Two people brought together by the death of a charming, lying, sleazy douchebag.
Donovan Byrne's lies, betrayals, and secrets just keep popping up now that he's dead and brings to light what an awful person he actually was, not the slick perfect gentleman he portrayed himself as. With every new discovery, more hurt comes to his fiance Anneliese and to his brother Lachlan. But with hurt comes healing and closure and, even better, draws the two together in the sweetest of ways.
This story was so great! It's heartbreaking and heartwarming and very satisfying! It's kinda dark and heavy yet light and uplifting at the same time. I know that makes no sense but when you read it you'll know. I couldn't put it down once I started. It just flowed and was so intriguing at every turn. I highly recommend it!

This book was marketed as a slow burn, but I disagree with this. It’s only ~250 pages so how long did we actually have to wait for a romance to develop? Not very long. I’m not usually a fan of books under 350 pages because they feel rushed, but this one didn’t feel that way at all. Overall the story had a natural progression and ended in a good place.

Be careful what you wish for, it might come true.
Love and Kerosene by W. Renshaw, published by Montlake is an intense read. A story of loss and grief, a slow burn, low on drama, a second chance story that had me intrigued from start til the last page. A story of good people, starting over, beautifully thought out and beautifully told. Unputdownable. Annelise and Lachlan are characters I fell in insta-love with. A great read,5 stars.

Fun read,
I found it quick and superficial. Im not sure that superficial is the right word but its the best one i could find that describes things. It didnt get into dept of things. Not feelings or general stuff like that. It was 254 pages so real quick. I feel that it could have dove into things deeper and for longer. It was like a book that just skimmed over things. Still fun, read it while camping in Haines.

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for this ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me this book to review.

Love and Kerosene feature two very broken people trying to find peace/run from their past. This book explores grief and hurt and the complexity of being human and having certain feelings while entwining love and fairly decent world-building. The main two characters compliment each other quite well. I personally felt like the epilogue wasn't needed but it was only a few extra pages and I don't know why but I both loved and disliked Anneliese's penchant for names. I liked it as it showed an interesting hobby/profession as well as how the brain can cling onto things like how many 'n's are in a name and everything but I personally felt it was a little too much for me (this is more than likely a me thing though).

This book has the following tropes;
* Slow Burn
* Roommates
* Small town

Trigger Warnings (that I can remember):
* Death of a Parent
* Cheating (neither of the main characters cheat)
* Death of a loved one
* Grief

Anneliese had a whirlwind relationship with a man that led her to uproot her entire life and deposit her life savings into an account with a goal of renovating Donovan's childhood home. After he is killed in a car accident - she quickly learns that almost everything he told her was a lie and essentially a con. Now she's left with only the home they were renovating together and no money to move on with her life. When Donovan's brother Lachlan comes to town - its a total shock (Donovan never mentioned a brother) not to mention Lachlan looks almost exactly like Donovan.

Lachlan did not have an easy time of things after his mother died. His father and brother treated him really really badly and he left town the minute he could. Since then he's been wandering Great Britain and not putting down any roots or making any solid connections. When he finds Anneliese in his childhood home that he only wants to burn to the ground - things get complicated.

Thinking through the relationship between Lachlan and Anneliese was fascinating. They definitely had a quick and close connection. For Anneliese - I feel like Donovan had kind of assumed some of Lachlan's character traits. It almost felt like Lachlan was the brother Anneliese should have fallen for. Then watching Lachlan want to take a chance with Anneliese was so sweet. The final conflict between them was fairly mild all things considered - but in the face of the other drama that had happened it felt right.

There are a few plot holes in this, which kind of led to me knocking a star off - overall - this was a really enjoyable read and I definitely recommend - especially for anyone who ever dreamed of burning a building to the ground as a way of moving past trauma.

I received this via NetGalley as an ARC, but these opinions are all my own.

Everyone deserves a second chance to get it right. After a brief encounter at a college party, Stone is enamored but isn't able to act on his feelings due to Jovie falling for his best friend. He passes up his own happiness for theirs while falling deeper in love with her. Fast forward and now is his time to get the girl! I flew through this book wishing Stone and Jovie a HEA which they definitely got.

I am a fan of this author and read everything she writes. This story was a slow build up to the characters' relationship with some great twists in between. The ending was a bit rushed, but overall a great read.

Very Fitting Title.

Anneliese and Lachlan are love and kerosene. The things they have each been through are heartbreaking but they come out stronger. This book is also sensual without being erotic. I love the storyline and all the characters. Great writing. I received an advanced copy and this is my honest and voluntary review.

Unique enemies to lovers romance with a good amount of slow burn mixed into an interesting storyline with a bit of mystery and even more deceit and betrayal with surprise layers. Don't be put off by the title, not sure how it really fits - a quick and heated read with a good storyline.

With Love and Kerosene, I now have a better feel of Winter Renshaw's storytelling style and I think after reading a third book of hers I know what's part of the appeal for me. I appreciate that her characters have issues of trust based on past experiences but that she makes that only part of their story. For instance in the case of Annelise and Lachlan, they both had been burned by Donovan (Lachlan's brother) in some really terrible ways and so naturally, they are hesitant to trust each other. But, as they get to know and understand each other, some of those trust issues begin to fade into the background. Obviously this issue is one of the conflicts that these characters need to overcome but it really isn't at the forefront of every single scene. Many of the scenes are about Annelise and Lachlan getting to know each other like actual people do--and I think that's part of the appeal for me (that they aren't just hyperfocused on why they can't trust and instead do what we all do which is live in the moment). I'm not sure if I'm making any sense at all but I hope what you're getting is that her books don't tend to be complete angst-fests; they leave a lot of room for the characters to get to know and love each other outside of their issues.



