This is the second book in this series and was worth the wait. I enjoy Daniels De Lorne, her character's are well developed. You get some answers from the first book. I'm looking forward to the next in this series.

I really enjoyed this second instalment in this series and it was my first MM book bonus, it is really well written, lots happening with a second chance at love for heroes Ben and Toby who had grown up together in Echo Springs, Ben is now a police officer and Toby a fireman and when an arsonist is in town who seems to be going after Toby, this brings them back together on a rocky and dangerous path to a lovely HEA.

Toby Grimshaw is living with his father who suffers from Alzheimer’s he is single and is often nick named Grim because he comes across grumpy, but he has been through a lot losing his mother when he was young, when Ben was his best friend, the person he loved and he has a secret that he has been keeping, but when there is a fire at the cemetery and then his home is set alight, Ben is the officer in charge and things are getting really tough on them both.

Ben Fields moved away from town after losing his mother and his best friend Toby whom he loved, he became a police officer like his father and met Jared they had an affair but Jared ended up in jail and Ben moved back to Echo Springs, and realized that his feelings for Toby had never changed and when he has to arrest Toby for arson, this knocks him for six and sets him on a path to find the culprit and to sort things out with Toby.

Ben and Toby had a lot to sort out before they could move on together, Toby had to come clean with his secret and then Ben had to accept it and with Jared trying to kill Toby, their lives where being pushed and pulled in every direction let alone the danger that moving closer to them both, but love always rings true and these two got their HEA a much deserved one, thank you Mr de Lorne for a fabulous story, it is one that I highly recommend.

3.5 Stars
I like Daniel de Lorne as a writer. I've read two other books/stories of his and discovered how talented he is. I can't wait for Binding Blood, coming in December. I jumped at the chance to read an ARC of Embers and Echoes for that reason, and because I've been enjoying some more Aussie flavour in my reading lately.

At the beginning of Embers and Echoes, there's a problem with fires around the Western Australian town of Echo Springs. In Australia our flora and unbelievably dry climate lends itself to bushfires - it could be the heat and the dry conditions or it could be arson. Constable Ben Fields is at the cemetery visiting his mother's grave on the anniversary of her death when a fire comes too close for comfort. Toby "Grim" Grimshaw, a local firefighter, appears out of the smoke and haze looking handsome, but Grim by nickname.... We learn that Ben has a history with the guy and that feelings aren't just in the past for Ben. With a POV shift we get into Toby's head as well and he's the same, still hung up on Ben. The main problem is that these now late twenty something guys grumble around each other, they get angry, and they make assumptions that lead to miscommunication. Once they used to be friends, their families were close. Once they used to be young lovers. That was then and this is now.

'Look, I’d better get back to it. Go find yourself some witnesses. I’ll collect what evidence I can, and give you a call if I need any help.’
Unlikely. Toby never needed anyone’s help, least of all Ben’s. He’d been clear on that long ago, and the few opportunities since then reaffirmed it.

There is a lot of emotional stonewalling by both MCs in regards to their personal and now entangled professional lives. They should be working together to investigate the fires that they soon learn have been deliberately lit. However, a decade of distance escalates the current problems they have. Toby and Ben had once been teenage friends and that morphed into more when they were around seventeen. Then, suddenly, after their mum's died, Toby stopped talking to Ben and Ben didn't understand why. Ben ended up with another guy and moved to Sydney to further his career in the police force, to get away from the feelings he still harboured for Toby. Toby stayed In Echo Springs and followed in his father's footsteps to become a firefighter. But Ben has been back in town for a while after things went somewhat awry in Sydney and he feels exposed.

Piece by piece he’d been chipped away until there wasn’t much left that he recognised of himself. Or of the person he’d been with. But that was done now, long past, and he didn’t regret coming back. The career path might not have been the same but Echo Springs was home.

This book is a contemporary romance and mystery/suspense that intersects between the rollercoaster feelings the MCs have for one another - past and present - and who is setting the local fires. Why they're being lit. The romance was not quite on song. It oddly takes a front-and-centre yet backseat role at the same time. The romance aspect struggled between Ben and Toby because the overriding emotion was anger. I expected some tenderness, hurt/comfort, some intimacy/sex, and there was none. The suspense/mystery side of the book is a primary arc, and there's the open-ended emotional backstory of Ben and Toby.

