, it delivers. Pair it with Behind the Net for another hockey hero who is more vulnerable than he looks.