I had the immense joy of reading Through Any Fire TWICE (yes, twice!!), and I must say: I fell completely, head-over-heels, crying-in-the-club in love with Loren and Cal. I'm a TOTAL SUCKER for a second chance romance — there's just something about broken hearts finding their way back to each other that utterly wrecks me in the best possible way — and when you add in a marriage of convenience?! Girl, I was HOOKED from the very first page.

And CAL. WHERE DO I EVEN START WITH HIM?!?!?! This guy is the epitome of down bad. If you look up “down bad” in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of Callahan Keane, brooding in a dimly lit library or something, probably rereading Romeo and Juliet for the hundredth time. YES, he has a copy that’s been read so many times it resembles my own copy of For the Fans. AND GUESS WHAT?? When he first encountered Loren, SHE WAS CARRYING ROMEO AND JULIET. I—!!!!

Also. This man hasn’t slept on her side of the bed in ELEVEN. YEARS. ELEVEN!!!! Siri, play I Want to Know What Love Is.

And don’t even get me started on the lost letter. YES, THERE’S A LETTER. YES, IT’S BEEN LOST. YES, YOU DISCOVER WHAT WAS IN IT AND YES, I SOBBED.

Let’s be honest — Katherine Carter has a talent for creating fictional men that ruin your life (in the best way). I may have my issues with real-life men, but Cal?? I would BARK. And the spice? Oh, honey. Katherine delivers. The slow burn, the tension, the release?? It’s all there and it’s all WORTH IT.

I stayed up until 5am (it’s literally 5:44am as I write this) because I could NOT put it down. This story had everything: longing, betrayal, aching love, family drama, and a hero who has only ever loved one woman.

Loren and Cal, you have my heart. Forever.
Everyone and their mom needs to read this book

📚💭Book Review (ARC)📚💭

📚Through Any Fire by @katherinecarterauthor 📚

💭 “A second chance, marriage of convenience, standalone” is the byline that got me on NetGalley. Thank you to @netgalley for this eARC!

Loren’s missing brother, leads her into a marriage of convenience with her ex, Callahan, who broke her heart in their youth.

The sexual tension built at a good pace alongside the well-paced mystery of figuring out what happened to Loren’s brother. Crime things happen — fires! Car bombs! Car chases with gun fire!

I enjoyed the overall plot that gave us the reason to bring Loren and Callahan back together.

“Through Any Fire” comes out July 28, 2025 on Kindle Unlimited. @katherinecarterauthor has lots of pre-order goodies available on her Etsy so treat yourself to the physical book today!

Read if you love…
💔 Scorned lover & second chances
💍 Forced marriage & “my wife” (gets me every time)
🔫 Mafia/crime family drama
🔥 Slow burn

Through Any Fire was an exhilarating, hot, dangerous second chance romance. I overall really enjoyed the storyline and the romance between the MCs. The plot was fast-paced, twisty, and exciting. Everyone had secrets, and I enjoyed the suspense. Loren was fiercely protective and strong. It was interesting to read her character arc as she became more involved in Cal’s world. Callahan was a great MMC - scary but soft and so loving. I did feel like the beginning was a bit rushed and not as fleshed out as the middle and end, but the second half of the book was solid. There was also some depth missing for me and I didn’t feel fully connected to the characters or story. However, I think this was a fun read, especially if you like the tropes (mafia romance, second chance, marriage of convenience, slow burn). I’m definitely planning to read Alice’s book when it comes out this fall. I’d give this 3.5 stars!

«Through Any Fire» definitely brings the drama — secret pasts, family rivalries, a missing brother, and a marriage of convenience with a tortured hero who never stopped loving her. On paper, it checks a lot of the boxes: second chances, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and that classic “my wife” trope. Callahan was intense and emotionally charged, and some of the chemistry was really good.
That said, I’ve read a few mafia romances now, and I’m still undecided if the genre is for me. I like the high stakes and emotional tension, but sometimes the dramatics feel more exhausting than engaging — and that was the case here at times. The heroine’s inner monologue got repetitive, and the pacing dragged in places, especially with some plot points (like the missing brother) feeling a bit rushed or underexplored.
It’s not a bad book — there are definitely readers who will swoon for the angst and loyalty themes — but for me, it landed somewhere in the middle. Maybe I just still not sure if mafia romance is for me.

This book was such a refreshing return from all the fantasy I have been reading. Loren is such a strong, independent FMC who picked herself up after utter heartbreak and built a life for herself above all else. Only for the man who betrayed her to bully his way not only back into his life - but into marrying him, as she once thought she would.

