great second chance romance. I enjoyed the story and thought both characters were well developed and the author did a great job bringing the story to life.

Thank you Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for this digital ARC.

Great start. Although in an unfamiliar setting to me, I can picture it without being overwhelmed with detail.
I was engrossed in part one. I knew from the blurb part 1 would not end well and as we got to half way in the book I was impatient for this to happen…… Not that I don’t enjoy things going well, but I knew it wasn’t going to last and wanted to get to the next bit. The end of part one, naturally and fortunately left me with lots of questions.
Part two is off to a fast engrossing start. If I felt any slip of pacing towards the end of part one, the actual ending of part one and beginning of part two made up for it. I barely paused to look up in the second section. Compelling. Great job!

Firecamp is a second chance, opposites attract romance told in two halves across a 10 year gap.

In the beginning we meet Fallon Monroe and Nora Palmer, as they both arrive at firecamp for the summer. Each of them have very different reasons for attending - Fallon hopes to find her inner confidence and forge a career path for herself. Whilst Nora has an agreement with her father - make it to the end of firecamp and he'll fund her last two years of college where Nora intends to study photojournalism.

I enjoyed the first half of the story, there is a decent amount of character development for both Fallon and Nora. During their time in the Colorado national forest, we get to understand their backgrounds and childhood in some detail, illuminating who they are now as twenty somethings. Plus there's an interesting cast of supporting characters also enrolled in firecamp. Some like Gwen and Tina lend themselves to loathing, others such as Kennedy add other personal journeys to the narrative. Although Kennedy's own path to coming out as non-binary would have benefitted from greater detail and progression.
By the end of firecamp there are more than just embers burning between Fallon and Nora but, with uncertain paths ahead, a firestorm soon threatens their Colorado paradise.

In the second part of the book, Fallon and Nora's stories jump forward 10 years; both now successfully embedded in their respective careers. A chance assignment to report on a forest fire sees Nora return to her old firecamp stomping ground where Fallon is now in charge.
Unfortunately, it's this stage of the story that I found unsatisfying. There's so much detail and growth in the first half of Fallon and Nora's story, yet when we meet back up with them 10 years later it's as if the issues of the past are no big deal; the romance felt like it progressed too quickly for the time that had elapsed. I was also fairly disappointed in the last two chapters and epilogue - there are some big transitions and decisions being made, but much of the story telling felt rushed with a lot of content left unexplored, a direct juxaposition to the first half of the book. We also don't see any of the supporting characters in the second half, which is a missed opportunity in my opinion given how much of a part they all play in the first half.

Ultimately, what saved this book for me, is the first half of Fallon and Nora's journey. The firecamp, fire fighting and fire mitigation aspects of the novel were also exceptionally depicted and interesting. The downside is that I found those aspects more entertaining than the plot and the romance at times.

Worth a read if you like the story theme and are aware of the pitfalls when it comes to the romance aspects.

Nora Palmer and Fallon Monroe both spend the summer at Firecamp for different reasons. Fallon is looking for a purpose, a place to belong and a career. Nora needs to do this for her father to pay for college where she wants to study photography and photojournalism. The first half of the book is the time spent at Firecamp. Nora and Fallon clash and eventually connect during that eventful summer. The second half of the book has the pair meeting again ten years later, not fifteen years as the blurb says.

Nora is very impulsive, head strong and has anger issues with her parents. Fallon is genuinely kind but life has dealt her rough blows. I enjoyed the time in camp learning the purpose of the work. Watching the women come together as a team. I’m not sure I bought into the romance side much as there was never a plan or discussion beyond the summer. Ten years brings some maturity and life experience. Nora has found success in her field and it is her job that brings her back back into Fallon’s path.

