Zander's Firecracker by Ember Flint

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Before jumping into a book club book, I had time for one more read. I wanted to go with a novella once again that would meet some of the prompts for my summer challenge. Since we're coming up on the end of June, I went with a July 4th based novella. Zander's Firecracker by Ember Flint is the first book in The Holiday Firecrackers series. This is a multi-author series that I found in fall of last year when I stumbled across Megan Wade. I was able to use Zander's Firecracker for the holiday not Christmas prompt for the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo and set in summer prompt for Summer of Swoon.

Our hero Zander is in his early 30s and a lawyer and in a high level management position in his family's company. They used to have corporate retreats and 4th of July celebrations that his mother planned. This year is the first time that they are planning after her passing several years prior. His family has all struggled, specifically his dad. After finding out one of the companies they contracted for the fireworks display is not as eco-friendly as promised and actually causing issues at one of their plants, Zander decides they have to switch and starts helping the town as pro-bono in suing this company. The new company is family run and eco-friendly. They end up with their best engineer, the sister Alexa. Zander is nervous because she is 24 and also pushes back against his demands and requests in formulating the display.

So I've read several novellas lately and mentioned that I wished there were a little longer and in the 100 page range. This hit that threshold and I felt there was good character development and I felt the story was more complete. I didn't really mind the insta-love part. If I were to be specific, this would be more of 3.5 rounded up to 4-stars. I really liked Zander and connected with his innate need to have things organized and every box ticked on his to-do list. He did go a little overboard at times, but I also liked that it wasn't too far. Usually characters with his archetype are anti-children/family. That was not the case for Zander at all. He turned into a cinnamon roll with his nieces and nephews. He also worked so much partly due to allow his older brother more time with his family and not be forced to sacrifice more time with them than necessary. He's trying to keep him from getting the same regrets that their father has mentioned. I don't know, I just really liked how aware he was of everything.

Alexa was a lot harder for me to side with. Yes I understand she's supposed to be the complete opposite and the "young wild child" to bring Zander out more. There were some things that felt way to exaggerated and far. Yes their fireworks company is family run and more casual. I didn't expect her to show up in a three-piece suit. I understood that. But she's showing up for the first in-person meeting and even though she was just travelling, ratty shorts and a t-shirt with a snarky saying about her boobs just rubbed me wrong. Just wear a plain t-shirt. I don't know, it just bothered me. And she kept assuming the worst and that his issues with her were that she was a woman. He said nothing of the sort or to hint that that was his reasoning and she even acknowledged why this was such an important event for the family. Yet she still thought the worst of Zander. Their relationship was fine, but with the extra pages I wanted more from them and not as much time spent before they met. I also feel like the intro chapters really set up Zander well yet we didn't get the same time for Alexa. Maybe that's part of the reason I didn't connect with her as much too.

Overall I enjoyed this fun quick read. I'll probably read others in this series, but I might check the tropes first. If you're looking for a different holiday novella for fun, this series would be a good option I think. I know a lot of these authors participate in little series like this and have seen some St. Patrick's Day ones and Valentine's Day as well. They also have season based series as well as the normal holidays, Christmas and Halloween. I'll definitely pick one of these up at some point, but like I said above, it all depends on the tropes and author.

Have you read Zander's Firecracker?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Zander's Firecracker, Ember Flint, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 107 pages, published 2020