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Night Fires
Secrets can be seductive. And dangerous...
A small town in the Pacific Northwest, Keating's Port is the only home Jodi Campion has ever known, the only place where she has ever felt safe. But it is also a place haunted by tragedy—where she will be forced to question what she has always believed to be true. . . .
It began with the disappearance of a young boy. Everyone in town suspected that J.T. Trager, a reclusive newcomer, was responsible—everyone, that is, except Jodi Campion. She's certain he would never harm a child.
But as she looks into his angry, wounded eyes, she senses that his secrets are deep—and possibly dangerous.
Now, walking the line between fear and desire, Jodi will discover that J.T. is no stranger to tragedy—and that Keating's Port may not be safe anymore....
Praise for Justine Davis (Dare)
"When it comes to intrigue, passion and deft characterizations, no one delivers like the incomparable Justine Dare."—Romantic Times
"A dynamite page-turner."—Catherine Coulter
“No one delivers like the incomparable Justine Dare.”—Romantic Times
A small town in the Pacific Northwest, Keating's Port is the only home Jodi Campion has ever known, the only place where she has ever felt safe. But it is also a place haunted by tragedy—where she will be forced to question what she has always believed to be true. . . .
It began with the disappearance of a young boy. Everyone in town suspected that J.T. Trager, a reclusive newcomer, was responsible—everyone, that is, except Jodi Campion. She's certain he would never harm a child.
But as she looks into his angry, wounded eyes, she senses that his secrets are deep—and possibly dangerous.
Now, walking the line between fear and desire, Jodi will discover that J.T. is no stranger to tragedy—and that Keating's Port may not be safe anymore....
Praise for Justine Davis (Dare)
"When it comes to intrigue, passion and deft characterizations, no one delivers like the incomparable Justine Dare."—Romantic Times
"A dynamite page-turner."—Catherine Coulter
“No one delivers like the incomparable Justine Dare.”—Romantic Times
- GenresRomanceRomantic Suspense
356 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
1 person is currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Justine Davis
258 books218 followersAuthor biographies are supposed to give you all those statistics, books written, awards won, etc. and I will, I promise...but first let me tell you about this ornery little tomboy (back then, the boys had all the fun...) who was always the one to make up the stories the neighborhood kids would "play". For those who came of age in the computer game era, this is something that was done usually in the backyard, by any number of summer-bored children, with props where appropriate. (Did you know a 55 gallon drum tied to a picnic bench makes a very cool horse?) It wasn't until much later that this tomboy realized two things: A) not everyone made up stories in their heads all the time, and B) in real life, the boys that had already had all the fun now seemed to always be winning.
But I digress. I was born on a farm down in Iowa....well, not quite, but close; Boone, Iowa is in the middle of farm country, but I arrived at a hospital. In a snow storm. Make that a blizzard. My sister tells me she knew my destiny when I was very young, because when I first saw the Disney classic Old Yeller, I was apparently so upset that I promptly went home and rewrote the story. In my version, the dog lived, of course. Should have been a clue.
Possibly in response to that blizzard I was born in, I've been a West Coaster since before I was a year old, and intend to stay that way. I have a history of staying. I started my first full time job right out of school (well, there was a very brief sojourn at a place where they made, among other things, burial vaults, but I prefer not to recall that one...) and stayed for twenty-one years. I've been married to the same wonderful guy for going on two decades now. We lived in our last house for seventeen years. (I won't even mention how many dumpsters we filled moving after that long....)
Readers seem as fascinated by my first career as they are with my writing. My time in law enforcement was many things, exciting, nerve wracking, and irritating, but most importantly never, ever boring. It was fascinating enough that I didn't think about writing seriously for several years. I kept a journal, and wrote long letters, collected quotes, mentally rewrote movies, and still made up those stories in my head, but never dreamed of actually writing for publication. I was having too much fun helping to catch bad guys, and being continually amazed at the situations people get themselves into. And eventually I walked away with a wealth of background and story ideas, and knowing some truly great people who work very hard to keep all of us safe. I'm proud to have been one of them, and I'm very aware that I have had the great good fortune of having had two jobs in my life that I love. Many people don't get even one.
But now that I'm in the delicious position of being able to make a living telling those stories in my head, I promise my readers two things: A) I'm staying--I'll keep writing as long as you keep reading, and B) in my stories, the girl--tomboy or not--always wins!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And now, the official stats:
Justine Dare Davis sold her first book in 1989, and followed that up with the sale of nineteen novels in less than two years. Her first four books were published in 1991, and she saw all reach the finals for either the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award or the Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA Award. She has since won the RITA award four times, along with several Reviewer's Choice awards and three Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times. At the 1998 national conference, Justine was inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame, making her one of a very select group of just eight writers. She also had four titles on the Romantic Times "Top 200 of All Time" list. Her sales now total more than 45, and her books have appeared regularly on best seller lists, including the USA Today list. She has been featured in several local newspapers and nationwide by Associated Press, has appeared on CN
But I digress. I was born on a farm down in Iowa....well, not quite, but close; Boone, Iowa is in the middle of farm country, but I arrived at a hospital. In a snow storm. Make that a blizzard. My sister tells me she knew my destiny when I was very young, because when I first saw the Disney classic Old Yeller, I was apparently so upset that I promptly went home and rewrote the story. In my version, the dog lived, of course. Should have been a clue.
