Customer Reviews

Born in Fire (Born in Trilogy, Book 1)

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The first book in NR's 'Born In' series is wonderful, you don't want to miss it! "Born In Fire" focuses on Maggie Concannon, a tempermental and loyal woman who is also a gifted artist. Gallery owner Rogan Sweeney takes an interest in Maggie's fabulous glass creations, and soon after takes a personal interest in Maggie herself. Maggie is a wonderful character, stubborn and flawed, yet still caring. Nora does a fabulous job of developing Maggie, and does it in a way that she seems like a real person. Rogan is an extremely likeable hero. Maggie's sister, Brianna, is her complete opposite; quiet, sweet, and calm. The relationship between the two sisters, however, is very touching and very real. This book is full of colourful characters, some we love and some we hate. The romance between Rogan and Maggie is wonderful. Basically, I just can't say enough good things about this book. You will love it!

Maggie Concannon is a very gifted artist specializing in glassblowing. While her craft has taken her around the world, the untimely death of her father has brought her home to the small village in Ireland. Maggie has a very strained relationship with her remaining family. Her mother blames her for dreams not realized, and her sister is her polar opposite.

Maggie is content with her life until Rogan Sweeney barges in and tries to take charge. He is a wealthy gallery owner, and wants to represent and display Maggie's work. Rogan is sure he can make her a star and wealthier than her wildest dreams. She throws him a curve when she informs him that she loves her work and each piece is what is important, not the money. They instantly clash, but yet are still very attracted to each other. Maggie is a fiery emotional red head that is never afraid to say what is on her mind. Rogan is tall dark and very controlled. Never a dull moment for these two.

This was a good light read, but not my favorite NR book.

this is the first in the "born in" series by nora roberts. it tells of the romance of maggie and rogan.

maggie is a red-headed irish girl who's tempermental, candid, brash at times, sexual, and afraid of marriage. she's a gifted glass blower who is on the cusp of stardom, although she's not aware of it yet, living in a small town in ireland.

rogan is a black-haired hunk with blue eyes and a focus on his business. he's the opposite of maggie in that he's more emotionally controlled, holds his tongue more times than not for appearance sake, is uncomfortable with the idea of losing control sexually (at least initially), and values marriage over just a sexual relationship. he is immediately enamored with maggie's artwork and wants to display it in his galleries. the conflict begins when he wants to take control and she doesn't want it because she's always controlled everything in her world up until then.

i loved maggie because she was comfortable with her sexuality and was committed to her art. she was outspoken and didn't hold her tongue if she felt something needed to be said. there wasn't any coy games going on with her when it came to rogan. she let him know early on she was interested in him sexually.

it was really cool watching rogan lose control of the situation, when he was so used to having control over every aspect of his life. i loved how the two characters came together sexually, too. it was definitely HOT, although i wish roberts had spent a little more time describing more of the interludes.

and the banter between the two was hilarious. maggie had an uncanny way of getting under rogan's skin, and the arguments between these two were almost as entertaining as the sexual encounters.

there were a few weak points of this book, though. for one, there was an unnecessary amount of time spent on them at work. while i understand the need to educate the reader on the process of glass blowing, sometimes i found myself wanting to skim over it so i could get to the interaction between maggie and rogan. i wish there had been more of it in the book. it wouldn't have been a bad thing if the storyline was interesting when they were apart, but it really wasn't. the only time it got interesting outside of the romance was when maggie and her mom were going at it.

if you want a strong female character who's funny and knows what she wants and like the idea of watching a man's control unravel, and you like reading about spontaneous and heated sexual encounters after reading uninteresting stuff for about thirty pages prior, this is the book for you. i thought it was aiight, but i'm not pressed to read it ever again.

Well, I usually read historical romances set in the United States but every now & then I'll try something different. Since Nora Roberts is such a big name author I thought I'd give one of her series a try. I have to say that I was very disappointed. I was pretty bored actually. I felt that this book had more to do with their jobs then it had anything to do with romance. The majority of the book Maggie & Rogan weren't even together or even talking on the phone. When they were together they spent a lot of the time not getting along. I also felt the few romance scenes were too short & lacking. I would have liked to give this book a 2 star rating since it stands for "I didn't like it" but since it's not my normal reading material I gave it a 3 star rating. I figure if a woman makes her man watch a highly rated romance movie & that's not his type of movie & then he goes & says that the movie was bad that it wasn't the movie that was bad it just wasn't his type of movie. I love romance books but I honestly couldn't wait for this book to end. I'll finish the series since I have them already but I sure hope they get better.