I enjoyed the story and some parts were riveting but other parts moved slowly. I think I was expected to feel a magical connection between the two when I really wanted some honest conversations as adults. It eventually gets there but it takes its time. (3.5 Stars)

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

ohh man i loved this book.... again born in the wrong country cos it sounds like being at firecamp though hard work would be great even though there is an element of danger....

for fallon firecamp could be where she finds her family
for nora firecamp was a way to get to where she wanted to be.... away from her family to live her life....

these two met before firecamp and though one wanted to be friends the other had a vision where their life was gonna be....

man those first few days were hard for everyone...but gelling as a team started from that first beginning.....

i loved how the author had a part one and a part two merging the two together..... i certainly loved how the author wrote and brought the characters alive.... you could feel the authenticity of each moment that the girls lived through....

look forward to reading more from this author

MC's Fallon and Nora both join the Women's Plus Crew at Firecamp in the Colorado mountains for very different reasons. Fallon, finding herself alone in the world, is searching for a family to belong to and stability to ground her for the future. Nora, from a firefighting family, is looking for her father's approval by showing that she, like her brothers before her, can succeed at Firecamp.. In return her father has agreed to pay for 2 years of her photojournalism course which is where her true passion lies.

Along the way, Fallon and Nora succumb to the attraction that grows between them. However, it doesn't end well as each character is too absorbed in their own personal insecurities to truly accept each other.
10 years later they are reunited and romance starts to blossom again. Will those same insecurities intrude again?

While romance is a theme in this book, there is also a strong respect paid to all those women and men who spend their lives protecting the land and society from the threat of forest fire. The story benefits from the extensive research the author has done and the way in which it's weaved into the character's personalities.

A recommended read.

this is a great ‘second chance’ romance, though i do have to admit that for a pretty significant amount of time i didn’t care if the MCs got together at all because of how much i actively disliked them for being idiots (i sometimes struggle with the miscommunication trope or like in this book the ‘straight-up refusal to interact with humans normally’ trope).

i very much changed my mind eventually. what really helped was in the half set in the present, both MCs are very much aware of how annoying that they had been in the past and either had already started working on stuff or were starting to. the author did a fantastic job of doing self-aware character development in this one.

“She’d been stupid then, and so stubborn. Maybe everyone was at twenty, but she’d done a better job of it than most.”

also, i have learned a considerable amount about felling and wildfire prevention! and who doesn’t love a woman wielding a chainsaw?

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨✖️

Fallon and Nora first meet as 20 years olds while helping out at Firecamp in the Colarado wilderness. Although the two women have different backgrounds, much baggage and extremely different goals in life, the attraction is unable to be denied, despite Nora's determination to keep to herself, just get through Firecamp and get out of there to move on with getting her degree in photojournalism. However, when misperceptions on the behalf of both MCs leads to an explosive end to their budding relationship, the question is whether there can be any second chances.

Fortunately for them, circumstances conspire to bring them back together ten years later when Nora, now working as a photojournalist, is sent out to photograph the efforts of the Nora's firecamp team as they desperately fight to stop a massive forest fire. Just being back in each other's orbits, however, isn't sufficient for them to just fall back into arms and there are many hurdles to be overcome in order to overcome the hurts of the past.

Jaycie Morrison is a new author to me and does a wonderful job of showing the development of the characters and their personalities. I could really understand where much of their pain and distrust was coming from. The story also shows the importance of communication in developing a sense of trust and to find a way to overcome personal differences.

I will certainly be looking out for more works from this author in the future.

I am grateful to Jaycie Morrison, Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy of this story and am leaving this review voluntarily.

First and foremost, thank you to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books, Inc. for a digital ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is, unfortunately, going to be a short review. I *struggled* with Firecamp, which is a shame, because I was looking forward to this one so much.

Nora has made a bet with her dad: If she can survive the summer at Firecamp, he will pay for her last two years of college where she will be pursuing a future as a Photojournalist. Fallon is alone, having no family and no friends to fall back on until she meets Reva who convinces her to come to Firecamp for the summer. Nora wants nothing more than to get in and get out, no connections and nothing to tie her back to her father's roots. Fallon sees a future in the camp and will do everything to one day be a camp lead.

Told split in two times, the first half of the book covers Nora and Fallon's interactions at Firecamp, and the second half takes place 10 years later: Nora is a Photojournalist and Fallon is now leading the women's division of the Firecamp.

I could not stand Nora. I frankly found almost no redeeming qualities to her. Callous, rude, aloof, and shallow, she takes out her resentment towards her father and older brothers on EVERYONE including Fallon who can't seem to 'see' anyone else at the camp because Nora is attractive and 'mysterious'. There was no chemistry between these two. One sentence they could be having a civil conversation, the next, Nora was being...Nora and acting like Fallon had spat on her.

