Embers in Autumn: A Spicy Small-Town Firefighter Cozy Romance

by L.V. Rivers

🔥 Some embers burn hotter than the flames 🔥

After a brutal breakup, Amber traded city chaos for small-town quiet and opened a little bookstore in Maplewood Harbor. She promised herself she was done with men. Then Dean walked in, a firefighter with broad shoulders, a crooked smile, and a daughter who loves books as much as she does.

What starts with coffee and banter quickly turns into heated kisses, late-night texts, and the kind of passion Amber thought she had lost forever. Dean is steady, protective, and knows exactly how to set her body on fire. But letting him in means risking her heart all over again.

Embers in Autumn is a cozy, small-town romance full of falling leaves, found family, and open-door spice hot enough to fog the bookstore windows.

🔥 Cozy small town
🔥 Single dad romance
🔥 Characters 30+
🔥 Found family vibes
🔥 Bookstore girl + Firefighter
🔥 Tender moments + open-door spice

Genres: Romance, Firefighters, Holiday, Contemporary, Smut

216 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 14, 2025

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute autumnal read! 🍂🍁🥮

[Jamie T · Rating 1 out of 5]

Help, I’ve fallen into a plot hole and can’t get out

There were so many plot holes and errors in the story it is unimaginable. I’m kind of wondering if this was written by AI or wasn’t edited at all. Some of the word choices were so wrong that my brain would stop and reread a sentence multiple times, and then I just had to give up and move on. It was the little things, like her hair was down and then in the next paragraph, her hair was in a braid. Or he was sitting across the table from her and then in the next paragraph he was next to her with his hand on her knee. And then the kicker at the end of the book is his father is in town and meets one of her best customers and they go to breakfast. Then Dean wonders if their parents were going to hook up, it was her customer, not her mother. And don’t even get me started on all of the timeline errors. Honestly, the only reason I finish this was because it was less than 250 pages.

[Christelle Ruiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Single dad with a dirty mouth! Also a firefighter!
All wrapped up in autumn and pumpkin spice latte! 😍
The atmosphere, the ambiance brought a feel good vibe to this story! The banter between Amber and Carol had me in stitches a few times!
The chemistry between Amber and Dean was fantastic so was the sexting and his dirty talking!!
Such a good and quick story with a good vibe! I will definitely recommend it!
Read it in less that 12h!!

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why did I waste a couple of hours of my life on this?! It was beyond awful, and that's me being kind.

It reads as if it's been written or at least partially written by AI. The descriptions are too stilted and just not right.

It needs at least a few more rounds of edits - like, they knew each others names in the first chapter? But then introduced themselves in another? The dialogue is very jarring at times, no contractions used in some chapters and made the dialogue seem very wooden.

The characters were inconsistent at times, a few things didn't make sense to me. The spice gave me the ick, it just wasn't good at all and made me feel awkward.

The ending is very abrupt, just ends. Like what?! There were so many loose ends that weren't touched on. Nothing really happens in this book, and I wish I DNF'd it, but as it's just over 200 pages, I thought I'd stick it out.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!! Small town romance with just right amount of 🌶️🌶️ that did not disappoint

[Mandy Pittman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has potential, unfortunately it missed the mark. I debated giving it a 2 star but since it appears to be a debut novel I will give it some grace. To be technical, yes the book is advertised as a second chance romance and technically speaking it’s both of their second chances at love. However typically that isn’t what a second chance romance is, so that felt a little confusing.

Starting the book, they were never introduced they just knew each other’s name but then later introduced themselves. Now I am a small town person so in my brain I just tried to assume the logistics on that one is that they knew of each other but didn’t ‘know’ each other. The book was very short and you didn’t feel like you was getting anywhere. It felt like it ended very abruptly. I also didn’t like the whole she couldn’t tell him she loved him and we just never touched on that again. That was weird.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Genuinely shocked at how this book has so many 5 star ratings. It feels AI written with all the choppy sentences. Several continuity errors and a borrrrrring story line. Also several times where the MFC “laughed until she cried” about something that was absolutely not funny.

[Tea and Spite · Rating 1 out of 5]

Giving this one star primarily because there was something...off...about it. I don't like accusing authors of using AI because it just scares off new writers, but there's something very uncanny valley about this.

