Reviewed by: Sue Eaton
TITLE: Blowing A Fuse
SERIES: Redwood Bay Fire #5
AUTHOR: HJ Welch
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 253 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 26, 2026
BLURB:
JULIAN
Being captain of the One-Thirteen firehouse is everything to me. After a draining year, however, I decide my personal life needs a bit of a kickstart. Signing up to the Rainbow Reach charity is certainly out of my comfort zone, but when a young woman asks me to walk her down the aisle after her homophobic parents announce they’re boycotting her big day, I couldn’t be more honored.
What I don’t count on is her outrageous, gorgeous, and utterly infuriating younger brother flirting shamelessly with me the entire wedding. But maybe a no strings attached encounter is exactly the kind of thing I’ve been looking for. Except there seem to be strings after all, and one night doesn’t feel like enough.
Just look at how ridiculous our names are. Anything between us is destined to end in tragedy.
ROMEO
I’m used to my parents treating my fabulous ass with zero respect. But trying to ruin my big sister’s big day? Nuh-uh, unforgivable. Except I’m a lot less mad when Captain Daddy aka Julian Valentine appears like the literal hero he is. He might be doing this for my sister, but hello? I need a little rescuing as well, damn it!
It was just supposed to be one night of fun. However, when my life blows up in my face, Julian is unbelievably there once again to pick up the pieces. I don’t want things to be weird when he’s done so much already, but he makes it so hard (yes, pun intended.) If he doesn’t let his guard down soon and trust my feelings for him are real, I think my heart is going to explode!
Just look at how romantic our names are. We’re destined to be together!
REVIEW:
If Up in Smoke was about rising from the ashes, Blowing a Fuse is about what happens when life yanks the plug out of the wall and dares you to keep the lights on anyway. Welch gives us two men who are, in their own ways, standing in the ruins of the lives they thought they’d have and somehow still find the courage to reach for each other.
This book is all about grief, resilience, and the terrifying hope of starting over.
Julian is the kind of man who carries his grief like his turnout gear; heavy, necessary, and impossible to take off. As Captain of the One Thirteen, he’s the steady centre of chaos, the man who runs into burning buildings because he’s already lived through the worst experience of his life; losing his parents.
He’s convinced there’s no room in his world for anything soft or vulnerable. No space for romance. No space for wanting. No space for someone like Romeo.
Julian’s arc is beautifully, painfully human. He’s not cold, he’s hollowed out, surviving on duty and muscle memory. Watching him slowly, reluctantly let someone breach those walls is one of the book’s most satisfying emotional moments.
Romeo is the opposite kind of survivor. Rejected by his parent for being gay, he’s rebuilt his life with the help of his fiercely loving sister. He’s finally finding his footing, planning her wedding, building a career, daring to believe he might be allowed joy.
And then his life explodes, it’s a genuine crisis that strips Romeo down to nothing. But unlike Julian, Romeo’s instinct isn’t to shut down, it’s to reach out. To keep trying. To keep loving. He’s soft without being fragile, hopeful without being naïve.He’s exactly the kind of man who could slip past Julian’s defenses.
Their first interactions are pure opposites‑attract energy, Julian, all stoic competence and emotional lockdown, Romeo, all warmth, humour, and stubborn optimism. Their relationship develops in the cracks, between each crises, between responsibilities, between the moments when Julian forgets to push Romeo away and Romeo forgets he’s supposed to keep his distance.
What makes their romance compelling is that both men are fighting battles the other can’t see. Julian thinks loving someone is a step to far, locked in his grief from the parents he lost romance seems too far out of reach. Romeo fears he’s too much, too needy, too hopeful for someone as self‑contained as Julian. And yet they keep choosing each other, even when it’s messy, even when it hurts.
Welch excels at side characters who don’t just decorate the story. Julian’s crew at the One Thirteen are the brothers he built for himself, the ones who see through his stoicism and quietly hold him up. Romeo’s sister is his anchor, the person who taught him that love doesn’t have to be conditional. Their circles overlap in ways that force both men to confront the truth: they’re not alone, and they don’t have to rely solely on their own. The community around them becomes the scaffolding that lets their relationship grow. Every friend who nudges, every sibling who supports, every colleague who refuses to let Julian retreat, these moments matter.
Both men face real, tangible obstacles. Julian’s grief and his belief that he’s too broken to love again. Romeo’s displacement, trauma, and fear of being unwanted. External pressures from their jobs, their pasts, and the sheer unpredictability of life. They don’t overcome these things for each other, they overcome them with each other.
Their relationship becomes a partnership forged in fire and rebuilt from rubble. They learn to communicate, to trust, to let themselves be seen. They learn that love isn’t a burden; it’s a lifeline.
Blowing a Fuse is a story about two men who have every reason to give up on love and every reason not to. Julian and Romeo don’t fall together easily; they choose each other, even when it’s hard, even when it scares them. By the end, they’re not just surviving. They’re building a life filled with warmth, laughter, and the kind of love that doesn’t erase the past but makes the future possible.
It’s tender, it’s gritty, it’s hopeful, and it’s exactly the kind of emotionally rich, character‑driven romance you devour in one sitting.
RATING: 
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