When the Smoke Clears by Jewel E. Ann

Alisha Eadle
1 hour ago
2 min read

When the Smoke Clears

by Jewel E. Ann

Published by Montlake

Book 3 of the Wildfire Series

Everleigh Reichart and William Landry fell hard—and far too fast.

Their weeklong romance ended the moment Will, a twenty-nine-year-old firefighter, learned the Everleigh was seventeen. He walked away to protect them both. Destiny had other plans.

Eleven years later, Will is still running into burning buildings, while Everleigh has become a brilliant psychiatrist. When a house fire strands her on his land, their old feelings ignite like patient embers. But she’s desperate to keep concealing the childhood trauma that has shaped her life, and he’s struggling under the weight of his father’s terminal illness. Too soon, the strain snaps their fragile reunion, flinging them farther apart than ever before.

Now Everleigh must face her past to salvage a future with Will… if he can accept that loving her includes the broken parts too. But first, he needs to come and find her—this time by faith, not fate.

Genre

#ContemporaryRomance

#InterconnectedRomance

Triggers

Loss of home/pet in house fire, burnout and grief from caring for a parent with dementia and cancer, death of a parent, mental illness

Before I begin, I would like to thank Montlake and Jewel E. Ann's team for sending me an arc of When the Smoke Clears in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The MINUTE I saw that Jewel E. Ann's arc's were going out for her next book, I applied. I didn't even care which book it was.

I don't think I've ever hated one of her books.

Just like I predicted, I loved When the Smoke Clears.

Jewel has been teasing Will and Everleigh's story since her first book in this series. While, yes, the conclusion to the first time they were together wasn't great, I needed these two polar opposites to get together and duke it out.

That is what it's like when they are on page together. It's a constant dance of wit and snarks between them, interwoven with a genuine connection.

The prodigy genius psychologist and the fire fighter.

The twelve year age gap.

Everything life throws at them.

It doesn't get in the way of these characters connection with on another, and the insane chemistry between them.

If that wasn't enough, Jewel also makes her characters incredibly relatable. Now, I can say with certainty that 99% of us are now prodigies, but there were many times in this book that I was in tears reading through Everleigh's perspective. I could relate to her loneliness growing up. The trouble making friends. Just wanting to fit in.

When I wasn't crying for her, I was crying for Will and everything he goes through in this book. It was easy to relate to his feelings on dealing with his father's terminal illness. Jewel didn't romanticize it. It was ugly and brutal and made it so much more ... poignant.

While Jewel has a knack for writing layered, rich characters, she also manages to create a beautiful story. When the Smoke Clears was just that. Beautiful and raw, and definitely something you need to read. Honestly, this whole trilogy is worth the read - and the tears.