For instance, I'm pretty sure there are entire chapters without contractions. There are definitely entire chapters where the dialogue lacks contractions. No don't, wouldn't, can't, shouldn't, haven't, isn't, I'm, we're, etc. Some new writers do make the mistake of having all their 'formal' characters avoid contractions, but this didn't have that vibe. It was more like perhaps Rivers didn't remember how contractions work or how someone would use them naturally.

It also is not a second-chance romance. I don't know why that's in the introduction because it is patently not second-chance by the conventions of the genre. Anyone who has ever read more than half a dozen or so romance novels would know that.

Little things like that add up over the course of the book. Things that aren't quite the mark of a new writer or someone who's getting started in a new genre. The descriptions are warm and engaging, drawing you in, but there's no real plot. No rising or falling action, no climax, no tension. And yet, it's not the lack of tension that you'd usually find with a new writer. Problems don't come up only to be solved immediately, the writing doesn't downplay or oversell, there's just...nothing there.

All in all, it was a cosy book, but an odd one. And I can't in good conscience recommend it even for cosy vibes because the oddness is just too hard to explain away.

[Talya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, fun, autumnal

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute and easy to read. there were a lot of editing issues/scene layout and plot holes but I had no issue glossing over those and still enjoying the book.
Definitely reads like a debut book.

[zoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh god, I loved this book so much, my silly smile was on my lips the whole time, it made me feel so warm، sweet, cozy, my heart was pounding with the feelings, butterflies were spreading in my stomach, the book was so cute, I loved it.

[Tuong Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.9

[Ashe Covington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this was a cute little small town romance story with some good spice, I found it a little boring to read, if not frustrating. There was no climax (except the spicy ones) of the story and there just wasn't any excitement while reading it. Not to mention the author didn't know what position her characters were ever in or what she wrote a few paragraphs before? There was a lot that didn't make sense and there were too many characters without an ending or solution. The book literally just ends. The only reason it gets 2 stars from me is because the spice was 👌🏾.

[Penni Hollins 📚🐉 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this little gem of a book!!

Ok so I’m not a romance reader generally so what I may construe as a 5⭐️ read others who read romance a lot may not but I don’t care - this gave me EVERYTHING I was looking for!

Small town….CHECK!
Single dad….CHECK!
Autumnal vibes….CHECK!
Beautiful descriptions….CHECK!
Based around a bookstore….CHECK!

that’s all! I have nothing else to add but in my personal opinion if u like the above tropes then go pick this up!!

[LiaLove · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked the plot, characters and the small town vibes. But the story definitely needs improvement. It lacks a solid HEA. Felt like it unfinished. It would have been a good book if the FMC grew confident and reciprocated the love the MMC felt for her. There is no character development for her

[Katie Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Hey chatGPT, write me a autumn-themed story about a bookstore owner and a firefighter but be sure to use an absurdly excessive amount of similes and metaphors that make no sense to anyone who has a bare minimum understanding of the English language and include dozens of continuity errors to make it abundantly clear that this book was written ENTIRELY by AI”
There’s your prompt…

[Anna Christodoulou-Vega · Rating 5 out of 5]

📚 Book Review: Embers of Autumn by L.V. Rivers

If there were ever a book that perfectly captured the feeling of cozy nights, crackling fires, and second chances, it’s this one. ✨
After a heartbreak, Amber finds peace in her little bookstore in Maplewood Harbor until Dean, the charming firefighter and devoted single dad, walks in and reignites every spark she thought had gone cold. 🔥

This story felt like wrapping up in a soft blanket with a pumpkin latte in hand sweet, emotional, and deliciously steamy. I instantly fell in love with the characters, their chemistry, and the warmth that radiated from every page.

It’s the kind of small-town romance that makes you want to move to Maplewood Harbor and never leave.

✨ A perfect blend of heart and heat — ideal for the beginning of autumn. 🍁

[Country Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's so much I want to say about this book. I really did enjoy it but the writing was horrible. I loved the spice but the plots were all over the place. So many discrepancies that it wasn't even funny and I had to keep going back to made sure I read something correctly. Was not a fan of the ending as it left so many open ends. How did she know his name on the first chapter when he never introduced himself. Sometimes it felt like it was more of a physical relationship than feelings being involved because that was 90% of his thoughts. Did he give her the necklace he bought??? Did she ever tell him she loves him as well?? Where did the idea that Carol was her mom come from on the last page. Some of these have me so confused. It was a cute little spicy read but it needs so much more work.