I've also come to appreciate that Winter Renshaw always has these really wonderful secondary characters that make you like the main characters more, as well as the town they're living in. She has this way of describing these characters and places as warm and personable or funny and interesting; basically places and people we'd all want to live in or live near. Additionally, I've really appreciated that when that OH CRAP! moment happens around the 80% mark that we aren't left hanging for long at all--she always has (or at least in the few books I've read) the characters figuring things out very quickly and so the angst is low and the happily ever after comes quickly and feels so very sweet.



In the case of Love and Kerosene, I really enjoyed Annelise's steadiness as Lachlan came to terms with his past. I liked that neither of these characters were there to play games or manipulate and that I could escape into their story knowing that the angst would be enough to create the conflicts but the evolving love story and ending happily ever after would be so satisfactory. Winter Renshaw is definitely a go to author for a quick, happy, romance that doesn't dwell too much in the darkness before she quickly puts her characters into the light.

Annelise’s story was relatable and gut wenching, then enters Lachlan who is mysterious and brooding, at a time when she needed someone to lean on. As this book unfolded, I found myself wishing that Annalise could confront Donovan and maybe even give him a swift kick to the balls. I couldn’t put it down. This was a bit of a different journey, but I fully enjoyed the ride.

Such a lovely and beautiful story that makes you fall in love with the book over and over again. Ms. Winter outdone herself with this book. The main characters are so perfect together that made this story special.

Ah I really enjoyed this book. Two broken people come together in a slow burn romance. It was a story that captivated me to be honest.

4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a free copy in exchange of an honest review. This book is a slow-burn romance between our FMC, Anneliese and her dead fiancé’s estranged brother, Lachlan. Okay first off, I love this book. The story is pretty angsty and there’s not much drama as these two have a lot to work on. They both have past traumas and need to heal. I only wished that the author explain or describe more with Donovan’s trauma. The sex in the book is fade to black so that could be a dealbreaker to some.

Stunning !! Absolutely amazing!! Forbidden romance is one of my favourite trope. The angst , the romance , the chemistry everything was unbeatable. The spark between the two characters just made my heart flutter. This one of was a slow burn with lovable characters with a spark they can't fight.
Winter from the first pages took me into the slow burning world of Arcadia Grove.
If you are looking for any of these tropes , this is your next read :
Slow burn
Forbidden romance (Dead brother's fiancee )
Roomates
Small town romance
Friends to lovers
Healing each other

Thank you netgalley for the arc. All the best Winter . Can't wait for the book to hit the market.

Wow, my mind went in different directions with this one. I love when the story is exactly the way I envision it going and then to be thrown for a marvelous loop...great job! As this was an ARC I wonder if they're going to be errors or changes made in the end, but I wouldn't change a thing. Very pleased about this read especially with the few sprinkles of surprise twists. I loved this fire-starter!

"But at the end of the day, I'm still in a state of repair -- much like this house -- and I'm bad at love -- much like that Halsey song."

Anneliese moved to the small town of Arcardia Grove, Vermont with her fiancé Donovan to fix up his childhood home. Their relationship was blissful, fun, and a whirlwind, until Donovan died in a car accident, leaving Anneliese with a ramshackle house, an empty bank account, and a whole lot of lies.

Lachlan is a drifter. He left Arcadia Grove a decade ago and has been wandering Europe every since, taking on odd jobs and honing his carpentry skills. He returns home after learning of his estranged brother's death, only to find that said brother's fiancée is living in the family home. He has such a bad history in that house that all he wants to do is watch it burn, but is that truly fair to Anneliese, who's spent thousands of dollars and dozens of hours painstakingly renovating it?

Love and Kerosene has elements of forbidden romance (dead fiancé's brother), small town shenanigans (everyone knows who you are), and a great amount of angst. Anneliese struggles to figure out who to trust and who she can't trust as she navigates building a relationship with a man her fiancé never told her existed.

This was a great book and one of my new favorites of Winter's. I'd love to return to this town if Winter is thinking of making Arcardia Grove into a series!

This was a slow burn romance set in the small town of Arcadia Grove. The story hooked me in from the get go and I could not put it down. Lachlan and Annaliese should not have worked as a couple on paper as they were like night and day. Their circumstances and how they ended up as roommates renovating a house together to serve very different purposes to what they were both hoping to get out of it was far from normal and yet as they slowly got to know one another, they realised you can't fight chemistry. That slow burn build had just the right amount of heat. A great read.

After learning about her fiancés betrayal after his untimely death, Anneliese needs to get the house they were renovating complete in order to sell it to recoup her loses. Unfortunately, when Lachlan comes to town claiming ownership on his dead brother's house, he is faced with dealing with not only the woman he feels a spark with but also with the house he intends to destroy to banish the ghosts from his past. One house, two different versions of the future, but one wonderful read that brings together a second chance at love and redemption for the house that holds so many stories. With characters you wil not help but fall in love with and a storyline that will make you swoon with delight this was a great book.