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A review by dinohakari
Up in Flames by Eden Finley, Saxon James
5.0
Wow. Just wow. I have read everything that [a:Eden Finley|15036279|Eden Finley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1520859183p2/15036279.jpg] and [a:Saxon James|19404191|Saxon James|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1642498003p2/19404191.jpg] have published so far, and let me tell you, this last one is so different from what they usually write, that you feel as if you are being turned inside out between before and after reading [b:Up in Flames|124945464|Up in Flames|Eden Finley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1686827289l/124945464._SY75_.jpg|146384245]. I mean, it's not the darkest thing I've ever read, nor the most harrowing. Far from it. But it is a stark contrast between what they have accustomed us to and what they give us now.
We've met Remy and Sanden in a previous book, but we haven't really "met" them. We know that they were both paramedics and that Remy was engaged to a "close" friend of Sanden's, but we also had some clues here and there that there was some kind of history between them, and that's about it. Now, back in their own book, we find ourselves on the wedding day between Remy and Eman, with the former having doubts, he felt that Eman was not the man he had known but he couldn't put his finger on what was it that had changed. However, he felt that it was too late to change his mind. But then, he was left at the altar, and who other than Sanden was the one to deliver the news. And he was also the one who supported him and helped him through the following hours, and the next days and weeks.
I'm not going to delve much deeper into what happens in those weeks and months that they spend together. What I want to highlight is what made me feel seeing Remy suffer the aftermath of his breakup with Eman. I mean, I haven't suffered that kind of abuse or manipulation. Not on that level, so it's hard to imagine what he was going through, but I feel like he was waking up from a deep coma, barely scratching at times for brief snippets of reality that immediately slipped through his fingers. As if he didn't have enough strength to hold it, so strong was the pull that darkness had on him. It was as if Remy no longer knew himself. As if he didn't know what he was worth and what he deserved as a person. But every time he caught a glimpse of the man he was, that darkness would appear again, in the form of Eman, to take him back. So it was hard to see him fight against himself to be able to emerge into the light. And although Sanden was there, steadfast, always with an outstretched hand to catch him if he relapsed, or a strong arm to hold him if he sank too far, the fight was Remy's and Remy's alone. He needed to stand on his own two feet if he wanted to offer Sanden a whole person willing to love someone and to be loved whitout doubts and fears. Someone willing to live life to the fullest. And it was a very difficult fight to watch.
Sanden didn't have it easy either. Finding out everything Remy went through during those years that he kept his feelings for him hidden was difficult, to say the least. Knowing that if he had had the courage to tell him how he felt when they first met, it would have spared them both a world of pain, was not an easy pill to swallow. Neither did staying away giving him space to heal, not knowing if they could finally be together. He also had his own demons from the past to fight. The demons that held him back then at the beginning and that could hold him again now if he did't work on himself too.
Said that, I also wanted to add that I loved the MCs. They were sweet and caring people that work hard to save people. And that not everything was dark and sad. There were a LOT OF BANTER and funny situations as well as SEXY, HOT interludes, and sweet and ROMANTIC moments that are characteristic of these authors, and that balance the story, making it complete and more realistic.
It was a great story, with tough themes that were handled with care, and a hard-earned HEA. Something different from these authors that proves that they can write about what they set their minds to, without disappointing in the least.
I was given an advanced copy and wrote a voluntarily review.
We've met Remy and Sanden in a previous book, but we haven't really "met" them. We know that they were both paramedics and that Remy was engaged to a "close" friend of Sanden's, but we also had some clues here and there that there was some kind of history between them, and that's about it. Now, back in their own book, we find ourselves on the wedding day between Remy and Eman, with the former having doubts, he felt that Eman was not the man he had known but he couldn't put his finger on what was it that had changed. However, he felt that it was too late to change his mind. But then, he was left at the altar, and who other than Sanden was the one to deliver the news. And he was also the one who supported him and helped him through the following hours, and the next days and weeks.
I'm not going to delve much deeper into what happens in those weeks and months that they spend together. What I want to highlight is what made me feel seeing Remy suffer the aftermath of his breakup with Eman. I mean, I haven't suffered that kind of abuse or manipulation. Not on that level, so it's hard to imagine what he was going through, but I feel like he was waking up from a deep coma, barely scratching at times for brief snippets of reality that immediately slipped through his fingers. As if he didn't have enough strength to hold it, so strong was the pull that darkness had on him. It was as if Remy no longer knew himself. As if he didn't know what he was worth and what he deserved as a person. But every time he caught a glimpse of the man he was, that darkness would appear again, in the form of Eman, to take him back. So it was hard to see him fight against himself to be able to emerge into the light. And although Sanden was there, steadfast, always with an outstretched hand to catch him if he relapsed, or a strong arm to hold him if he sank too far, the fight was Remy's and Remy's alone. He needed to stand on his own two feet if he wanted to offer Sanden a whole person willing to love someone and to be loved whitout doubts and fears. Someone willing to live life to the fullest. And it was a very difficult fight to watch.
Sanden didn't have it easy either. Finding out everything Remy went through during those years that he kept his feelings for him hidden was difficult, to say the least. Knowing that if he had had the courage to tell him how he felt when they first met, it would have spared them both a world of pain, was not an easy pill to swallow. Neither did staying away giving him space to heal, not knowing if they could finally be together. He also had his own demons from the past to fight. The demons that held him back then at the beginning and that could hold him again now if he did't work on himself too.
Said that, I also wanted to add that I loved the MCs. They were sweet and caring people that work hard to save people. And that not everything was dark and sad. There were a LOT OF BANTER and funny situations as well as SEXY, HOT interludes, and sweet and ROMANTIC moments that are characteristic of these authors, and that balance the story, making it complete and more realistic.
It was a great story, with tough themes that were handled with care, and a hard-earned HEA. Something different from these authors that proves that they can write about what they set their minds to, without disappointing in the least.
I was given an advanced copy and wrote a voluntarily review.