This book makes for a fairly easy read and with a nice dose of festivity as we move through the story. You don't need to have read the first book in the series to read this either, as they work as standalones. I liked how the book turns gender stereotypes on their head with the main characters' jobs and thought there was some good emotional depth to the characters as well, especially surrounding their family relationships. Thea's relationship with her landlady adds a dose of fun but I would have liked to see more of the other relationships in her life, as with Simon's, as it feels like we're experiencing them in a bubble almost with all the focus on these two rather than their wider lives. I didn't get a lot of chemistry between Thea and Simon which was a shame and did fast forward through the spicy scenes as they weren't fun for me. So overall I have mixed feelings about the book overall but if you're looking for a little bit of festivity and a second chance romance then could be worth a shot - the audiobook is well narrated, too!

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. For several reasons.
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It was a low key holiday romance, with spicy scenes that could easily be skimmed or skipped entirely without missing any plot details.
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I also liked the way there was a gay character so effortlessly. Which just further serves to prove a point I like to make about how queer characters can be a part of a book without having to be the main character, or even a side character who plays a big role within the novel.
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I will say, I did not expect to be walloped with an emotional hammer with this book. I expect it from the types of fiction I typically read, but not a holiday romance. Like, seriously “That’s not how people recover from stuff though. It’s rarely fast and it’s never linear." How can you write a line like this and not expect to cause some sort of emotional reaction?
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One thing I will say is that I would've liked to have more interaction between Thea and her old fire station friends. Though that might well have been seen in the first novel in this series, which I have not read.
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Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this light-hearted romance which was book number two of the First Responders series (I hadn't read book number one and this didn't lessen my enjoyment at all).

Simon previously had a crush on Thea in high school but they get reacquainted when he has to mentor her in her new role as the social media coordinator for the fire department. Thea is initially oblivious to their past but gets to know Simon and they both soon realise that there is more to their relationship than just being work colleagues.

I will definitely pick up more of Adele Buck's books in the future, hard copy or audio.

The Anti-Social Season by Adele Buck is a delightful holiday romantic comedy that follows the story of Thea Martinelli, an overworked firefighter who transitions to a social media coordinator role to escape the burnout of her demanding job. Thea's journey is intertwined with Simon Osman, a librarian and social media coordinator who has harbored an unrequited crush on her since high school.

As they work closely together, their professional relationship evolves into a romantic one, despite the challenges and risks to their careers. The book is filled with humor, warmth, and the festive spirit, making it a perfect read for the holiday season.

This one surprised me. The particulars of a strangers to lovers, second chance vibe where they were colleagues was really interesting, especially with challenging gender stereotypes in their roles. I was excited for this one and it was enjoyable but ultimately, it was also just fine. I finished it but with no real fanfare.

I was lucky to be giving the chance to listen to the audiobook. I’d had seen this everywhere on tik tok but I found it so hard to get into and even harder to enjoy the characters. The narrator has a nice voice so it’s easy to listen to. It just wasn’t the story for me.

I really struggled to get into this book and had to restart a couple times, I'm unsure if it was the characters I couldn't connect to, or the narration that just didn't do it for me.
The problems their relationship faced just seemed so dumb and petty, and would've been cleared up if they had been more mature. It felt like they were still in HS, not 14 years later...
I'm torn over exactly what rating it should get because I did look up the text for some of the spicy scenes and they were much more enjoyable for me to be read, and that brings the rating up for me (good spicy scenes I mean, not text being better than audio). It did leave me disappointed though, I had high expectations because I loved the title so much and was intrigued by the blurb, it's unfortunate the story didn't live up to them.

After reading the blurb I was really looking forward to this audio book. Sadly I was very disappointed, the characters didn’t have any dynamics or life to them, the story was boring and I felt it really dragged on. The narration wasn’t brilliant either and quite flat. Do not recommend.

The Anti Social Season by Adele Buck

Simon has lots of family drama to deal with – his sister is insisting he fly half way across the country to keep up the family traditions but he hasn’t got much leave and he is tired of his sister bossing him around.

Thea is a burnt-out (yes I’m going there) firefighter who needs a change of pace. Instead of totally leaving the Emergency Services Department, her boss suggests she take over the social media pages for the EMD. To get her up to speed she must take some lessons in social media from librarian Simon.

It turns out they used to go to school together but Thea can’t remember him, while Simon used to have a huge crush on her.

Fairly predictable storyline but perfect for this time of year.

Thank you to NetGalley for my audio of this book. I wanted to read the book as it has Christmas lights on the cover and I thought it would help me get into the festive season. It has lovely family traditions incorporated into the storyline which is great but I wasn’t expecting the spice! 😂🌶️🌶️

This audiobook was perfect for the festive season and to those who like spice and all things nice, it’s the one for you.

It took me a while to properly get into this story and I think the fact that this book coincided with a busy work period meant I was rather disjointed and I kept having to dip in and out of the audiobook but the story held me enough to keep going back. I got more and more invested as I went along.

The spice though - phew. It had the perfect balance between the build up that paired with relationship developments. I was invested in their relationship and to see where it would head to.

Our MC, Thea, an ex fire fighter finds herself in a social media position and in need of training, she’s thrown together with Simon (hot librarian) who proceeds to teach her a lot more than how to settle into her new role.

The audiobook was narrated well and did justice to the story, well performed and a good listen for the holidays.

“That’s Buttface McKillJoy from Class of 2010?”

#TheAntiSocialSeason by #AdeleBuck is a 3.9 ⭐️ read.

She is a Firefighter, and He is a librarian.
They went to school together, however at first she doesn’t remember him. But him? She was his crush all those years ago!

After 14 years their paths crossed because she had to reevaluate her work life and take a new position. He is asked to be her mentor to teacher her everything he knows.

This is a Christmas story with a little more anti-social in it, however still perfect for this time of the year.

Spice Level - 1.5 / 5