Possibly in response to that blizzard I was born in, I've been a West Coaster since before I was a year old, and intend to stay that way. I have a history of staying. I started my first full time job right out of school (well, there was a very brief sojourn at a place where they made, among other things, burial vaults, but I prefer not to recall that one...) and stayed for twenty-one years. I've been married to the same wonderful guy for going on two decades now. We lived in our last house for seventeen years. (I won't even mention how many dumpsters we filled moving after that long....)
Readers seem as fascinated by my first career as they are with my writing. My time in law enforcement was many things, exciting, nerve wracking, and irritating, but most importantly never, ever boring. It was fascinating enough that I didn't think about writing seriously for several years. I kept a journal, and wrote long letters, collected quotes, mentally rewrote movies, and still made up those stories in my head, but never dreamed of actually writing for publication. I was having too much fun helping to catch bad guys, and being continually amazed at the situations people get themselves into. And eventually I walked away with a wealth of background and story ideas, and knowing some truly great people who work very hard to keep all of us safe. I'm proud to have been one of them, and I'm very aware that I have had the great good fortune of having had two jobs in my life that I love. Many people don't get even one.
But now that I'm in the delicious position of being able to make a living telling those stories in my head, I promise my readers two things: A) I'm staying--I'll keep writing as long as you keep reading, and B) in my stories, the girl--tomboy or not--always wins!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And now, the official stats:
Justine Dare Davis sold her first book in 1989, and followed that up with the sale of nineteen novels in less than two years. Her first four books were published in 1991, and she saw all reach the finals for either the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award or the Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA Award. She has since won the RITA award four times, along with several Reviewer's Choice awards and three Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times. At the 1998 national conference, Justine was inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame, making her one of a very select group of just eight writers. She also had four titles on the Romantic Times "Top 200 of All Time" list. Her sales now total more than 45, and her books have appeared regularly on best seller lists, including the USA Today list. She has been featured in several local newspapers and nationwide by Associated Press, has appeared on CN
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 14, 2019
Enjoyable romantic suspense.
June 4, 2017
In a Pacific Northwest town Jodi Campion defends a reclusive newcomer when a few townspeople suspect he is responsible for the disappearance of a young boy.
November 13, 2021
It was a change from my regular style of crime, but I enjoyed it, even the romance part.
August 29, 2013
Back of the Book Description: "A small town in the Pacific Northwest, Keating's Port is the only home Jodi Campion has ever known, the only place where she has ever felt safe. But it is also a place haunted by tragedy - where she will be forced to question what she has always known to be true..."
This is one of those books that's interesting while reading it, but as soon as you're finished it just feels kind of meh. There was a decent romance, the mysteries involved fairly believable and likeable main characters. Unfortunately, it just wasn't particularly memorable.
JT's past was truly sad and while his actions demonstrated his feelings of loss, I never really felt his pain. Jodi was sort of the same regarding the death of her father. Apparently, she missed him a lot, but I never really connected with her loss. Their romance was okay and developed over a decent period of time. Thankfully, theirs was not a case of insta-lust, so at least their love felt more like it was based on the emotional and not the physical.
The various mysteries built into the story were rather hit and miss for me. In the beginning, I felt like it was pretty clear who might be responsible for who was causing Jodi's problems. Then we drifted into some other potential suspects, but not to the point of getting pages from their point of view. At one point someone is caught doing something and the reveal was supposed to be a great surprise to the characters. My reaction was more along the lines of Who? What? Huh?
Overall, the book was competently written, but ultimately forgettable. I'd give it 3 stars as it was a pretty average book.
This is one of those books that's interesting while reading it, but as soon as you're finished it just feels kind of meh. There was a decent romance, the mysteries involved fairly believable and likeable main characters. Unfortunately, it just wasn't particularly memorable.
JT's past was truly sad and while his actions demonstrated his feelings of loss, I never really felt his pain. Jodi was sort of the same regarding the death of her father. Apparently, she missed him a lot, but I never really connected with her loss. Their romance was okay and developed over a decent period of time. Thankfully, theirs was not a case of insta-lust, so at least their love felt more like it was based on the emotional and not the physical.
The various mysteries built into the story were rather hit and miss for me. In the beginning, I felt like it was pretty clear who might be responsible for who was causing Jodi's problems. Then we drifted into some other potential suspects, but not to the point of getting pages from their point of view. At one point someone is caught doing something and the reveal was supposed to be a great surprise to the characters. My reaction was more along the lines of Who? What? Huh?
Overall, the book was competently written, but ultimately forgettable. I'd give it 3 stars as it was a pretty average book.
August 9, 2014
When a young boy goes missing, suspicion's fall on a reclusive newcomer to Keating's Port, WA, J. T. Trager. Jodi Campion, wild animal rehabilitator, defends him and reaches out to him to become involved in the community. J.T. lost his wife and son in a fire and feels particularly guilty because he was a fire fighter and could not save them. He just wants to be left alone. Jodi recently lost her father and is similarly grieving and can sympathize. The Mayor, Reed Keating, a widower and father of the missing boy is also pursuing Jodi romantically. The Keating family dynamics, another missing woman and the relationship between Jodi and J. T. are the substance of the story. Jodi's attacked and her office burglarized. Several people are possible suspects. For me this story had too many coincidences and vague reasoning for making all these events occur in the same period of time.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews