Book Review: Wildfire by Hannah Grace

‘Wildfire’ by Hannah Grace was released in 2023. It is the second book in her Maple Hills series, and is preceded by ‘Icebreaker’ which was a smash hit on Booktok and definitely helped put hockey romance on the map.

This book takes place during the summer following ‘Icebreaker’ and follows Russ, who inadvertently spearheaded most of the events of the first book, working at a plush summer camp after the bar he worked at closed, and Aurora, a former camper, turned counselor.

The overarching theme of this book is about self-love, and features some of the ‘Icebreaker’ ensemble that readers, like myself, came to love such as Jayden Johal, or JJ, and Henry Turner. I absolutely loved seeing these characters from a new angle, exploring feelings of insecurity, shyness, and mental health.

Picture it. It’s the end of senior year, and Nate Hartley is graduating, with the rest of the Titans seniors. They host a final house party as a last hoorah and the ever-wise JJ, seeing that Russ still hasn’t come out of his shell, encourages him to take on a fake it til you make it ethos to build his confidence, especially when talking to women. Which is how he ends up having a one-night stand with Aurora, a rich sophmore student who happens to have a thing for reader’s favourite basketball player: Ryan Rothwell.

I loved this book. It covered a lot of heavy-hitting topics, and explored deeper themes with nuance and respect, such as addiction, and daddy issues.

Stories that explore the complexities of families are incredibly moving and compelling. I really liked getting to explore the different relationships that Rory and Russ have with their families: while Rory and her older sister, Elsa have a distant relationship because they couldn’t bridge the gap their ages put in place, and rarely talk, Russ’ brother, despite having a similar age gap seemed to abandon the sinking ship as soon as he could, yet badgers his brother to stay tethered. These tense sibling relationships were very interesting to explore, because you can empathise with both perspectives, particularly with Ethan, Russ’ brother.

I also adored how this book focused on the value of found family and the importance of finding your tribe and valuing yourself; while Rory has close friends she considers family, in her best friend Emelia, and her former counselor, turn boss, Jenna, and ends up bonding with her colleagues, being authentically and unapologetically himself, is something Russ grapples with in the book. This is something I related to immensely and I loved exploring this theme in fiction. I absolutely adored Russ and his vulnerabilities, and how he blossomed into a more self-assured person.

This book really raised my standards for Hannah Grace’s world, her characters and what she is willing to explore. After taking days to get through the first few chapters, I devoured over 3/4s of the story in a day and wanted to read the third book immediately. She’s a notorious figure on the scene for a reason and I’m really excited to read more of her work as and when she releases it! She’s given me the hockey romance bug, that’s for sure!