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Last updated on February 15th, 2024
In this Chasing Her Fire review, we’ll explore Claire Kingsley’s small-town, enemies-to-lovers romance that revolves around Logan Bailey, one of the twin brothers, and Cara Golding, Grace’s best friend whom we first met in Fighting For Us.
Throughout the previous books, there is a lot of animosity between these two characters, making it obvious they are perfect for an enemies-to-lovers trope. However, this book falls short in not doing justice to the characters.
Another trope was included, which, when mixed with the enemies-to-lovers trope, takes away from the angst and tension that fans of this trope enjoy.
I actually ended up DNFing the book pretty early on because of how Logan and Cara were portrayed. However, I gave it another try when I needed something light and easy after reading a mind-blowingly emotional book – Museum of Ordinary People.
Chasing Her Fire – Claire Kingsley
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
PUB DATE: May 18, 2021
TROPE: enemies to lovers
Pros
redeemable characters
dual POVs
steamy scenes
Cons
Logan's misogynistic characterization
Cara was immature and complained too much
several plot issues
repetitive inner monologues
Synopsis
Sexy firefighter Logan Bailey is an expert at putting the wet stuff on the hot stuff – on and off duty. But he just did the unthinkable, and it wasn’t trading in his tube socks. He slept with his nemesis. His mortal enemy. The crazy redhead he loves to hate. Cara Goulding.
And no matter how much he wants to lie to himself, he has to admit that it was mind-blowing.
Cara will not be tempted by the one night she spent with prince dickhead – even if her traitorous body remembers every earth-shattering moment. It was a mistake, and she’s stronger than that. She’ll just keep avoiding him and pretend it didn’t happen.
But the feuding small town of Tilikum might not be big enough for both of them. Avoiding each other isn’t working. And with every moment they’re forced to spend together, the sparks get hotter, the flames grow brighter, and the tension borders on unbearable.
Until they both reach their breaking point and their fiery relationship explodes.
Characters
Logan
In the earlier chapters, the character of Logan, who is Levi’s twin brother, is not very likable. He comes off as a misogynistic college kid who objectifies women.
However, he eventually redeems himself by stepping up and being there for Cara when she needs him. I appreciated how he handled Cara’s moodiness by going toe to toe with her banter.
One major disappointment is that we don’t get any backstory about Logan and who he is as a person outside of his relationship with Cara. While we get Asher’s and Evan’s backstories in the previous books, we learn nothing about Logan’s character.
Cara
Based on the previous books in the series, Cara comes off as a cool, independent woman everyone wants to emulate, even if she can sometimes be a bit weird and dramatic.
But, in this book, she comes across as way too insecure, and her entire POV centers around her complaining about her situation and acting immaturely with her emotions.
While it’s understandable, given her backstory with her narcissistic mother, it was taken to an extreme that became tedious to read about.
However, I did love the parts where she finally stands up for herself towards the end and pursues her passion for photography. And the way she has super-secretive spy resources at her fingertips is both scary and impressive.
Plot
My issues with the plot:
Writing
This seems to be an issue with the whole series, but the inner monologues in Chasing Her Fire are overexplanatory and repetitive, making the book much longer than it needed to be.
But the dual POV is done well, and I liked getting into the head of each MC.
Conclusion
It’s difficult to enjoy a book when the main characters are not written as you imagined or portrayed in previous books.
Chasing Her Fire is worth a shot for persons who enjoy small-town romances with a bit of enemies-to-lovers. But sadly, it didn’t work out well for me.
To check out other small-town romance series by the author, head over to my guide on how to read Claire Kingsley’s books in order.
Cover Change
The series recently received an update with beautifully illustrated covers, which I must say are absolutely vibrant and capture the charming atmosphere of the small town.
But, I have to admit that I am a bit biased towards the originals because I think the men chosen to portray the brothers were a perfect match for their respective characters.
If you read Chasing Her Fire and have different opinions on it, be sure to let me know in the comments below. I am always open to learning a new perspective.
