The Burns We Carry by Marae Good - A Book Review
Synopsis:
Once burnt, twice shy…
Shay Davis is desperate for a fresh start — not just for her, but for the new life growing inside of her. But when she arrives in the quiet mountain town of Wallowpine, Arizona, the cold, unforgiving forest ranger who pulls her over seems intent on running strangers out of town.
Hoping never to run into Officer Brooks Graham again, Shay cautiously carves out a place for herself in Wallowpine with the help of her elderly landlord and the decidedly friendlier neighbors, Levi and Nolan — Brooks’s brothers. Despite their best efforts to dodge each other, small-town life lets no heart go into hiding, and with every fresh baked banana bread loaf and dizzyingly beautiful hike, Shay and Brooks’s walls crumble just a little further.
But Shay has never truly believed in happily ever after — because no matter how convincing it seems, experience has taught her there can only be one loss. So, the only thing to do with new bridges is burn them before they burn you…
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Tropes:
- Accidental Pregnancy
- Found Family
- Small Town
- Forced Proximity
- Single Parent
The Burns We Carry by Marae Good is a book that I stumbled upon on BookTok, and not the popular side of it. It interested me enough to write it down and slip it into my TBR and was a book I completely forgot about, until I picked it out of the jar.
I can’t lie, when I choose the piece of paper out of my TBR jar and it revealed my next book to be The Burns We Carry, I pulled a face in grimace. From the title of the book, I didn’t think this would be a book that I would massively love, so I was definitely tempted to slip it back in the jar and pretend it wasn’t the first choice, but that’s not the point of the jar.
The point of the jar is to be surprised by my next read and my only rules are that it can only be put back if:
1) It’s not available on kindle unlimited – trying to prioritise reading those that are, whilst I have my free trial.
2) It’s a book in a series I haven’t read the first one of yet – specifically if the first one is on my A-Z Reading Challenge.
3) It hasn’t been released yet – I think that’s self explanatory!
I reminded myself of my rules and decided I have to read it, as it has been a common theme I’ve found so far that I’ve particularly loved books I was initially apprehensive of, in regard to the title or theme of the book.
Marae Good is not an author I was familiar with in the slightest and her books hadn’t reached my TikTok FYP. I can’t really remember how I came across her book honestly – I should really start noting where I’ve been influenced to read these books.
When I picked it out of the jar, I had to search TikTok for a refresh of what the book was about and what had initially interested me to put it in the jar to begin with. Here I found that it was a pregnancy trope, something I am very fond of, but haven’t read much of recently. I think that’s due to it not being widely liked on TikTok, so I don’t find myself being recommended many on my FYP, but alas, I’m very happy I stumbled upon it.
The Burns We Carry follows Shay Davis who’s restarting her life far away from her California roots, in Wallowpine Arizona after leaving her emotionally abusive ex fiancé, following his ultimatum of either aborting their unborn child or leaving.
As Shay is making her way through the new place she will eventually call home, she’s pulled over by grumpy forest ranger, Brooks Graham, who believes her to be nothing of a preppy Cali girl rebelling from her previous life, who will eventually return home. Fully believing her visit to his town is only temporary, Brooks makes it his mission to run her out of town.
Shay arrives at the cabin which she will eventually call home to meet her landlord Jake, which she later finds out is also the uncle of the ranger she had the run in with. Unable to pay the first few months of rent, Shay offers up her car in exchange for Jake’s Jeep, instead of paying more rent and to also help his wife, Wren feel more comfortable on the drives to her cancer treatments in Phoenix, located a few hours drive away.
After being introduced to Jake, she meets the other two Graham brothers, Levi and Nolan, who instantly take to her and want to help her in any way they can. Only their grumpy brother Brooks, is not so trusting in Shay and her motives.
After searching out the new town, Shay gets a job at a local cafe and begins working to save money for the upcoming arrival of her baby. During this, she grows closer to Levi and Nolan, but is quickly warned away by Brooks who believes she will leave his brothers heartbroken just like his mother had done.
Shay is determined not to let others walk all over her and stands her ground, continuing to make a new life for herself and her baby. Days quickly start to pass and Shay becomes familiar with her new life routine, cycling the distance to work on her pink Barbie bike, as she’s unable to drive Jake’s truck due to it being a manual.
Noticing that Shay avoids using Jake’s Jeep, Brooks offers to teach Shay how to drive a manual vehicle, so the pair embark on daily driving lessons with one another.
Nolan and Levi suggest for them all to go on a camping trip, but end up having a “work emergency” at the shop, resulting in them to join the camping trip late. Despite this, they encourage Brooks and Shay to go ahead with the planned trip, stating that they should set up the camp ready for their arrival.
Whilst the pair are setting up the camp, Brooks’ grumpiness appears to subside and his feelings for Shay become more apparent after they had been brewing over the course of her stay. Shay becomes more aware at her lack of transparency for her reason for starting over and the secret of her pregnancy. As Shay and Brooks begin sharing an intimate moment and allow the feelings that had been building to take the lead, Shay reveals to Brooks that she is pregnant before they go any further. This instantly infuriates Brooks who jumps to the conclusion that she was planning to trap one of his brothers with the baby and that she is just like his mother, for running away from her family. Brooks makes hurtful comments towards Shay and her situation, leading them to return back to Shay’s cabin.