I did really enjoy the side characters, though. Jade, Hannah, Dolores, and Kennedy, I'd read about them any time.

My other issue was the awkward and sometimes clunky pacing. It often felt like the wrong things were being focused on and the 'romance' was constantly taking back seat, which played largely into the lack of chemistry between the two main characters. Phrasing and dialogue was also a bit awkward, and more often than not, it felt like 'telling, not showing' instead of 'showing, not telling'.

At the end of the day, I was disappointed and found myself forcing myself to just get to the next chapter so I could put the book down, which isn't what you want when reading.

My Monthly reading breakdown will be posted to TikTok, IG, and Threads the first week of May.

I was expecting more from this one but the story just never connected to the expectations. It was lacking in the romance and what was given to us just didn’t really appeal to me.

I wanted to like it but it was just middle of the road for me.

Thanks to NetGallery and the publisher for this Arc in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.


Nora dreams of becoming a photojournalist but she has to go firecamp or her father won’t pay her tuition she longs to be away from her home where feels confined. Fallon sees firecamp as a way to have roots and to do something meaningful with her life when she and Nora meets they clash mostly on Nora part but eventually love is forms but things go bad at end of firecamp that has both separating. Years later they meet again will this time they won’t let anything stand in their way in being together. I enjoy this read the romance was good the secondary characters were interesting.

A heartfelt story about love, ambition, and second chances set in the adjacent world of wildfire fighting. Nora and Fallon’s journey starts with tension but grows into something deeper, even though they have very different goals. The book is pretty much split in half and I feel it was rushed in places. Some emotional moments could have been explored more, but the connection between the main characters is strong and believable. Overall, it’s an enjoyable 4-star read

Review Firecamp by Jaycie Morrison ARC BSB
3.5⭐️
Summer firecamp in the woods of Colorado is an important step for Fallon and Nora, both in their early 20s, but for different reasons. After a life on the road, Fallon wants nothing more than stability and a job as a firefighter or summer firecamp leader. For Nora, it's a stepping stone to realizing her dream of becoming a photojournalist; she just has to get through camp so her father will pay for her tuition. She wants to get in and out and then off to Arizona. What neither of them expected was that they would fall in love with each other.
However, the romance ended with an abrupt and painful bang.
But as luck would have it, the god of fire brings them back to the same place. Will they take the second chance?
What I liked was the build-up in the first part, the whole thing around the firecamp, the important work they do, and the camaraderie between the women. But also that tensions can arise very quickly when one or two parties in a small team are not pulling in the same direction. Especially in an environment where you are dependent on each other, and something bad can quickly happen if you are not careful.
I liked the budding romance between Nora and Fallon. The author tells their story beautifully. Their upbringing and experiences are very different, and we can see how these have shaped their personalities. This part was very entertaining, and a lot happened.
But the second part seems a bit rushed in my opinion. It's all sunshine and rainbows again far too quickly, without really having dealt with the past. I can understand that the attraction immediately flares up again. But the fact that the now grown-up, self-confident women don't communicate with each other again after what happened ten years ago was a bit implausible for me. It lacked a bit of depth for me. Just apologizing to each other is not enough to get over the deep wounds.
But overall, it is an entertaining, beautiful romance with many interesting secondary characters.
Thanks to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for receiving an ARC.

Firecamp is a lovely read that dives into the complexities of relationships, dreams, and the ways that our environment can shape us.

The story follows Nora, a young woman, who is forced to complete Firecamp as a bet, to have her tuition paid for by her father. Nora longs to be a photojournalist and move far away from the confines of her family home. Then we have Fallon, who sees Firecamp as an opportunity to put down roots and find stability and a meaningful future. The two initially clash, mostly at the hands of Nora, but as time goes on, they form a bond that is so sweet and tender. It eventually comes to a head during an altercation the day Firecamp ends.

The first half of the book has a nice, slow build to it. It really allowed me to become invested in Nora and Fallon's evolving relationship. I was rooting for them, even though Nora was unnecessarily rude and Fallon was way too altruistic. There was a lot of tension that stemmed from personal and romantic goals conflicting with each other. It is a relatable narrative, though for anyone who has had to choose between their career and romantic connections.

