Fire at Sunset

The Firefighters of Darling Bay #4

by Lila Ashe

Bonnie Maddern’s whole life goal was to get hired onto the rescue ambulance in Darling Bay. There’s nowhere she wants to be more, and saving people’s lives is exactly what she does best. Why, then, is she so worried about her new partner, Caz? With him sitting next to her in the rig, nothing seems the way it was. He makes her nervous as a wet cat, and three times as confused as she’d ever been, and she has to fix it. Quick. Even if she has to lie to do it.

Caswell Lloyd is Bonnie’s opposite, in everything. She’s loud, he’s quiet. He sees black and white, not the complex shades that Bonnie does. He’s fulfilled by work and thoughts of the cabin he left behind when he moved back home to pick up the pieces of his sick father’s life. But the bee in the gorgeous Bonnie’s bonnet has something buzzing inside him, too, and when she challenges him to name what it is, he’s in for the ride of his life.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Fiction

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 17, 2014

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

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick summer read filled with love, emotions, and finding the truth in yourself and admitting it.

Bonnie has a new partner Caz and she can't figure him out because he is so quiet. At the beginning, they don't get along because she is very chatty and he just wants to do his job and get home to take care of his dad.

After weeks of at ends with each other, things start to thaw and sparks start to fly. Then they couldn't tell each other the truth on how they felt...

But it is a romance novella, so it all ends well. A great summer read.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have stated Bonnie and Caz have a different twist to their story as they are paramedics not firefighters. However they are still part of the Darling Bay team so previous characters do appear in scenes here and there.

As the 4th and last book in this series it was another solid read.

[Kirstie Ibrahim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a little bit different to the first 3 and I think I'd have to say it was my favourite up to now. Love the characters and their personalities and how the whole story turned out.

[Quinn Fforde · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best of the four in the series. It was funny and touching.

[whimsicalmeerkat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one just didn’t click for me. Maybe it was the pacing. I don’t know. It just didn’t do it.

[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.

[A.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

All firefighters in Darling Bay have to be paramedic trained. A few of them choose to stay in the ambulance and Bonnie Maddern is one of them. She suspects her new partner is just temping it until he, too, can move over to the engines. He’s quiet, rarely speaks and she finds herself just chattering on all day to fill the silence.
Caswell Lloyd keeps his cards close to his chest. He’s moved in to care for his dying father. Alzheimer’s. A good wage means he can pay a nurse to stay at home with him, but he’s not coping with the slow decline. And Bonnie gets under his skin.
***

Her mother nodded. “About the life in front of them, and then to lose that.”
“I just can’t imagine.”
“That’s the problem with your job. You don’t have to imagine it. The rest of us have to watch fake stuff on TV and cry about it. You actually have to see it, day in, day out.” (Kindle Locations 6666-6669).

Yeah… that’s gotta get hard.
The duckling story feels like truth. I’d be upset, too. *hugs Bonnie*
Bonnie struggles with emotion. She’s from a long line of … not so much liars as exaggerators… no. Her mother lies to tell a cute story and sell an item in her shop. Bonnie lies to the injured and the dying, when the ambulance is attending. She justifies it. But Caz hates lies.
***
I didn’t feel for these two as much as the others in the series. I get the lying, and the dealing with Alzheimer's but the truth or dare performance felt pushed. I’m not sure either would agree to do that.
3 stars

[Fate's Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one broke slightly from the pattern of the last three in several ways, which was refreshing. It was a romance between a paramedic and her partner, and while the story was interesting, I didn't really warm up to either of the main characters. The hero had a stick up his butt and a bad attitude, and his partner was a good person, but she had absolutely no internal/emotional awareness, and her constant deflecting was a boring read. Kind of glad I'm done with the series (I bought them as a set). They're sweet enough, but after a while you start to crave substance. I much prefer the author's Cypress Hollow series, which she writes as Rachael Herron.

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

Heat (The Firefighters of Darling Bay Book 4)

The love story of Caswell "Caz" and Bonnie. Bonnie and Caz are firefighter, she is a jokes and he came to Darling Bay to take care of his Father who is dying. One night of love change everything for them. Can they be happy? Great story.

[Nancy Luebke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this firefighters Romance. It was a fairly fast read and moved along rapidly.I guess you could say this was a little bit perky and fun. I really want to read more of this author's book. This book was given to me free in return for an honest review.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Cassey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another quick and sweet read. Of the other's in the series this one had an ending/couple fight resolution I enjoyed the most.

[Silverluna · Rating 5 out of 5]

:)

For my notes for later, as ya'll know I'll be reading this one again later... "Heat"