As a reader who most often prefers historical romance, I was skeptical when my bookseller urged me to read Born In Fire, the first of a trilogy set in modern Ireland. I have often said that I can only enter the fantasy world romance offers when the time and place is long ago and far away. Well, I was wrong, at least in terms of the time. But the place, well, Nora's Irish setting, both in Dublin and County Clare, offered me a wonderful fantasy world, and that's due to her phenomenal skill as the creator of characters and story-lines.

Born In Fire is the story of Margaret Mary Concannon, a brilliant and tormented artist whose medium is glass. After the death of her beloved father, she is determined to live her life alone. After all, while she loves her sweet sister Brianna, she had seen no love between her parents, and her mother despises her very being.

In walks Rogan Sweeney, wealthy and handsome gallery owner. He wants to make her a star. He sees in her art something he must possess, and he soon comes to see that in her as well. Like the water and hot glass that form her art, Maggie and Rogan are destined to be together, even though it's going to take him some time and finesse to convince her.

In a nice change of pace, it is not Rogan who is the tormented soul. No, that distinction belongs to Maggie, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. The manner in which the author describes her torment is heart-wrenching. The manner in which the author uses that torment to fuel Maggie's art is beautiful. I had no trouble seeing in my mind's eye the works of art Maggie created, and when Rogan assists Maggie on a particular piece, I felt I was in the room with them.

The imagery used by Nora Roberts to describe not only the art Maggie creates but the process as well is incredibly well done, and these were the scenes that put the book over the top for me. Maggie's creativity, Rogan's commanding persona, along with his comforting patience made a devastating combination.

The cast of secondary characters only added to the richness of the story, and there's at least one small yet strong secondary love story for readers to savor. What especially appealed to me about Maggie's mother was in the lack of resolution of their battles, which rang true to life - after all, not everything can be tied in a package with a neat little bow. Maggie's sister Brianna was more difficult for me to care about and seemed too much like a doormat, but whether that's because I was seeing her through Maggie's eyes or because Brianna becomes stronger in the second book of the trilogy, I am not certain.

I am certain that Margaret Mary and Rogan's love was definitely born in fire, but that Rogan's patience and skill will allow the fire not to consume them in a quick fit of passion but to burn slowly for the rest of their lives. This is one wonderful hero! I greatly anticipate the next books in the series and can only hope that Brianna finds a man who completes her as well as Maggie did.

This is the first part of Nora Robert's "Born in" trilogy.
1. Born in Fire
2. Born in Ice
3. Born in Shame

Maggie Concannon is a glass artist and a free spirit who lives alone in a small cottage in Ireland, just concentrating on her superb glass blowing skills while trying to block out the eternal carping and whining of her mother who lives nearby with Maggie's sister Brie. When Maggie is offered an exhibition in a Dublin gallery by breathtakingly handsome Rogan Sweeney, she fights against an instant attraction but soon succumbs, accepting him as a lover but refusing to tie herself down in marriage. The book describes magnificent scenery in France and in Paris itself, but is mainly concerned with steamy sex scenes on floors, couches, beds and almost antwhere else convenient. It's the first in a trilogy and seems to have captured the imaginations of vast numbers of readers, so who am I to quibble?

The whole series of Born In.. books together is great. Although each book can stand alone.

Three sisters grow in self knowlege as they forge bonds among themselves. During this time, each woman begins to find a special man that helps her develop and grow emotionally. What a wonderful set of books.

I have to say that this is one of my favorite trilogies and strongly feel that any one of these books are great reads.

I'd heard of Nora Roberts but had never read any of her books. This trilogy was given to me by someone at work. I've read the first two (Born in Fire and Born in Ice) and am greatly anticipating Born in Shame. Highly recommend!!

Great story, interesting characters, snappy dialogue, sexy scenes. Highly recommended! Born in Ice, the second of the trilogy, is not nearly as good.

The 2nd Nora Roberts book I ever read was "Born In Ice", which I only later discovered was part of trilogy -- and the middle, at that. I enjoyed it then, but resolved to go out and read the whole trilogy. I'm glad I did!

"Born In Fire" sets the whole tone for the 2 books that follow. While the relationship between temperamental glassblowing artist Maggie and upper-crust gallery owner Rogan is obviously at the forefront of this tale, the larger tale being told is that of 2 sisters and how they are coming to grips with the death of their adoring father and the reality of the long, loveless marriage he shared with their cold, bitter mother. The relationship and interplay between Maggie, her sweet-natured sister Brianna, and their shrewish mother provides some of the best dialogue in the book.

Maggie is a very well-developed character, who is so flawed and yet so wonderful that she is as human to the reader as one's own best friend might be.