Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire

by Monique Fisher

When Aaron "Smoke" Tompkins and Kara Matthews first meet sparks fly, but Kara isn’t looking for love having just ended things with her boyfriend. Aaron isn’t willing to give up, and their occasional casual hook-up quickly evolves. After a grave mistake that almost ends their relationship, he decides to fight for Kara. There’s no way he’s walking away now.

Aaron may not be the type of man Kara saw herself falling in love with—a tattooed, strong silent type who’s rough around the edges--but he proves himself to be the type of man she needs. Their steadfast commitment to each other gets them through life’s rough patches and takes them on a journey they never expected…

Where There is Smoke, There is Fire is a Black, contemporary take on the epic love story. Aaron and Kara’s journey is what happens after the “Happily Ever After.”

Genres: Romance, African American Romance, Contemporary, Adult

287 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 23, 2022

About the author

Monique Fisher is a theatre and comic book geek who always has her hands glued to the keyboard conjuring up happily ever afters. She writes modern, fun, real life romances set in cities and small towns featuring a diverse cast of big hearted, lovable characters. When she isn't writing, she's busy trying to create shelf space for other Black authors. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Joe, their two boys, Michael and Alexander, and their canine babies, Abraham aka Hammy and Maya aka Pie.

Reviews

[myo ⋆｡˚ ❀ * · Rating 1 out of 5]

i’m sorry this just was not for me. the dialogue was absolutely terrible. i hated that the main character was in high school in the first half because they felt like complete adults. also this couple just doesn’t have any fun tropes? like okay he’s pinning after her but they act like a couple they just have back and forths? there’s no heart warming parts, just all fluff. the smut was amazinggg. unfortunately i just didn’t vibe with this.

[Wobilba · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute love story that spans for like 20years. I enjoyed it although the FMC’s insecurities got on my nerves and I wasn’t feeling the writing style.

[Weekend Reader_]

I think this book is a little hard to review because I want to rate it based on potential. I think the front half was mostly setup/info dumb which I think was supposed to give context to what's to come. But big picture the entire book read like an outline rather than a fully developed book (plot, character development, conflict, etc). I also wonder if the characters were aged up so we didn't have to start at high school or this was a novella the reading experience would have been different. I'm not sure but either way it felt like the author was trying to cover lots of topics (cheating, infertility, and illness) so it was an ambitious attempt for a debut author.

Oh the cover gives off rom com vibes, manage your expectations.

Thank you to the author for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

CN: cheating, physical violence, mentions of cancer, infertility troubles, dating anxiety

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.75 rounded up)


This book DEFINITELY had the potential to be better than it was. Somewhere along the way, this went from a possible fluffy rom com to almost a general woman's fiction book.

It's hard for me to review this, because while I didn't wholly enjoy it, I felt the framework of a good romance novel. So I'm just gonna list what worked for me and what didn't.

What worked:

-The bond and romance that Aaron (Smoke) and Kara developed over the years.

-The general theme/discussion of forgiving loved ones who have hurt you

- The representative of Black characters, Black love, and a very prominent Trans character.

- The humor


What didn't work:

- The little to no conflict throughout the entire book. It never really felt like there was any real problem that the characters had to overcome, and every time there was potential for an issue to arise, it was quickly resolved and then forgotten about.

- The quickness of Aaron and Kara's relationship. Kara and Aaron go from having casual sex the very first time they hang out, to almost immediately jumping into a serious relationship - despite the fact that Aaron never really had a real relationship before and was always sleeping around, and the fact that Kara had just gotten out of a relationship herself where she had been cheated on. It felt too quick and convenient.

- How quickly Aaron was able to put his playboy days behind and become wholly committed and faithful to Kara. This man went from sleeping around every day, to all of the sudden falling for Kara and becoming a faithful man. It just didn't feel believable to me unfortunately.

- The writing style. This book is written in present tense, and I personally feel it was the wrong move to make. Events in the book happened so quickly and it felt like a lot more telling versus showing.

Like I said, there was a lot of potential to this story but unfortunately it just missed the mark for me. I can see the author growing and producing a better book next time around and I will be interested in checking it out. I WILL say that I found myself quite enjoying the second half of the book much more than the first and the characters were indeed lovable.

[Kayla Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’ve just read something crazy and you want something mild as palette cleanser, this is the black love book for you!

