All Fired Up

All Fired Up (Road to Love 3)- Lori Foster
HQN Books
Release Date: November 19, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚

Synopsis: Charlotte Parrish has always wanted a certain kind of man: someone responsible, settled, boring. Bad boys need not apply. But when her car leaves her stranded and a mysterious stranger with brooding eyes and a protective streak comes to her rescue, she can’t deny how drawn she is to him. In town searching for family he’s never met, Mitch is everything she never thought she wanted—and suddenly everything she craves. 

Finding his half brothers after all these years is more than Mitch Crews has allowed himself to wish for. Finding love never even crossed his mind…until he meets Charlotte. She’s sweet, warmhearted, sexier than she knows—and too damn good for an ex-con like him. But when his past comes back to haunt him, putting Charlotte—and the family he’s come to care for—in danger, Mitch isn’t playing by the rules. He’s already surrendered his heart, but now he’ll risk his life.

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Book 3 in Lori Foster's Road to Love series (Driven to Distraction, Slow Ride) introduces readers to Mitch Crews, the illegitimate half-brother of Brodie and Jake.  Mitch has had a rough life, full of neglect and abuse, but has tried to do the right thing throughout.  Being a driver once on a deal he thought would protect his addict mother landed him in jail for five years- which honed his self-preservation instincts and left him tough but not cruel.  Once out of jail he wants to meet his unknown half-siblings and see if starting a new life might include new people.  But he's unprepared for the warm welcome he gets from not only his brothers, but their mother, and their best friend Charlotte as well.  He's also unprepared for the instant chemistry he has with Charlotte.

You can always count of Lori Foster to include some adorable animals in her books, but this is the first book I can think of where Mitch's rescue dog, a pit bull mix named Brute, is such a perfect reflection of his person.  Both have been abused and neglected since childhood, neither trusts easily or has any idea what to do with unthreatening, non-judgmental acceptance.  Both might want love, but don't know how to handle family. And both are willing to take a bite out of anyone who threatens the family they do claim.  Mitch might have hoped for a chance to build a relationship with Brodie and Jack, but he never expected the acceptance he gets and has no idea what to do with it.  It is both sweet and heartbreaking to see Mitch (and Brute) awkwardly try to work out how to interact with their new family when their expectations were so different.  Fortunately, the Crews family is pushy enough not to let Mitch back away once they have him and they teach him just what family is supposed to mean.  Mitch's relationship to Charlotte is similar: he's sure he's no where near good enough for her and as much as he wants her he backs away for her sake- and Charlotte isn't willing to let him back off too far.

Above everything, All Fired Up is a book about family.  What it can be, what it should be, and how the really good ones are with you through the bad times as well as the good ones.  When a drug dealer from Mitch's past threatens him, the entire Crews family steps up and surrounds him, both with love and with support of whatever violence might be necessary to end the threat.  Mitch's new family might be a little kooky and a lot pushy, but he's on the road to learning that true family, like true love, is always willing to help you bury the bodies when needed.

Book 3 in a series, All Fired Up doesn't necessarily need to be read in order but could be a stand alone for new readers.  The writing isn't as tight as some of Foster's books and drags in a few spots thanks to some repetition, but overall it's full of wonderful chemistry between Mitch and Charlotte, entertaining interactions among the family, and insanely adorable dogs.  Grab your furry friend to read alongside you and enjoy! 

I received an ARC of this book from BetGalley in exchange for an honest review