When returning back to her cabin, Shay finds her home inhabitable as Levi and Nolan had begun fixing it up for her. With her cabin unliveable, Shay is ready to leave town but is encouraged to stay with the Grahams until her home is fixed. After her argument with Brooks, Shay is initially apprehensive until agreeing to live with the three Graham brothers as Levi and Nolan won’t allow her be anywhere else.
Shay begins navigating life living with the three Graham brothers, whilst avoiding Brooks after their heated argument. after speaking to his brothers, Brooks becomes apologetic for his reaction towards her pregnancy and does his best to redevelop their relationship, but this time in a friendship form.
As the two navigate their friendship, neither can hide their feelings for one another or prevent them from developing, with them eventually admitting their feelings. Shay reminds Brooks of her pregnancy and that she isn’t interested in him so that he can be a father figure. Brooks informs Shay that he is willing to take on them both because the baby is apart of her.
After admitting their feelings, the pair navigate their new relationship, taking it very slow and learning more about each other. Shay learns about his mother’s abandonment and the death of his father, that heavily impacted the three brothers. During this, Shay reveals more about her relationship with Declan, her ex fiancé and her reasons for leaving. After revealing to Brooks that Declan wanted no involvement in the life of his child, Shay begins the process of seeking sole custody, with Brooks revealing that he bought Shay’s cabin and has the intention of fixing it up for them.
Shay is met with bad news that Wren’s cancer is spreading and therefore is ending treatment. As Shay makes her way home following a hospital appointment, she’s involved in an accident after reaching for her phone and subsequently crashing. Brooks rushes to her side, but Shay is met with an unexpected visitor from Declan following being informed by Shay’s best friend Elle. Declan arrives at the hospital worried about his ex fiancé and child, encouraging them to return home. Only Shay is reluctant to do so, which results in Declan to blackmail her into returning home, with the threat of seeking sole custody and making Shay believe no judge will allow her to keep her baby.
When Brooks returns back to the room, he accidentally reveals Shay is having a girl, which further encourages Declan to pursue Shay returning to California.
In an attempt to protect her unborn child, Shay decides to return to California to prevent Declan from taking her daughter. Only this means leaving Brooks, so she tells him something she knows will hurt him and allow her to leave, in which she succeeds in.
Shay returns to California with Elle only to miss the place she built as her home. After a phone call with Wren, encouraging her to return to Arizona to see Brooks, Shay reveals her plans to return, only to stay in Phoenix not Arizona. The next day, Shay arrives in Arizona prepared to make the journey to Phoenix to start at her new job, only she’s met with a phone call from Wren’s daughter, informing her of her passing.
Following the phone call, Shay arrives at Wren’s funeral and is met with Levi and Nolan who drive her around town, revisiting the events that led her to leave town. Brooks pulls them over, prompting a conversation with Shay, where she apologies for how she left and reveals she still loves Brooks, before telling him he is home.
The pair rejoin together and the book ends 9 months later after the birth of Shay’s daughter, Wren. It is revealed that Shay and Brooke are married and are preparing for Christmas Day with their daughter. For Brooks present, Shay displays Brooks with adoption papers, so he can officially be Wren’s father, as Declan signed away his rights after her birth.
I have to say, I was blown away by this book and I wasn’t expecting to like it so much that I couldn’t put it down. I found myself staying up until 12am eager to know what events happened in the next chapter, despite it being a work night. It’s funny how you’re not tired in the slightest when you’re reading the right book.
I have to say, I was blown away by this book and I wasn’t expecting to like it so much that I couldn’t put it down. I found myself staying up until 12am eager to know what events happened in the next chapter, despite it being a work night. It’s funny how you’re not tired in the slightest when you’re reading the right book.
The book had me on a rollercoaster of emotions, from giggling to the feeling of my heart wrenching. I had a lot of sympathy for Shay, especially with her inner monologue, believing she wasn’t good enough, making me want the best for her. With that being said, I found Brooks initially to be so irritating with his rude behaviour, but we love a grumpy male character love interest, so I’m not complaining. He definitely redeemed himself in the middle of the book.
I wasn’t expecting the book to be a closed door romance, not that I was expecting it to be an open door romance, filled with spice – I rarely tend to go in with that expectation anymore. I was expecting an open door romance because of the language that was used and the feelings that were insinuated, so for that reason I was disappointed to find it a closed door romance – I felt like I was led to believe there would be some spice in it, but there was none.
As mentioned, I’ve not read a pregnancy trope book in so longand I throughly enjoyed revisiting it. I blame TikTok for the lack of pregnancy tropes being implemented into my tbr pile. I wish we had’ve experienced Shay’s labour – would’ve loved to have seen Shay and Brooks sharing that intimate moment, as well as the place of where she was when her labour started. I have to say, I will be trying to make an effort to incorporate more pregnancy tropes into my Tbr list.
I’m surprised at the lack of tears for Wren’s death honestly, I am known to shed lots of tears during emotional moments, especially deaths. My eyes welled up, but nothing streamed down my face. I think that was due to the fact that I was a bit numb when I read this book and the tears had been used at other events in my life (hello coeliac diagnosis).
This was a page turner for me, I wanted to read just a little bit more each time, and before I knew it, I was several chapters past the point I had initially said I would stop. I think the short chapters helped with that – kept it snappy.
Marae Good is definitely an author I’ll look out for in the future and would be interested in exploring more of her work which peak my interest.
Georgia
♥
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