Fire at Dawn

The Firefighters of Darling Bay #2

by Lila Ashe

Alternate Cover Edition can be found here.

Lexie Tindall knows a few things about herself. She's a great fire dispatcher. She looks good in cowboy boots. And she'll never date a firefighter. They're her family, and besides that, she knows from deep personal experience how it feels to lose a man on the fireline. But Coin is different. He's her best friend. Why, then, can't she stop thinking about what it would be like to kiss the handsome firefighter?

Coin Keefe has been in love with Lexie since he first met her in dispatch when he was still a rookie. Now he realizes he can tell her everything except the truth—that he can't think about anyone else.

When Lexie and Coin make a bet on love with a tropical island vacation as a reward, who will win big and who will lose everything?

The Firefighters of Darling Bay series
Book 1: Fire at Twilight
Book 2: Fire at Dawn
Book 3: Everyday Hero (A Darling Bay Short Story)

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Friends To Lovers, Firefighters, Ebooks

147 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 8, 2013

About the author

Howdy!

I've had a lot of jobs in the past, but writing is the best job of all. I'm also a 911 dispatcher for a tiny fire department in a small, rural town. Surprisingly, compared to waitressing or bartending (I can balance a tray while whipping up a batch of mojitos), dispatching is a walk in the park with fewer surly customers. You have to be a schizophrenic octopus to love doing 911 -- I am definitely that.

I've lived for enough years in the big city to appreciate the small town life, especially when that life is the really good one, out here on the Northern California Coast.

I'm happily married and addicted to all things romantic, including surprise getaways to San Francisco for clam chowder or overnight trips to Napa for wine, but I've also found that being romantic at home can be just as exciting (or more so!).

​There are lots of places you can find me out in this wide world besides Goodreads, and I'd love to chat with you at all of them. Facebook makes me a little nervous because I'm shy. I like Twitter best, by the way. And you.

Reviews

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coin and Lexie's offering was more poignant than book 1 for me as it stirred my emotions on a more visceral level.

Once again we have two people who heat up the books pages, even when they are not in the throes of passion it is easy to feel their connection every time the pair are together in a scene.

Onward to book 3 and looking forward to that particular story which is apparently a second-chance-romance for Hank and Samantha.

[Kimberley O'Malley · Rating 5 out of 5]

AS much as I loved Book 1, I LOVED this one that much more. Coin & Lexi!!!! Wow, just wow.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lexie is the dispatcher for the Darling Bay Fire Department. She lost her father, the firefighter to a fire several years ago and her mother always tells her not to fall for a firefighter. Lexie constantly fights her feelings for Coin. A firefighter that falls in love with her. Everyone can see it but them. They fight it as long as possible until they both go on a double blind date and ending up kissing each other.

Things happen and Lexie tells Coin to just leave her. The next day, there are several calls they go on and a stranger they haven't seen before, jumps the rig to get drugs. Coin get shot and fear of losing him, Lexie goes to the hospital and waits for him. They get a second chance at a life filled with love. Another great summer read.

[Opinionated and Brutally Honest Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the last one, it lacked character development.
I wish we got to see what happened with her mom. I was really looking forward to Coin telling her off. Why didn't her brother stick up for her? Did she ever apologize for being abusive? She may be sad about losing her husband but that is no excuse to treat your kids that way.
I was right. Grace and Lexie really weren't friends. No one outside of the Firehouse was mentioned. Except for family of course. It was like they were in a bubble.

[Barbara "Cookie" Serfaty Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Burn (The Firefighters of Darling Bay Book 2)

The love story of Lexie and Coin. Lexie is a dispatcher, A firefighter's daughter, and is in love with Coin. Coin is a firefighter. They make a bet that the first to fall in love will win a trip. Who will win or will they tell other the true? Great story.

[Kirstie Ibrahim · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this book! This was much better than the first book and it kept me turning the pages and not wanting to put it down. Great characters and storyline.

[Cassey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short and sweet friends become lovers read.

