Sparks fly when tenacious mountain climber and hiker Beasley McLemore meets hot smokejumper Will Gregor on a search and rescue mission in Yosemite. Getting together, however, isn’t easy. Strong-willed Beasley is bent on building a thriving landscaping business back home in the foothills of the majestic Smoky Mountains. Busy working 24/7, she has no time or energy for a man in her life…she … thinks.
Scorched by love in his past, Will is content to live near awe-inspiring Lake Tahoe where he saves lives and forests as a remote wildland firefighter. He doesn’t need a committed relationship complicating his dangerous lifestyle…he thinks.
Through life-changing events and a family mystery, each must question long held beliefs about work, love, and life. Looming over their blossoming love affair is the 2,400 miles separating their homes and livelihoods. Will love keep them together or distance tear them apart?
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Wildfire and Roses is a sweet and relatively chaste romance from Hope Malory. I really appreciated the realism in Ms. Malory’s story. She provides readers with thoroughly developed main and secondary characters that readers can’t help but love. Ms. Malory has infused a bit of mystery and family drama into this contemporary romance as well.
The story takes place over the period of a year, and it covers a lot of ground in terms of Beasley’s family history and her astonishingly busy life. Unbeknownst to Beasley, her current situation presents to her a smilier challenge that was once faced by her beloved mother. Likewise, Will has to learn the same lesson that he is currently challenging his estranged father to figure out.
The main characters, Beasley McLemore and Will Gregor, meet when both volunteer to help with a wilderness search and rescue. To put it mildly, they don’t instantly fall in love. They both have relationship issues to work through. They are both protective of their heart and ego. They are both incredibly stubborn. Even though they both proclaim they are not interested in a relationship, the more these two new friends meet up, the more they find the other to be their ideal mate. Too bad they are both strongly ensconced in their lives on different sides of the continent. It takes a lot of loss and drama for these two to realize that a life without a loving, supportive partner is a hollow excuse for living.
I loved Beasley’s family. The siblings are incredibly close and supportive. The family mystery that is woven into the story is interesting, and it is tantamount to Beasley finally realizing what she needs to do to follow her late parents’ advice to “work hard and follow our dreams”. The mystery and circumstances surrounding Beasley’s business could have been explored a little more, but the light coverage of that situation didn’t impact the overall storytelling.
I really enjoyed the character development, the family drama, and the realistic relationship development. Ms. Malory’s debut novel, Wildfire and Roses, is a lovely book for anyone who enjoys a sweet romance.
Will Gregor was brought up by his father to believe that men are rugged and women are soft, but admires strong-willed women. In fact, if he could imagine the perfect woman—smart, competent, professional, with a bit of sassiness—it would be Beasley McLemore, but he’s just gotten out of an eight-year relationship, and he’s not in a hurry to entangle himself.
Beasley is a planner, entrepreneur, and experienced hiker and climber. Her beloved grandmother just died, she has a business to run and a family mystery to solve. Getting involved with a man like Will isn’t in any of her well-researched plans, but from the first moment they touch, a tiny electric spark zips through her.
When a 7-year-old boy goes missing in Yosemite, Beasley and Will find themselves working side-by-side as volunteers on a search-and-rescue team. They return to their separate lives, but can’t stop thinking about each other. Both have some serious soul-searching to do.
What stood out most for me was the elaborate backstories, not only of the main characters, but secondary as well. Malory has created a detailed world with rich individual histories and relationships.
WILDFIRE AND ROSES by Hope Malory is a sweet contemporary romance. This romance is about a hero and heroine who you know are perfect for each other, but they are established in their careers on opposite sides of the country.
Beasley McLemore is driven to make her landscaping business in the foothills of the Tennessee Smoky Mountains the best. She wants her family and the community to be proud of her. She has always fantasized about her best-friend’s brother because she believes she is too busy to deal with a real relationship. On a rare break from her business, she is in Yosemite to climb El Cap and volunteers when needed for a search and rescue mission.
Will Gregor is a hot-shot smoke jumper and firefighter from California in Yosemite to climb. He volunteers for the search and rescue, too. He is ready and eager to help the park ranger, but is not impressed by Beasley. When Beasley easily assists Will after he falls, his irritation turns into intrigue. Will has just broken up with his long-term girlfriend and even though Beasley is everything he wants in a girlfriend, he is not ready to commit.
Beasley and Will cannot forget each other, but neither is willing to give up their current life situations and locations. Is it best just to forget and move on or can they find a way to be together?
Besides the sweet romance that does not have any sex until the last chapters, the author has included a mystery in Beasley’s family to be solved. The descriptions of the locations on both sides of the country is inspiring. The family and friends in this story are as interesting and entertaining as the H/h. This is an easy to read book, but at times I felt it should have had an increase in pace in the romance and less secondary characters. There were also a few times I was exasperated by how hard-headed Beasley was during some scenes which I felt slowed the pace, too. Overall though, it was an enjoyable romance read with interesting main characters and family dynamics.
Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.
Characters you root for, tough choices, beautiful scenery, and plot twists and turns make this a heartwarming and fulfilling read. From the first pages, you’ll feel dropped into the story and want to know outcomes-so plan your day or night accordingly.