FITZ AND STARTS Book Review

Fitz and Starts (book 2 in Beckett Falls series) by M. A. Lakewood, eBook, 265 pages

Synopsis from Goodreads: Two people. Zero ambitions. One perfect life. Fern Walsh moves to Beckett Falls for a new start—new town, new salon, some distance from her mom's opinions. She doesn’t plan on getting lost in the valley and ending up in the driveway of the grumpiest, most unfairly attractive man she's ever met.

Elliott Fitzpatrick isn’t looking for a mate. He has bread proofing, ceramics drying, and a grizzly bear inside him who needs to mind his business. When Fern rolls down his dead-end road with her audiobook blaring, his bear takes one whiff and decides she’s his. She thinks he's a little weird. He thinks she's way too chatty. They still kiss by day two.

Fitz and Starts is a standalone steamy shifter romcom with fated mates, primal chases, found family, and two people who finally stop apologizing for the low-key life they want. Perfect for fans of Schitt’s Creek, the Grateful Dead, and getting chased by bears.

BOOK REVIEW: Right up front I want to say that you are hit with all the tension and the spice left, right, and center...almost literally! Almost immediately you can tell that Fitz and Fern want to jump each other because why else would Fern's first impression of Fitz be him walking to her car in gray sweatpants (ladies...IYKYK...am I right)? This all happened in the first chapter and my first thought when I read gray sweatpants was legit What does Mary Ann have in store for us with this one? She did not disappoint.

Here's the thing. I devoured this so fast that I didn't highlight anything. I am really trying to get better at doing that so that I can have better things to write about in these reviews and give quotes if possible. However, I will say that while you don't have to read Beck and Call (see related posts) before you read this one, these are all cross over characters that might help you make a little more sense about the town but it is definitely not necessary. I think this one is even spicier than book 1. I think my favorite part may have been how easily Fern took to being in a town of shifters. I'm going to leave it at that because no spoilers! I will say that the chase was probably one of my favorite scenes and you're gonna have to read to find out what I mean!

Obviously this is a 5 star read. The author gives us more of our favorite characters of Becket Falls while also giving us new-ish characters. Technically we met Fern in book 1 when Liv moved to town and we met Fitz but the story wasn't about them but this one is! Anyway, we see more of the small town and I loved that the author gave Fitz the best work! He's a potter (makes pottery), bakes bread, and gets baked (if you catch my drift) Fern's journey to accept that she is an artist in her own way (being a hair stylist and nail tech) is fun to watch. This book released on 6.11.26 and is available in paperback and eBook. At the time of this review posting, the book is also available in the KU member library along with all of the books M. A. Lakewood has released!

5/5 Stars

2026 Reading Challenge: 28/55 complete