I have to agree with the overall sentiments from Ben's co-worker Leila about the MC's communication -

‘As much as Toby grates on me, he obviously hits you in all the right places. Have you ever actually tried to have a conversation with him? Or is it all longing looks from across the pub?’

For the most part I liked Toby. Liked that he cared for his dad who has dementia. That he had some reasons to be unsure about his dad and one of the fires but he knows the man his dad is, dementia or not, and he was prepared to fight for that.

‘He’s not the man he used to be. Things change. And what with it being the anniversary—’
Toby stepped in closer. ‘You’re wrong, and if you were a half-decent cop, you’d stop going down this useless line of enquiry and start looking at other options.’

The family was a very genuinely written Aussie country one. I liked that Toby's aunt Narelle was loyal to her brother and her nephew.

The feel of the book was good, the setting and the way people spoke. The description around the fires, we know them so well in this country. The whole vibe and backdrop of the book fits an Aussie country town perfectly. That people know who's doing what and to whom is so true of any small town.

I liked Ben initially and then I thought he was a bit of an arsehole with a point to prove about being a good cop. Then he came good again. But in all honesty, these guys should have been working together far earlier, if they had, if there had been intimacy, this book would have received a higher rating. But they ended up working against one another until about the 90% mark. That was frustrating.

Toby had never wanted to talk about their mothers’ deaths when they happened, and then after the funeral he’d shut Ben out of his life. Had Toby ever talked about it? With anyone? Ben had wanted to be there for him, but he’d spurned his sympathy and his love.

The only other things I can mention are a letter, which gets talked about and is revealed at the end, and a feeling of misguided but semi-understandable guilt hanging around Toby. Apart from that, there isn't much else I can talk about that doesn't ruin the overall story.

Overall:

Embers and Echoes is not a bad book. It's quick and easy to read, it has some emotional moments, some nice writing, but it had the potential to be so much more, especially given Daniel de Lorne can tell a good tale. It missed the mark for being an extra rung above middle of the road. 3.5 Stars!

This is the second book in this series and was worth the wait. I enjoy Daniels De Lorne, her character's are well developed. You get some answers from the first book. I'm looking forward to the next in this series.

This is a new author for me. I enjoyed the first in this series but this one not so much. The storyline and some of the language was offensive.

Ben, a police officer, and Toby, a firefighter, had a relationship when they were teenagers that abruptly ended due to Toby’s distance after both of their mothers died in an accident. The story starts off ten years later with a fire in a cemetery, which is determined to be arson. Fires continue to be set, and the Australian town of Echo Springs has a serial arsonist on its hands. Toby was at the scene of the crime for several of the fires and is therefore put under suspicion, worsening the already tense relationship between Toby and Ben as Ben is forced to investigate him. To make matters worse, there’s something important Toby hasn’t told Ben. All of this makes for an interesting story. Several suspects are considered, and the arsonist’s identity was unexpected for me when it was brought up. I wish things had gotten resolved a little faster between Toby and Ben, since they both still had feelings for each other, and I would have liked a love scene or two ;) but overall I was pleased. The letter thing at the end came off a bit cheesy though lol. I enjoyed the book, and I’d recommend it.

This is the second book in the Echoes Springs series and whilst book 1 was close to a 4, this book was a solid 4. I really enjoyed this chapter in the series. This is the first book by Daniel de Lorne I've read and I'll be looking for more by him. I really enjoyed the suspense and the relationship or lack thereof between Toby and Ben and I was kept busy turning pages waiting to see what happened next. The chemistry between the two men was hot and I kept hoping they'd get it together before it was too late. One of the mysteries that was left hanging at the end of book 1 was resolved, but many more still remain to be answered in the remaining 2 books. I'm looking forward to book 3.

Thanks to NetGalley and Escape Publishing for a copy in return for an honest review.

A brilliant read with a brilliant storyline and characters and I will look forward to reading more from you from this author thank you for my arc

Embers and Echoes is the second book in this multi author series and provided a dark past, mystery and suspicion throughout the story. It was a good story, and I’m sure it will have appeal for many readers; however for me personally, the series so far hasn’t been great. I will keep reading though as there are more stories to come.

3.5 Stars Embers and Echoes is the second book in the multi author series Echo Springs. Mystery, suspicion and facing the past, this one has it . I liked this story and look forward to reading the remainder of this series.