Okay so the fact that it took me 5 days to finish this book says a lot lol. But not because I didn’t like it. It was a nice change of pace. This book is like a low impact Netflix series. It takes you from 2007 to 2020!!! This includes college to dating to kids to marriage; all stages of their relationship. And I like that! A lot of times when the couple finally gets together in a book, you don’t get anything else. You have to wonder what their relationship is like, imagine their kids together, etc. But they got together at 30% so I was like…I guess we have a long ride to go lol. And boy was I right!
This isn’t the book for you if you like your heart rate to go up and down in a book. It’s simply a lovely story about black love and what it can look like to build a life with someone you truly want to be with forever. Conflict resolution. Dealing with death of family. Dealing with childhood trauma and abandonment. Real life stuff. I’ve never read a book like this before and I appreciate the perspective!

[Cayla Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.75 ⭐️ but I’ll round it up to 4 ⭐️ on here.

I went into this knowing very little about this book. I knew it was a love story, but didn’t realize it would span over 15 years or so. It made it also the more sentimental because the time span was around the same time the hubs & me got together & the main characters are around our same age. It just made me think back on the span of our life & everything we’ve gone through together that were similar to this story. How we’ve managed to still love each other & grow closer like the main characters did. So this story truly holds a special place in my heart for that alone. 🥰🥰

[Debbie Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

🥴

The story itself was alright, but the unexpected time leaps threw me for a loop. One moment, the protagonist is jobless, sharing a meal with the family, and in the blink of an eye, we're five months ahead, and she's clocking in at work. I was left guessing, "Well, I suppose she landed the job 🤷🏾‍♀️." No pause, no break in the text to signal the shift. It felt like I had to piece together the story's gaps on my own.

[•.~*Izzy*~.• · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf at 50%

[Bri Simpson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mmmmm…. This really was a pile of fluff. Nothing happened in their relationship that was a deal breaker or anything shocking. I was underwhelmed after reading ‘Hot for the Teacher’. At least that book had obstacles the two had to go through but this was just….. blah. I didn’t enjoy it unfortunately 😩

[Mitzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

i LOVEDDDDDD this book. i loved the development of aaron's and kara's relationship, the way that shaped the rest of their lives and the way real world problems were faced and even confronted in such a healthy and validating way. ads;lfjka;slkfja;ldsjfa just thinking back on this book and thinking about the way Fisher tediously went through every new "obstacle" (i feel so weird using that term because, in reality, i doubt there was anything that those two would allow to get in the way of their relationship) and how they loved each other through it all but made sure to talk about the way it was harmful and how they were going to overcome it. happy that aaron gave kara the space to talk about her feelings and her fears, but wish there was a little more time spent giving him the space to talk about himself and his feelings more so than what we got because i want every narrative to allow men the space to feel safe talking about their feelings.

4.25✨

[Whit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I enjoyed most of this story, I hated that Kara made Aaron pay for Bryan's, that 2 timing creep, mistakes. So not fair!
Aaron proved how much he cared for Kara when he swallowed his pride and called Reynisha, to prove a stupid point. That was horribly humiliating and so unnecessary.
This story was a heck of a roller coaster ride depicting black hood life at its worse. Nevertheless, Aaron and Kara's due diligence and sheer determination, to have a future together, got them through the laughter as well as the tears.

[thee.millennialreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I likkeedddd iitttt. In the beginning 😅. It was spicy, funny, cute, and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Once Smoke and Kara got together it was kind of like just reading a biography of someone’s parents lifelong romance. It got stale. Although, I’m glad there was a happy ending there was no climax shall I say. Any issue they had was resolved by the next page and nothing super dramatic happened. Idk I guess I’m too used to thrillers 🥴. But it was a cute romance and it got sexy at times!

[Tsholonki · Rating 3 out of 5]

*deep sigh* Where do I begin? Ever asked yourself what happens after the epilogue or just for book which end without an epilogue well this here covers that, we are taken on a journey of a couple going through all these phases in their relationship all the way until marriage and kids so that gave me fuzzy feelings. It was a great story, almost zero conflicts but there is some drama which could've been elevated in order to give us a fuller story but otherwise if you can get through chapter one then you can make it to the end of the book.

[Wicked Fox ✨️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Where There is Smoke, There is Fire :) It also doesn't shy away from the their flaws or the struggles Kara and Aaron face when life gets in the way, and how Aaron fights for Kara 🥰 Don't forget to check the TWs before reading!

[Alicia Birdie and the books]

I interviewed the author about all of her work the interview will be linked below. This interview will contain spoilers

https://www.youtube.com/live/floFfu-a...

[D💜 · Rating 1 out of 5]

0.5⭐️
To put it lightly… this book is terrible.
The only thing that was good about this book was that it had bipoc characters And lgbtq+ characters. Everything else was bad. The writing was not good whatsoever. I don’t know how to properly describe this but it felt like the book was telling me what was going on. It was overly descriptive. To sum it up, this book felt like a bad fever dream.

