GRR Reviews Once Upon A Campfire (Camp Firefly) by Kait Nolan

Once Upon a Campfire is a short novella at only 70 some pages, but it packed a LOT of plot, a lot of tropes, and a lot of symbolism into those few pages and resolved everything properly.

Sarah Meadows is tired of covering for her wild twin sister Taylor, but when Taylor asked Sarah to help one more time, Sarah can't refuse, esp. when this job extension would give Taylor some money to pay down the debt her evil ex saddled her with. Sarah needed to get out of the city anyway. She's burned out finishing her master's thesis, in a field she no longer enjoyed... So here she is at Camp Firefly Falls, pretending to be her twin, and met Beckett Hayes, mountain climbing instructor, and climbing certifier. Beckett is burned out by his US Park Ranger job and needed to recharge. And while "Taylor" is athletic (she's practically a mermaid in the water), it's clear unlike the resume, "Taylor" has ZERO experience with climbing gear. And once confronted, she admitted to the deception. Beckett should turn her in, but, in probably a temporary bout of insanity, he agreed to train her, in less than a week, to be certified, and she agreed, hoping that Taylor would arrive in time. And as they trained, they got close to each other, even as they both wondered about that question... Am I on the right path for my life? What if there is another way?

The symbolism was great, about climbing and finding an alternate path to happiness. The deus ex machina to reach HEA was kinda annoying though. Sarah collects degrees (nutrition, photography, biochem, MBA...) but she has no idea what she REALLY wants. And Beckett wants a wilderness job that doesn't entail S&R and customer service like a park ranger does. Suddenly near end of the book, a guy offered Beckett a job in a nature conservancy, and they also needed a photographer. And the camp also happens to need a nutritionist... AND another climbing instructor.

Still, for such a short novella, everything fits together so well. And Camp Firefly Falls is a common setting for a whole series of romances by multiple authors I can't say all of them are of this quality, but this one is definitely worth reading.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Swimmer agrees to cover for her climber twin for this mountain climbing job, but she was discovered by hot instructor...

Overall Rating: 5/5

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