Embers of You

A heartfelt and witty small-town romance about a woman rebuilding her life after betrayal, finding unexpected love with a charming firefighter, and learning to trust again, blending the charm of Emily Henry’s Book Lovers with the emotional depth of Abby Jimenez’s The Friend Zone. When twenty-five-year-old Sutton Miller catches her best friend in a compromising position with her father, she does the only sensible thing: packs her car, drives north, and starts over in a town where no one knows her name. Amity, Washington, seems perfect—a place where she can lick her wounds while building a new life as a dog groomer, accompanied only by Jerry Lee, the shop’s potty-mouthed parrot with impeccable comic timing. Enter Jameson Turner, the thirty-six-year-old firefighter next door whose boy-next-door charm and dimpled smile are as dangerous as the fires he fights. After rescuing Sutton from a locked car incident (and her dignity from Jerry Lee’s colorful commentary), Jameson is smitten. But while he’s busy trying to win her heart between emergency calls and helping at his family’s struggling ranch, Sutton’s busy building walls higher than the Cascade Mountains. As Jameson’s mother’s illness forces him to confront family obligations and Sutton grapples with her trust issues, their attraction becomes harder to ignore. But for a woman whose closest relationships have gone up in flames, letting her guard down might be the scariest thing of all—even if Jameson proves to be more of a cinnamon roll than a player. For fans of Elsie Silver and Laura Pavlov, this small-town, slow-burn romance delights with heartfelt themes of trust, healing, and the unexpected joy of finding a home where you least expect it.