[Beachbaby]

In boxed set - "The fFirefighters of Darling Bay (1-4)"

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been reading light romances during the shelter in place order. I like Rachael Herron's books because I can easily relate to the characters and they are fun. Perfect pandemic getaway.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet romance

A lovely friends to lovers romance. It's a quick, but very satisfying read with engaging characters and a compelling story.

[Gaylen Matlock]

This was a quick and easy read and I read the entire book on a 6 hour flight, while knitting ;)

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also posted to Jen in Bookland

I really enjoyed Fire at Dawn. It was a quick read, but really sweet. Even though it is the second book in the series, you don't need to read the first one before this one (I didn't realize it was in a series until I finished it). This is the first book I have read from this author and I will be going back to read more.

Lexie is the cute, fun girl who works in dispatch for the firefighters. Her dad was a firefighter and died on the job, so she doesn't want to date one herself. She is really good friends with Coin though. He comes in and hangs out with her whenever he can and they just get along great.

Coin is the sweet, shy boy. He blushes and is just so cute. He obviously likes Lexie, but she doesn't realize it. One day while they are hanging out in dispatch she decides she is going to set him up on a dating website to get a date. They come up with a bet - whoever falls in love first gets a trip paid for by the other person. They both go through and send messages to someone they think the other will like and then meet up for a double date at Coin's house....only things don't go quite as planned. It was fun, and hot, and I really enjoyed it. Coin is just wonderful. Lexie needs time to figure some things out, but they get there. I definitely want to read more from this series.

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, this second book was even better than the first. It's action packed with firefighter and family drama. The emotion feels so much more real.

Read it as: Burn by Rachael Herron (didn't find it listed as such on Goodreads)

[Melindeeloo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love friends to lovers as a trope so this short but sweet romance totally worked for me. Firefighter Coin and Fire Dispatcher Lexie have been good friends for ages when Lexie decides its time for the divorced Coin to get back in the dating game. For Coin its all about falling in love, so they make a bet that the first of them to fall in love gets a trip to Bora Bora at the other's expense and then they proceed to help each other set up online dates and do a double first date that doesn't go as expected.

I loved Coin. He come from a rough background but it made him the sweetheart that he is today. Lexie has issues with dating a firefighter since her dad was a fireman who died on the job, so that means that they have a few speed bumps on the way to a HEA. I read romance all across the spiciness spectrum but the closed door love scene didn't leave me feeling cheated, since they remember the awesomeness of the night before.

So, I was lucky enough to find Fire at Dawn as a freebie, but I liked it so well that I will be checking out other stories in this series and hoping for more nice guy hot firefighters to find their HEA.

[Ivy Deluca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Premise
Lexie Tindall knows a few things about herself. She's a great fire dispatcher. She looks good in cowboy boots. And she'll never date a firefighter. They're her family, and besides that, she knows from deep personal experience how it feels to lose a man on the fireline. But Coin is different. He's her best friend. Why, then, can't she stop thinking about what it would be like to kiss the handsome firefighter?

Coin Keefe has been in love with Lexie since he first met her in dispatch when he was still a rookie. Now he realizes he can tell her everything except the truth--that he can't think about anyone else.

My Thoughts
The second book in the Firefighters at Darling Bay, you can see the familiarity that the author has with that line of work, but it doesn’t become an instructional pamphlet, so that was well done. I liked Lexie’s confidence in herself, and Coin’s crush on her was cute. The story felt a bit short and the ending a bit rushed.

The Bottom Line
I liked it. I’d read more by this author and when the next in this series comes out, I’d purchase it.

[Fate's Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another short and sweet novel in the series, this one features Lexie and Coin, a firehouse dispatcher and her firefighter best friend who has been nursing a crush on her since forever. The book follows very closely the pattern of the first, which starts at flirting and sparks, moves on to heat and a sudden conflict and separation, then swan dives into the firefighter becoming injured and the characters realizing that they're too in love to go it alone. Reading it right on the heels of the first, it was almost as if I was reading the same book twice, especially when some of the major plot elements were so similar. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed Lexie as a character, and the fact that she's not your typical "model-pretty blonde who doesn't know how hot she is" was refreshing. I didn't think her main source of concern was very well resolved (quite the opposite), but it was a fun, if unmemorable, way to while away a couple of hours.

