REVIEW: One Chance to Stay by Ryder O'Malley (Bears of Firefly Valley #4)

- September 20, 2025

ONE CHANCE TO STAY

Bears of Firefly Valley - Book Four

by Ryder O’Malley

Release Date: September 16, 2025

Review

Firefly Valley has a glorious amount of big boys, as soon as I find this town I’m packing my bags! Not to mention the wonderful cast of townfolk who may be nosey, but are a loving bunch.

One Chance to Stay includes a grumpy recluse whom I absolutely love. Seamus is an older man who has drawn inward and keeps his distance from everyone. But then a half-frozen Patrick lands on his doorstep.

Patrick is a talkative, friendly guy who at first wants to thank the man who saved him, but then he just wants to make Seamus smile and feel.

It’s romance with a lot of push and pull as they navigate their feelings, but also where they’ve come from, and where they are going in life.

I love that through their journey, they grow and change, but neither becomes someone different. They are still grumpy/sunshine, just happier!

Add to your TBR List

GOODREADS LINK

Synopsis

Firefly Valley, where a winter getaway comes with flannel sheets and unlimited pie.

I needed a break. A quiet weekend. Maybe some clarity about why my life—especially the part behind the bar—suddenly feels like it’s standing still. Instead, I get lost in a snowstorm, nearly freeze to death, and get rescued by a man who barely talks but somehow says everything with the way he pours a drink or stokes a fire.

He’s rough around the edges and built for solitude. I’m full of nervous chatter and determined to break down his walls. One night, with bourbon and big band music low in the background, we find something neither of us expects—something slow and careful, but quietly electric.

Now I’m attending a small-town wedding involving elf ears and Santa beards, surviving ladies with literal axes to grind, and realizing I might not be as “straight” as I thought. I’m starting to wonder if this unexpected detour might be exactly what I needed.

I came to Firefly to figure out what’s next. Now I’m wondering if next… might be us.

One Chance to Stay is a M/M, snarky romance with an HEA and no cliffhangers. It features the hilarity of small towns and plenty of steam, but not always in that order. This is book four in the Bears of Firefly Valley.

About Ryder O’Malley

Superheroes stories are at core of Ryder O’Malley’s origin story. Refusing to read as a child, everything changed with the first stack of comics. He has always been a fan of forbidden romances within the pages of comics. It should be expected that he’d turn around and start writing his own stories filled with sexy, super, man-on-man action. Ryder’s novels draw on his own experiences as a gay man in search of love.

Ryder lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. When he’s not writing, he can be found working on client book covers (which means he’s admiring the abs of muscular men with a little bit of chest hair.)

Where to find them: