Review: His to Love by Stacey Lynn (Fireside #1)

Note: This ARC was provided by Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept in exchange for an honest review.

His to Love is the first book in the adult contemporary romance series by author Stacey Lynn entitled Fireside, pertaining to the Fireside Grill, a cozy restaurant in the Latham Hills area of Detroit, Michigan. The new series opens with the second chance love story of Tyson Blackwell and Gabriella Bluejay Galecki, two star-crossed lovers whose destinies had them separating for a decade before meeting again, still on opposite sides. 

They were once the son of a cop and the daughter of a mafia princess, but with the interference of her father, Blue was forced to leave behind Tyson, her family, and life as she knew it in Michigan and move to Colorado with her aunt. Tyson was left brokenhearted and had no idea what drove the one girl he ever professed his love to simply abandon what they had. 

Ten years later, Tyson is now an FBI agent and his latest assignment is to gather as much information and get as close as he can to one woman who has been called back by her family: Gabriella Galecki. Tyson's hesitation is due to their history, but it's that history that could get him an in and maybe allow him to have some amount of revenge on the man who had his father murdered: mob boss Jimmy Galecki, Gabriella's father. But can Tyson separate his personal feelings for his Blue while still being able to do his job?

This book had an intriguing premise and while both the story and the main characters were okay, there were things about it that gave me pause, and not in a good way. I can understand how oblivious Gabriella/Blue may have been as a child and teen to her father's illegal activities, but is she really that naive to not know just how much of a criminal he is? Even in real life, stories would be told and news spread about the illegal goings-on of crime families and gangs in places like Chicago and New York, so what more now that the internet exists? She was utterly clueless and her naivete became a bit too improbable to believe. I mean, wasn't she curious? Did she not want to find evidence to disprove what was being said about her father? Nope, she swallowed whatever was fed to her and that was just not okay.

Tyson was a good main character, torn between his returning feelings for Blue and his desire to see the completion of his job through. I don't fault him for keeping secrets from her because, at the end of the day, it was just about his need to get revenge for his father's murder but also to arrest and put on trial the people who were harming the public at large with their activities. I would have wanted, however, more of his viewpoint because it would have been interesting to get a look inside his head as he tried to justify to himself pursuing a relationship with Blue and then trying to justify why he was keeping things from her.

Overall, the book had both its high and low points but while the former outweighed the latter, the latter did prove to be distracting. I wouldn't, however, exactly call this series starter a total miss. I see it as more of a book that had potential but missed by a fraction. I do plan to continue reading the series, especially since the supporting characters have me curious about both their back stories and what the future holds for them. I'm giving His to Love 3.5 stars. ♥

Date Read: 12 May 2016

Learn more about Stacey Lynn.

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