CW: Sexual Content, Homophobia, Difficult parental relationships

Ablaze was just what the doctor ordered for February. A polyamorous romance starring three beautiful black people? Friends to lovers? Workplace Romance? Sexiness?! Check, check, check, CHECK!

Mari and Mason are no stranger to each others bodies or lives. They've been on again/off again friends with benefits for years. Mason has always known he's loved Mari, but she constantly pushing him away. It's her way of trying to keep from hurting him, but it always had the opposite effect. Still, they can't seem to keep away from each other. So when Mason asks Mari to accompany him to an investor's party as his date, she happily agrees.

Enter Daniel. Daniel is the son of said investor and from the moment he lays eyes on them, he's sucked into Mari and Mason's web. He's very clear in that he wants a polyam relationship, but the concept is new to both Mari and Mason (though technically they've been living that way for awhile). While Mason is hesitant because he doesn't want his heartbroken, Mari has different reasons for resisting getting into a relationship with these two men: she doesn't want to hurt them, but she's also terrified of what her friends and family may think of the arrangement. There's no denying their attraction to one another though and pretty soon this triad gets more than they originally bargained for.

Let me tell y'all my favorite thing about this book: The communication. Daniel's biggest thing is that there always needs to be communication between their triad, no matter how uncomfortable the topic may be. His past has shown him that when communication isn't at the forefront of a relationship, especially a polyamorous relationship and a relationship involving kink, things can go bad very quickly. His proclivity to communicate any and everything eventually find their way into Mari and Mason. Mason quickly realizes that this is one of the biggest things that has always been missing from his interactions with Mari. They've never taken the time to communicate what they both want, which has led to heartbreak and misunderstandings. Mari's scared of opening those communication channels, but Daniel and Mason both teach her that life is better when you can talk through even your biggest fears.

The three of them each brought something to the table in their relationship. I was pleasantly surprised to see that even though Mari and Mason were the ones with a prior relationship, Mason and Daniel were the two who really shined. All in all, I had a great time reading this and even though I wanted to smack Mari a few times, everything worked out for the best.