I did find the pacing to be a bit uneven. There were some parts that dragged on for too long, and then there were some areas that went way too fast. The second half of the book, which picks up 10 years later (the blurb states 15), leaves a lot of nuances between the two left unexplored. I really wish it had the same impact that the first half of the book had. While the aging and passage of time bring a sense of maturation and reflection, I felt that Nora grew and matured more than Fallon did.

Overall, it was a good read and a great introduction to a new author for me. I would rate this a solid 3.5.

Thank you, Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for this ARC.

This book was unfortunately containing too much details on how to operate a chainsaw and setting up a tent and way too little on the actual romance and relationship. The story not even that exciting despite played out in the wilderness.

I never really saw that Nora and Fallon were that right for each other so the second chance part of the book was not that endearing to me especially since no major work whatsoever to get back together after being apart for 1o years.

The whole thing that the blurb mention that 15 years has passed but it actually is 10 years upsets me a bit.

Nora Palmer has a bet with her father that if she completes Firecamp, a summer work program involving fire mitigation in the Colorado national forest, he will pay for her tuition to complete college at ASU. Nora hopes to be a photojournalist once she completes college. Fallon Monroe has lived a very transient life as a youth and she hopes to attend Firecamp to provide her stability and direction in life amid all her personal loss.

The first portion of the book describes Nora and Fallon’s time at Firecamp, how they initially met, and how they eventually begin to learn and trust each other. The second part of the book takes place ten years later after Nora has a career as a photojournalist in Tucson, Arizona, and Fallon is in a leadership role at Firecamp.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story by Jaycie Morrison. It combined wonderful character development with past family dynamics for Fallon and present family drama for Nora, plus a fire mitigation topic that I knew nearly nothing about, but found very compelling. The book also had me in tears with the letter that Fallon so eloquently penned to Nora about her wants and needs. 4.25 stars

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think first-responder and procedural stories are some of my favourites to read. I know virtually nothing about fighting fires other than maintaining a healthy forest is key to fighting them. And that it is bloody hard work. Morrison does an excellent job of showing us without losing the dynamics of the relationships made in the process. And there are many different types of relationships made within the story.
I was a little surprised to discover the truth of Nora’s family dynamics. It was a twist I hadn’t considered, and I love that I could be surprised. I was curious to find one character who was prominent in Part One, was not at all involved in Part Two. I never give spoilers and maybe I missed something along the way. I may just have to read this again to find out, because it is an enjoyable story. Just sayin’.
This is just a wonderful, character-driven story.
Thank you to Net Galley and Bold Stroke Books for the ARC. My decision to review is voluntary.

Is firecamp a real thing? I'm not from the USA so don't know about that sort of thing. I know there are camps for all sorts of things in the US. I did find a reference to a fire camp in Colorado but it was not a long term thing as this one was. It was only a 5 day thing. However whether it's real or not does not detract from the story. Two young women meet at camp and after some egocentric tripping on Nora's part and insecurity on Fallon's they become a bit more than friendly. There are moments when you feel like giving Nora a good shake! But Nora has her sights set on a photography career and Fallon is left behind. Years layer they meet up again, also at firecamp, where Fallon is now one of the leaders and Nora is there to take photos. This time they talk a bit more. Fallon is injured, Nora's father falls ill, things happen. A second chance romance. Good story, enjoyed it very much.

Jaycie Morrison tells a wonderful 2nd chance, where we see the initial meet and the break, then the reunion 10 years later. 

Both parts are sectioned off in the book.  I enjoyed both parts. However, I wish that after the resolution was a little longer, not go right into the epilogue. I also wish there was more context to the video. 

The MCs were well done and well developed. Both MCs had areas to grow, and Jaycie showed both of their growth. 

The secondary characters were fun and added to the story.  

This was my second book by Jaycie Morrison,  i will look forward to more books by her in the future.

Firecamp is a second chance of love story. Nora and Fallon met along a dumpy road and their relationship hits the same road as Nora wants to pursue her dream which takes her away from Fallon.
Back together years later they learn about the ups and downs they each had and this time around maybe they’ll be able to fulfill their dream of love.

Good story with characters you can root for.