I fell in love with Loren's can-do, take charge attitude, and Cal's willingness to do what he needed to keep her. The twists and turns they take throughout the story are fantastic, and I couldn't keep away once I started. Not only am I looking forward to the next release, I'm excited for any further novels from this series!

Ho-ly carp! This was an intense book!

Loren and Callahan were secretly childhood sweethearts from rival crime families. Ten years after Cal broke Lor’s heart, she goes to him for help finding her missing brother. The catch? She has to marry him.

You will LOVE this marriage of convenience, forced proximity, second chance mafia-esque romance with all the ‘my wife’ vibes you can ever want. Callahan is not afraid to grovel and I AM HERE FOR IT!! And the angst… oh the angst!! Lor is feisty and capable. Do NOT mess with her. She is a strong FMC and she can handle herself.

¨I’d follow you anywhere, Ren. Anywhere you lead, I’ll be your shadow. Every step I take is toward you. Through any fire, through any agony, I’m yours.”

𐙚₊˚⊹♡ arc review

If there is a book that had me hooked from the beginning it is THIS book and the slow burn was slow burninggggggg 🙇🏼‍♀️😳

My new fave book boyfriend is Callahan y’all.

This book had me in chokehold because of the tension, giggling because of the connection between these two characters, sobbing over all the hurt in this story but most of all this book had me captured because of the love and healing between these two character, especially the love Callahan has for Loren it really had me in my feels.

If you you enjoy..
✨Romeo & Juliet vibes
💍”my wife”
✨slow burn
💍old betrayals/new secrets
✨forced proximity
💍rival crime families
✨second change
💍 marriage of convenience

Releasing July 28th 👀

Thank you so much for the arc Katherine, this book has a place in my heart and i can’t wait for book two and for Alice getting her (hopefully) happy ending 🫶🏼

atherine carter
Tropes
- Marriage of convenience
- Forced proximity
- Second chance romance

This is my first book by katherine carter and i am VERY happy to say she has definitely exceeded my expectations and i look forward to reading more of her work.

Through any fire is a marriage of convenience trope which i essentially am not normally drawn towards, however i am a SUCKER for second chance romances so of course i had to try this out.

This book immediately jumps into it and is very fast paced and a quick read. We see our fmc, loren attempting to find our mmc, callahan for help (they haven’t spoken for years) which essentially leads to callahan offering her his help IF he marries her and from there the plot is instantly jampacked with action!

4.5 stars - This one really surprised me in the best way! While I think that sometimes mafia romances can feel like they are the same thing over and over again, this book really did have a lot of plot aspects that set it apart. While of course there are all of the aspects of a mafia romance that everyone loves (protective MMC, "my wife", rival families, etc.), I think what really set this book apart for me was how high stakes everything felt, and that it didn't shy away from the truly dark aspects of the story or try to brush them off. (Speaking of which, PLEASE check trigger warnings for this one). And because of the fact that the book dives into these topics, I think it gives us interesting dynamics between the characters, and not just the FMC and the MMC.

But speaking of the FMC and MMC, whew, this was a fabulous slow burn. I really love second chance romance, and love even more a perpetually down bad MMC, and Cal was exactly that. Especially some of his groveling and confessions to Loren, man it was just so emotional and beautiful. And Loren is such an amazing FMC, I loved that she was able to protect herself and made that very clear to everyone.

Overall, I think this book was so well-written and well done. The few minor issues I had were mostly related to a couple of repetitive plot points, as well as things just being slightlyyy too predictable, but overall, I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read the next in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this eARC!

Thanks so much for the Arc!! This was a really cool cover and I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. Really enjoyed the story and families. Thank you!

I really enjoyed the story and where it went. This is a spoiler free review! I will say to make sure to check the trigger warnings before reading. Nothing was too much for me, but everyone has intolerance levels for things such as mentions of SA and violence on page. This story was satisfactory and I enjoyed the twist at the end even though you can sorta see it coming I’d pay attention to what the characters are doing/saying outside of the romance. The romance itself was steamy and beautiful. I will say that Callahan had to grow on me from his very broody exterior that stayed solid for 30-40% of the book. I love how head strong Loren is and she could easily have fallen in that category of FMCs that are mostly brats that get themselves in trouble. She’s different in the fact that she’s used to the world that Cal was trying to keep her from and she was smart enough to train to protect herself and was actually successful when the time came. I think at the end I longed most to hear from her friend Alice as she for me went through the most. I am looking forward to reading about her in the next book. I would recommend this book to those whole like dark romances but when the romance itself isn’t dark but the world around them is. For those who like mafia romances but the MMC is the sweetest to his love interest.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

This book was sooo good!!! I loved Loren and Cal, their love was incredible. Mafia romance might just be one of my favorites and this did not disappoint. The writing was sooo well done and I loved how the whole book was so action packed.

