Content notes: Taryn Falvey is a mid-20s white woman, EMT; Nick Kanelos is a white man pushing 40, is a widower, and works with Taryn as an EMT. They live and work somewhere in Western Massachusetts.

CW: grief (wife, died from complications of Huntington's in the past). Addiction (alcohol, drugs-secondary characters), overdose scares, medical procedures and emergencies (both for EMT work and secondary characters), child abuse (off-page, described), parental neglect, violence, fear of losing home/work/kids. Cheating (in past, main characters historically hooked up once before breaking up with their partner).

Actual rating: 4.5 ⭐ (good lord did i need an epilogue)

OKAY now that I've noted everything, gosh i have to say Crash swept me absolutely away. What an absolutely captivating contemporary romance that was so full of angst i could wring it out and serve it up to you like a hot cup of coffee from the Kanelos siblings' diner. It was absolutely delicious for me.

Kanelos and Falvey have been dancing around each other since Falvey's first days as an EMT and both are still thinking about a torrid hook-up they had on Kanelos's counter after a particularly hard emergency run. Falvey had a boyfriend, and told Nick it was a mistake. Now, Taryn has broken up with her doctor boyfriend because he got too close to her family's problems, and turned his nose up at them. Taryn's been trying to keep her younger siblings and her alcoholic mother housed and safe, but on her meager salary and the suspicious fist-fulls of cash her brother keeps bringing home, things are getting dicey. Taryn can't get involved with another squeaky clean, too good widower who might see how messy she and her family are, but can't seem to stop wanting him.

For Nick, its been three years since the death of his wife and high school sweetheart. She was his first and everything, but now he's drawn to the surly Falvey who knows just how to push his buttons. Now that she's finally single and she keeps throwing down the guantlet for Nick to make a move, he can't help but do so, even if he's terrified of losing yet another love of his life.

Whew, this was so scorching-ly sexy and also such a hard-won HEA. The age-gap was handled so well, and I really was not sure how we'd get these two to the same place. I was Worried™!!!!

But seriously, these two are in HEAT (call 911 i think the kitchen counter is on fire). Both Nick & Taryn like to take the lead, and they'll fight for it too he he.

I must note, the writing was truly exceptional. I can't really describe it well, but it was both spare and also each word held weight. the characters were so alive on page, even if we only met them briefly. There's a scene where Nick has to take Taryn to his family's Greek diner and the way the author describes his oldest sister and how she discover he's sleeping with Falvey merely through context clues, damn. masterful.

Author Kate Clayborn described this as being similar in tone and feel to Cara Mckenna's work and I heartily agree with her.

If you love weighty, sad but ultimately so hopeful contemporary romances this is definitely one to check out. I'll be reading the next in series featuring firefighters, but will be skipping the cop book (these were first published in 2018).

Ruby McNally is a penname for author Katie Cotugno (who i know for writing weighty love stories and YA)