Thank you Monique for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Ebony Essence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone has a story.

This was a straight up and down family, life and love story. Loved how the book was over like 15 years of their life and Monique moved it along pretty well in my opinion. There was heart break of different kinds from love to parents. Lost was covered and i connected to that part very much. Kara and Aaron aka Smoke i felt made each other better. They learned, grew up and built trust together. Had a beautiful family of their own. Had amazing people in their life and just lived. When i think of contemporary this story comes to mind.

Thoughts:
-So happy Kara and Denise came together. That started a wonderful sisterhood.
-Read the TW. F U Cancer.
-I love me some Janae. I also enjoyed the bond between Janae and Smoke.
-The spice was steamy enough.
-Everyone in love.
-Aaron feeling safe to open up to Kara.
-Sometimes it just takes that one and that is what Kara made Smoke realize. The games were over. He was all in.
-Tone was such a lame but people have to grow if they want and at their own time.
-Pauline was too grown to act that way.
-What Smoke’s mom and aunt had to deal with when it came to their mom and brother is sad.
-Kara’s dad with his bs and how it affected her love life. What she was looking for and wanted to avoid.
-Lastly, how Smoke loved Kara’s goofy side along with the different accents. You should be able to be completely yourself.

[Ebony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard To Finish

I’d give this 1.75 stars so round it up to 2 stars. I’ll try not to spoil anything.

The writing and characters felt very flat (two dimensional) and immature, especially Kara. There were so many moments that had me annoyed and not wanting to finish this book but I pushed through. The POV was weird and would be a general POV but also his and hers. The time transitions were very random and not broken up well. The flow of the story just wasn’t there. Overall it gave middle school/high school wattpad fanfiction vibes (not trying to be too mean here). Any “problems” were solved within a couple of pages. And it felt like there were so many random problems thrown in just be like wow poor Kara. It felt like a lot of random descriptions were being the thrown in but the story did more descriptive thought/dialogue rather than showing and pulling me into the story. The story had potential but something just didn’t connect. I found myself desperately trying not to give up on this story and to hurry up and finish it. Maybe if the author were to rewrite this story in a few years, polish up the plot, and get someone to overlook it with her I’d try again.

[Tya C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was definitely not what I was expecting, but in a great way! It is not your typical romance, it is a beautiful story about two poeple’s lives together. I’ve been craving more books that showcase the length of a real partnership and this book gave me that. It showed the progression of our main characters and their relationship, as well as the progression of the side character’s lives. Speaking of characters, the characters were developed so well! I really loved them, main and side characters. Some of them had to grow on me though, but that’s because they felt like real people who came with good and bad aspects.

The book took a little minute for me to get into. I wish we had seen a little more of a cute dating experience before they got serious. But, around 35-40% into the book, it started to pick up for me because I started really caring about these characters and their lives. The book also had a good amount of funny scenes, as well as emotional scenes. There is one scene in the second chapter where I went from being incredibly angry to cracking up out loud in a matter of two sentences! This is definitely a sweet, emotional, at times frustrating, and engrossing read. If you’re looking for a book where you’ll be fully invested in the characters and story, pick this up! Also, I’m in love with this cover and the fact that this book had Black trans woman representation🥰

This book is peak Black love!❤️

Thank you to the author for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: transphobia, cancer, death, alcoholism, infidelity, difficult childbirth, minor adult/minor flirtation

[Teneisha (Teesbookjourney) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover of this book is spectacular. This is what made me want to read this. The back of the book gave me angst, drama, and a tattooed main character.

In reality, this at large has a lot of potential but didn't give me exactly what I was looking for.

What I enjoyed:
- I enjoyed the spicy scene - They were very good
- I didn't mind the main characters and the love they had for each other
- The drama with Kara & his first boyfriend was the start of the right kind of drama
- I love the representation and the conversations and storyline that came out of that - I think this was wonderfully done and it was nice to see the progress of these characters

The things I think need some work:
- The pace was a little off - Although I loved the fast move through time it was a little fast
- there wasn't any true conflict - I mean they had little ones throughout the story but nothing major - and since there wasn't the main conflict his story seemed more like a chronological telling of two people's lives.
- not sure of the true real purpose of the supporting characters - they were introduced and didn't have a true role in the storyline

All in all, I liked the framework I would make the story shorter, choose one true conflict then build on that.

I would love to grow with this author so I hope to see more

[Lex]

I’ve been sitting on how to rate this book since I read it because while I did enjoy it and can certainly see the potential in the author (and do look forward to her next book because the potential is there!), this one was more of a “meets expectations.” I’m not sure what I expected but essentially we are taken through the chronological love story of the main couple — their meeting, ups, downs, triumphs, failures.