[A.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alternate title 'Burn' by Rachael Herron.
Lexie is one of the dispatch operators at Darling Bay Fire station. She’s done it for years and she’s a pro. She thinks of Coin Keefe as her best friend and she loves his little daughter, but when the two challenge each other to go on-line dating and then hold a truly disastrous double date, things go into territory Lexie isn’t ready for. After her father, the fire chief, died on duty, she swore she wouldn’t ever date a firefighter. Her heart couldn’t handle it if they died, too, but what if her heart wants Coin?
***
I didn’t meant to inhale this story… I really didn’t. I had things to do today.
But I loved Lexie and Coin. Her mother - oh dear god, I know a mother like that. The snide little remarks; the way everyone tiptoes around her until the day it all blurts out.
I totally cried… sniffs.
Tox - the MC from book 1 is on Coin’s truck so we hear that he and Grace are still together.
4 stars

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Fire at Dawn" by Lila Ashe. I really liked this book. It was light, fun and full of love. Any book that makes me chuckle and cry is a winner in my book. It's the story of Coin and Lexie - best friends that try really hard to deny their feelings for each other. Coin's a firefighter and Lexie's a dispatcher. She was working when her dad was killed while working and swore never to fall for a firefighter so, once Coin decides she's the one, he has his work cut out for him. Coin's great - he's sweet and loving and a great dad. I liked Lexie too - even if she was being stubborn about her feelings. I would recommend picking this book up for a fairly quick, light read. Enjoy it!

[Whispers From]

Short but Sweet

Lexie is a dispatcher and Coin is a firefighter. They are best friends but when they decide to make profiles on an online dating site, they find each other a date. When Coin confesses that he's in love with her she panics. She doesn't want to love a fireman because her dad was one and he was killed in a fire. But a tragedy opens her eyes and she takes the chance with the man she loves.
Hunky fireman and a sexy dispatcher. What I really liked was Lexie wasn't a size 2. She had curves like real women. Bravo for writing about a full figured woman.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. I felt it was even better than Book One.
The relationship between Coin, a firefighter and Lexie, the Emergency dispatcher was first rate. They are first and foremost best friends. But you know that they really have deeper feelings for each other. It was entertaining to watch them navigate their feelings and see how things work out between them.

There were funny moments, heartfelt moments, and moments that left me teary.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay so this was probably written in a very fast pace because it reads like the author was excited and needed to get it all out of her brain before she forgot the idea. There is definitely need if editing because many if the issues are minor and a second set of eyes would have caught them. That aside I really did like it. As predictable as the love story was I also found it to be quite touching. I laughed and I cried. I'm a hopelessly hopeful romantic.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dedicated father/firefighter and an insecure female dispatcher who refuses to lose another important man in her life because they have a risky job make up this story that leads to their happily ever after. The heroine is oblivious to the fact that the hero is in love with her and has been for a long time until they try to set each other up on dates to find love. Jelousy and a near-death experience make the heroine realize that she is feeling more than lust for him, she is in love with him.

[CJ - It's only a Paper Moon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but needed a lot of work grammatically.

I wish we had learned more about Lexie and her relationship with her mother and brother as well as more scenes with Coin and his daughter.

While it may have lacked character development, it was a.
novella to be honest, it still had two characters that were interesting enough to want to read about and get to know.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

a nice light read that I enjoyed. It is fairy predictable . Some parts could be more developed to make it more interesting e.g. they are fire fighters and not once was there a fire story. Apart from that would recommend to those interested in a simple romantic read

[Kim Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hmm Coin and Lexie shared this story. Two best friends who are helping the other find the perfect match. The winner gets a trip to Bora Bora. It was a special book. It's definitely worth the time. Loved the first book and this is number two. Looking forward to number three.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fire at Dawn told the story about Coin, a firefighter and Lexie, the fire dispatcher. It was a sweet love story with good character development but the ending was predictable and a happy ever after ending.

[Delta]

Free on Amazon today, 01-20-14

[Anja · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Erin Bonilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story! I was actually sad that it was such a quick read. I loved taking a journey with Lexi and Coin and you will too!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute story- one of the better amazon freebies