I don't easily cringe but the amount of second-hand embarrassment I got from this book is insanely high. Why did these authors think putting hashtags in the dialogues was a funny thing? It's not funny or quirky or whatever, it's cringe. On top of that the characters had no chemistry but at least it was a short book because reading to felt like a chore. 1.5 stars

This book was not for me.
I was super intrigued by the synopsis and cover but upon reading the first couple of chapters I knew I was not going to be a fan.
I found Al very annoying and difficult to read, and the dialogue between the characters felt very unrealistic.
This is of course personal preference so I don’t doubt that others will enjoy this book but I had to DNF.

So this is the first book that I've read by The Firesides and I'm so going to binge any others that are hanging out there. The story drew you in and kept you in the worldbuilding that was done. I love authors that are able to do this in such an amazing way. Elena and Al are two of my favorite characters moving forward. Absolutely love this story and highly recommend.

I was provided this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Elena is back in Owen Station after almost a decade in LA chasing her photography career, but her father wanted to retire from the mortuary business and needed her to take over. She's happy to do it even if it means working with her brothers who don't know when to be serious. Despite a childhood of being misunderstood and then leaning into the misunderstanding, she's enjoying her time, until a sinkhole forms in front of her house and puts her in the path of the newish deputy fire chief Allison (Al). Sparks fly, but Elena is concerned about the feelings she's getting from the sinkhole and Al makes jokes about it. Together they unravel a town mystery and learn more about each other.

Overall I was happy with this book. It was a solid story with good characters. I loved Elena's grandmother and her friend Hazel. There was good character development for Al and I lived to see her growth. Unfortunately, despite being a solid read, the book didn't wow me. It was a simple cozy mystery with a romance in a small town setting. Perfect for those looking for that genre.

SPIRITS AND SIRENS is a small-town sapphic romance about two women who get off on the wrong foot but find themselves working together to solve a decades-long mystery. al and elena's story was so entertaining and easy to get through, and i loved how their relationship was built up from quasi-rivals to begrudgingly pairing up to falling for each other. as the third book in the owen station series, it was also really nice to see the characters from previous books popping up! i'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes small-town romances with a lot of banter and heat. thanks to netgalley and bold strokes books for the advanced copy. SPIRITS AND SIRENS comes out may 14!

This book was just not for me. The constant talk of controversial topics and conspiracy theories got very annoying. Even if I could look past that, the writing just lacked depth and felt very immature more often than not. The main characters also had no chemistry whatsoever in my opinion! Their interactions felt so forced and awkward. They would go from being aggravated with each other to having long heartfelt conversations that were very random and ill-placed to me. Not to mention the chapters and conversations were SO long, but seemed to just go around and around in a circle. Then the next meeting would start in an apology (for literally no reason) from one of the MC's.

Al was ANNOYING!!!! I had to keep from rolling my eyes the whole time Elena or anyone was dealing with her. She is so self centered and thinks she is above everyone else with the way she thinks and acts. She is definitely an "I'm better than you and my sh*t doesn't stink" kind of girl which did not mesh with Elena's character AT ALL to me! I actually enjoyed the parts of the book when only Elena was present.

I was very intrigued by the book's blurb which is what led me to apply for an ARC, but unfortunately it just really fell flat in my opinion. There was strong potential, and I could see the vision, but it just missed the mark.

Since my review is low I will wait to leave a review on Goodreads until after the book is published for a week or so that way the reviews aren't tanked before the book has a chance. I'm sure there are plenty of other people who would enjoy this story, but unfortunately I was not one of them.

The synopsis implies more than the actual story. That does not detract from the storyline but I was just expecting something slightly different. It showed that just because you think you have your future planned, it will not necessarily go that way. The story let's you see what may be more important than a planned out career. An enjoyable read. But what's with the dropped crotch pants? I had to Google these to see what they looked like and to me they looked extremely uncomfortable and not at all flattering! I apologise to any one out there who loves them.

This one was nothing like I expected! I’m not really into the whole “spirits” thing and I should’ve read the blurb before requesting it based on the cover lol.

Me gustó la historia, tanto Elena como Allison me cayeron bien, me gustó que ambas sabían lo que querían e iban por ello.

El único pero que le pongo es que se mete que tiene poderes o algo que ver con lo espiritual, pero no se desarrolla el tema; al final no se sabe por qué los tiene, si es algo de familia o su alguien más tiene otro poder.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for and honest review.

This was a cute and fast read. We have enemies to lovers vibes, mystery and more. My interested was peeked when I first say the cover, and then when I read the summary, I was hooked. I started this late last night and finished reading this morning. I look forward to reading more from these authors!

Lovely with a touch of fun!

Elena is back in Owen Station, managing front-of-house at their family funeral services business, and working on developing her photography skills by photographing local scenes, however a few tense run ins with new Chief Fire Officer, Al make things tense. Al’s not overly happy about Elena being back, nor her telling of ghost stories causing panic in the community and making her life harder.

Loved this and being back in the world Kelly and Tana have created for their characters. Owen Station is a unique place with wonderful characters, and if you have read any of their other stories you’ll be familiar with the town, but if not, this is a standalone story so you can start here and work your way through the others when you are ready! Elena and Al had a unique relationship, built mostly on the tension Al created after an incident that had the town spooked outside Elena’s house, which Al just couldn’t understand.

It was great how although Al had this frustration at Elena, she was also intrigued and trying to fight being quite taken with her. That was made more difficult when their paths kept crossing unexpectedly and as Al started to develop more feelings for Elena, I just fell completely in love with the idea of them being together. However the most intriguing part of this story was the ghost stories, the things only Elena could conceive and yet there was a level of belief on Al’s part because of her feelings for Elena. When it all started coming together and truth about what had happened to Elena could be explained, the story took a heart-breaking but heart-warming turn as all was revealed.

Another great story from Kelly and Tana, with a light-hearted and fun romance, and great unexpected moments.

i really wanted to enjoy this. the overall setting was not for me and pretty on the corny side. it felt like it really lacked depth. the characters didn’t keep me interested so i had to dnf

. Spirits and Sirens is cute and definitely gave Hallmark-esque vibes. I would recommend this if you are a big romance girly however for me this was a little slow to start so I unfortunately DNF’d at about 40% in. I would definitely recommend this to others it was just however not my taste. Also not a fan of the main characters to be honest, lacking depth.

This was super cute, and I loved both the plot and the two main characters. I’ve never read a mortician romance that I didn’t enjoy. The dynamic between Elena and Al was very fun and sweet, however, I did feel like their voices sounded too similar and times, until they almost blended together. I wanted more of a distinction between them, which could have been achieved with first-person POV. I loved the world-building, so I’ll definitely have to go back and read the author’s other books in this series.

This wasn't exactly my favorite romance book. The enemies to lovers was almost nonexistent and I personally just didn't enjoy the writing of this book. I would love to try out a different book from this author but this one just didn't hit the mark for me.
Thank you again NetGalley for this eARC and Bold Stroke Books in exchange for my honest opinion!

Spirits & Sirens has the setting, dialogue, and depth of a small-town Hallmark movie, and the plot of a quirky paranormal romance.

I was excited to see a sapphic romance with a masc lead. But this book was just too much for me. Too much dialogue, too much exposition between the dialogue, too much time in between having our leads interacting, and way too much minutiae of the town and each person we cross. A lot of talking, not a whole lot of feelings.

I appreciate that the authors really tried to give their characters lives outside of eachother, but it turns the pacing into a slog. All the conversation with friends, all the exposition about jobs and town politics.

Elena has an internal rant about the body dysmorphia of her previous partners, right in the middle of a sex scene?

The book definitely picks up when the Elena and Al finally get together. But that isn't until you hit the 70% mark, and there wasn't enough heat leading up to it to support the slow burn.

Overall, I think this just needed more focus on the main characters and their relationship.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this awesome book

its great to spend time back in this community and none more so than with elena and al, both are now at owen station elena working in her families funeral home and al as assistant fire chief

but its the sink hole thats opened up right outside elena home that has the department out and about and when elena finally appears she nearly knocks al down with her car....

things dont really start really well these two as they butt heads a few more times but owen station has a certain charm all of its own but will it be enough to keep al there....

i love being back in owen station and the appearance of the other characters makes this an amusing tale as they all route for elena and al ... but its the mystery of elenas family that has them all perplexed and when bones are found up on the hill where a tunnel is found it only adds to the mystery of owen station

plus its a great entertaining read ...cant wait to meet the next lot of character in the next book in this wonderful series

I couldn’t finish this book, it was extremely bad.
I won’t rate this on my socials to spare you put I will have a DNF comment on goodreads.

**Beware spoilers ahead**

I enjoyed this! I totally did not realise it was part of the same world as Whisky and Wine until I realised some of the story sounded a bit familiar, however, this is one you can enjoy without reading the others. I thought the premise was a little weakly executed like they keep calling back to this ghost whisper thing but It never really came to anything - and it's not even like it's left open ended as to if Elena has some sort of spiritual connection or not, it's more that they just always bring it up but nothing ever comes of it.

The romance was sweet but didn't blow my socks off, Al's change of mind happened a little fast for my taste and I would've preferred it to have built up a little slower.

My favourite part of this story would have to be the plot surrounding Elena's grandmother's missing sister, I think that again it could have been executed a little better (and probably could have been a larger focus in the story) but it was still a really nice addition and I loved how it wrapped up in the end.

Both Elena and Al's families were kinda annoying but it wasn't too bad! All in all, this is a cute sapphic read with a nice little small-town mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books, Inc. for an arc in exchange for an unbiased review!

Allison Jones, assistant fire chief of Owen Station, is dealing with a BIG hole connected to Elena Murphy, local psychic and photographer.

Elena nearly runs Al down, but they quickly bury the hatchet. Well, sort of... they scrap all through the book.

The sinkhole leads into a 70 year old mystery both will need to work together to resolve.

Firstly, this book shares the same continuity as their other books, but can be read alone. It's nice to catch up to the townies, while the plot moves forward. Likeable characters, interesting story, and another good book by these authors.