I just think maybe the pacing was off a bit for me and so I think I continued reading because I did like the characters and was invested in their story and their lives but the pacing or tone (or something, perhaps lack of a main event instead of just many events over time) didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

I think if I had to give stars, I’d say 3.5!

Please mind the content warnings which include infidelity (not directly between the main couple), cancer, parental illness, and transphobia).

Thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC of this book on exchange for my honest review.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off slow for me but ultimately, I enjoyed the story. I literally laughed out loud during most it. I also got secondhand embarrassment and shed a few tears at a few parts.

I liked that the author gave us a story that went past where most romance books end - it wasn’t a drawn out story of the main characters getting together and then an epilogue of “where are they now”. However, I do wish Kara and Smoke dated other people before officially getting together. Initially I couldn’t suspend my belief enough to believe that Smoke changed overnight because he met Kara but as the story went on, I believed it and ended up really liking him.

I recommend reading this book if you’re looking for a cute love story with a sprinkle of smut that also incorporates a handful of adversities.

[Jessica Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the love story

I enjoyed the progression of Smoke (Aaron) and Kara's relationship over the years. It admittedly took me a while to really get into this story, though. Present-tense is usually a hit or miss for me and I had to acclimate. And there was (in my opinion) a little too much info-dumping and backstory that disrupted the flow, and at times wasn't really necessary (like the constant outfit descriptions, for example). Flow was a big issue for me, overall.

But I really liked Smoke, and how he matured throughout. Kara wasn't my favorite but I love how she loved her family, and her bond with Smoke. I didn't really get the title until the very end, but once it was explained, it was rather romantic.

This was a cool debut and I know the author is only going to get better as she continues.

[thebookcritic_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

good premise but needed better execution

I think the cover is so cute. The story had a good premise but didn’t flow. The book is definitely written weird. Like it jumps all over the place. Also the third person present tense also threw me off. Flashbacks need to be italicized. Feels like this is the authors love story. As the book progressed, the writing got sloppy and I saw more grammatical errors.

I like that this book discusses friendships, especially with a side character of the trans community. It’s also realistic and discusses the ups and downs of a relationship.

Kara is childish and insecure but she finally got it together by the end of the book. AJ old enough to go to a taco shop by himself?

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I was v conflicted with this book. I really enjoyed the story and I love books where you get a full view of a couple’s relationship. I thought the story of Smoke & Kara was really sweet and touching and I enjoyed following them through their ups and downs.

However, I just don’t think this writing style was for me. I do think it fit the tone and overall vibe of the story but it’s just now something that I am typically drawn to.

I would def be interested to see if the POV and writing style is a choice the author made for this story or if that is just their particular style.

[Jasmine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started the book and was really taken aback by the reference to one of the characters resembling Tyrese but with green eyes. How cringey? Then spoke of the main character basically being next to perfect because of her body type, being popular, wearing “designer labels”, but her best friend being described as “rotund”, wearing too tight clothing and representing everything “geeky”. I was really drawn in by the summation & cover of the book, but the contents really hone in on very harmful stereotypes. I had no interest in finishing this book because of it.

[Juju ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books saving grace is that the author made the lead characters so lovable. From the beginning , You fall in love with Smoke and relate to Kara … their meet cute trope is a romance lovers dream

The downfall is the time jumps. We spend the first 9 chapters in 2007 then spend the rest of the book speeding through almost a two decades of life. It was just too much… in some chapters the time jump would be from sentence to sentence.

All in all the characters are lovable. The family dynamics are real but I would have loved a slower plot

[MARQUETTA]

The cover and synopsis is what made me want to read this book. The story starts with Kara being 20 with a boyfriend and trying to get into USC after putting her college dreams on hold to take care of her mother. I normally don't read romances centered around 20-somethings but I was hoping that the characters would age up and the story progressed. I didn't get that far. The book read like a diary entry. So much telling and no showing.

[Tia Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Where There Is Smoke There is fire. I honestly wasn't a fan of the age range in the beginning but with further reading it completely made sense. I did appreciate the trans rep and how love and communication was the center of Kara and Aaron's long spanning relationship. I would have loved a bit more drama or a plot twist to shake up the story but I was pleased with the Happily ever after in this story..

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked these characters and what the author set out to do. There’s some good exploration of real issues and good LGBTQ characters as well. However, it felt like both the characters and plot could have been developed further. It also felt like this needed more editing as well. Overall though, 3 stars.

Thank you to the author for my e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.