I can't wait for Alice's story!!!

Through Any Fire is an emotional, slow-burn journey of resilience, love, and survival. Katherine Carter crafts a story that feels both intimate and vast, balancing raw emotion with beautiful prose

-Arranged marriage
-Second chance romance
I liked this one a lot and it was a case of the start and the finish which was very warm. I went into this book blind and I knew immediately I saw arranged marriage trope that it was for me and it sure did not disappoint.
I will commend the book for being very simple and the writing very easy to read. The character work had so much depth which is something that does not happen really often.
However some parts were left very open and unfinished and no explanation even at the end.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I think all the pieces were there to make this a great mafia-esque romance. However, I think there was something missing in bringing all the pieces together.

Overall, a great read.

I absolutely loved this this book. For one, the cover is stunning. Katherine Carter did a phenomenal job creating her lead characters. Loren was such a strong female, she knew exactly what she wanted and went for it. Callahan was headstrong and the head of the family business. The story started out with Loren and Callahan as teenage sweethearts and morphed into rival families and a slow burn romance. I will absolutely read anything that Katherin Carter writes. I would highly recommend this book to all.

Thank you, Katherine Carter, and NetGalley for the chance to read this book as an ARC.

The book starts with Loren trying to find her baby brother. She’s so desperate to get him back that she ends up married to her ex and current enemy.

This book definitely gave off Romeo and Juliet vibes. Loren and Callahan are from two families that have been enemies for years.

There’s a level of mystery and a web of lies that you have to untangles in this one. It was enough to keep me interested from beginning to end. A couple things happened that I just straight up wasn’t expecting. You don’t have to wait to experience the action either. Pretty much from the beginning, things are moving quickly. After the wedding, you’ll for sure see all the danger that our characters are in.

We aren’t initially told the exact reason for why Cal and Loren breakup up, so I was it itching to find out why. It’s not particularly shocking, but I was okay with that. I would classify this as a slow burn. You are not going to see a coupling until after 50% so be mindful of that when choosing to read this.

I would say the only thing I didn’t like was the fact that Loren was so impulsive and reckless, especially with her own life. I get caring about the people you love but she was bordering on stupidity and it was extremely unappealing to me as the book progressed. I don’t really think there’s a place for stubbornness when people are being kidnapped, killed, or bombs are exploding.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Katherine Carter for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Through Any Fire was a fun read but by no means a lighthearted one.

I absolutely love second chance romances and a marriage of convenience and the book starts off perfectly - I absolutely loved the tension between our two MC. I would've loved the book to stay in this tension for a bit longer, allowing for more character development and the backstory, so I felt the pacing was fairly rushed in the beginning (but good if you prefer a fast-paced plot).

There were some plot holes and inconsistencies that took me away from the story and I would've loved a bit more from the characters over the plot, but it was overall a fun modern take of Romeo and Juliet.

Loren is a successful dark romance author who finds herself pulled back into a world she thought she left behind when her younger brother goes missing. With no leads and even fewer allies, she’s forced to team up with the last person she ever wanted to see again: her ex, Callahan Keane, now head of one of the most dangerous crime families in Roswell.

This story blends second chance romance with mafia drama and deep-rooted family secrets. There’s a solid emotional backbone beneath the action as Loren and Callahan navigate old wounds, long held resentments, and a slow rekindling of the bond they once shared. The tension builds steadily with every chapter, and there’s a strong sense of mystery woven through the plot as fires, disappearances, and betrayals begin to surface.

The romance is definitely a slow burn, with spice not showing up until late in the book, around the seventy percent mark. It’s not a story that leads with steam, but when it does arrive, it adds to the emotional payoff of the characters’ journey.

What really worked for me was the twisty plot and the bold time jump in the epilogue. It gave the ending a sense of closure that felt earned, rather than rushed.

This was a rollercoaster of emotions and i am here for it, this had everything I wanted, marriage of convenience, second chance romance, enemies.The book has action, love, friendship, death, is fully packed with things and you never get bored, you always thinking what is going to happen next and how they will fix it, tho there were some things i did suspect but when they happened i was so surprised! They well made so well, really happy this is published soon, i do believe people will love this!
I ate this book and i will happily wait for the next one.