[Laci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one hit me right in the heart. I didn’t expect to get so wrapped up in Amber and Dean’s story, but by the end, I was completely gone.

Amber’s journey felt so real, you can feel every bit of her pain and strength. And Dean… ugh, i loved him. He’s a calm, steady kind of guy who doesn’t try to fix everything, he just shows up and stays. The slow build between them was perfect. It was soft, emotional, and full of quiet moments that said more than words do.

This isn’t just a little cozy fall romance, it’s about healing, finding hope again, and realizing it’s okay to let someone in after the storm. It’s the perfect mix of cozy and emotional. Not to mention, Amber owns a bookstore which makes it even better lol.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me three months to slog through this book and I can’t explain why I didn’t DNF it other than I was already so far through and I didn’t want to DNF something right before year end. I’m not sure if this book was written using AI or if it was just never edited or looked over, but it was such a disappointment. The cover and the premise were so cute and I wanted to love it, but the mistakes were so glaringly obvious. I should have known it was going to be that way when the book literally starts off with the FMC saying something along the lines of: “it was a rainy day when Dean walked in” and we (nor she) have even been introduced to the MMC yet. Probably the best thing about this book was Carol.

[Tabs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the idea, has a ton of potential…. Something felt slightly off though 1) the ending didn’t feel completely I was expecting it to be a bit more entertaining 2) some spelling errors / typos… 3) Scene errors…. Also, carol’s last name changes at the end of the story. May have been a mistake. I don’t know…. I really loved the book because I’m reading it during autumn and it’s cozy and sweet and Dean seems like a total babe but since I had that off feeling, I came here to read other reviews and many mentioned that perhaps the author used AI to create it which actually does explain a lot though…..
but I feel like it has so much more potential

[Tiffany Ruvalcaba · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never write reviews but I had to this time. ❤️ This is so beautifully written you get swept into the romance of it all. After a year of mafia, mc, billionaire, jocks, shifters, omega, rh, and bullies this was the perfect palate cleanser. I was afraid I would get bored but the spice was perfectly written for your average couple, and the author just weaves the magic of every day life making it beautiful.

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at page 35, too many errors in the story. She knew his name in the first few pages but he introduced himself later. First he'd been in town a few years then he'd been at the firestation for 15. FMC says she keeps her customers' reading habits secret then tells MMC over their first coffee. She spots a scar "for the first time" twice in consecutive paragraphs.

Shame, seemed like it had the potential to be a sweet little read.

[AnitaK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dean is officially top tier book boyfriend material. A protective firefighter, a devoted single dad, and the way he treats Amber had me melting. He is filthy when the moment calls for it but also the sweetest man alive. If every romance hero was written like him, I would never stop reading.
3.5🌶 4.5⭐️

[Angie VanSickle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. It’s perfect for autumn. It has some spice in it. Amber owns a bookstore and Dean is a fire fighter. He brings his daughter, Lana, to the bookstore and there is attraction between Dean and Amber. Things take off from there. If you like an HEA, this book has it. I hope she writes more books. If she does, I’ll be reading them.

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect mix of cozy small-town charm and sizzling chemistry. I adored Amber and Dean, their banter, the found family moments, and the spice was written so well. This book made me smile, swoon, and blush in equal measure.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was cute
I was a little... ick-ed when after like two dates he started sexting her HARD lol especially after he was so sweet to ask if he could even kiss her on the cheek. Odd chemistry at times but cute!

[Sariah McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

sweet and spicy

Was the perfect balance of sweetness and spice! Great character development with a hesitant to love again bookshop owner and a steady ready to love again single-dad firefighter (with a wonderfully filthy mouth). Thoroughly enjoyed this story!

[Kimberly Alexander]

So cute and spicy!

I absolutely love this book. I was giggling and kicking my feet. Dean is a dirty talker! I felt like the end was rushed and could use a better one. Or at least an epilogue. Still would reread!

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet, with a little kick, and cozy

It hit the mark for sweet and cozy.

My only issue was sometimes the dialogue felt formal. The author did not really use contractions so sometimes I had to read it like they did just to help with the flow. Other than that, it was pretty cute.