Divine Fire [Mass Market Paperback]

Melanie Jackson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2005

When a biographer proves to know more about his life than the now-immortal Lord Byron expects, he draws her into a dangerous game—and his passionate arms.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

"Mad, bad and dangerous to know" is how Lady Caro Lamb described Lord Byron, but she had no idea. Desperate for a cure for his crippling epilepsy, he was mad enough to try an experimental treatment, one that left not just his words immortal but the man as well. Now living as Damien Ruthven, literary critic extraordinaire, he is intrigued by a new biography of his former life and more so by its author, Brice Ashton. Inviting Brice to New York to talk more about her work, he quickly finds himself falling for her. But his life holds danger for the new couple as his past comes back to haunt them. Borrowing from the lore behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Jackson pens a sumptuous modern gothic in which the monsters are real and creates an equally delectable portrait of Byron. Fans of solid love stories like those of Laurell K. Hamilton will enjoy Jackson's tale, which readers will devour in one sitting, then wait hungrily for the next installment. Nina Davis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 339 pages
• Publisher: Love Spell (February 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0505526107
• ISBN-13: 978-0505526106
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,917,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Melanie Jackson is the award-winning author of more than fifty novels, novellas and poems published in various languages. She lives with her writer husband, her bossy cat and spoiled dog in the Sierra foothills where it is almost impossible to grow pumpkins (or anything else the deer like). Besides gardening, she is involved with animal charities.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What was she thinking?, March 5, 2005

By 

Mkath - See all my reviews

This review is from: Divine Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

I've added Ms. Jackson to my over-hyped writers list. I read her previous series and liked only the first book with Jack Frost. The rest were confusing and badly written. This book falls into that category. It started off with a huge bang, and was very engrossing, it then descended into stupid drivel. By the end of the book I was hoping they were going to get killed. She doesn't spend enough time developing characters and relies on back story explanations. I felt no empathy or interest for their situation. I failed to understand why the heroine was even at his townhouse (oh wait the so convienent snowstorm). she was blocks away from her hotel, this is New York take a train! No instead she shacks up with someone she believes might be crazy and he then does crazy things. She of course takes at first glance his explanation because her husband died and she is still in pain! The reader is in pain after fifty pages because of her stupid decisions. The overly gory ending is not for the faint of heart and seems like it was tacked on to add suspense to a dead plot. Avoid this one. I threw this away. I was too embarrased to even pass it on to a friend.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jackson conjures fire is divine indeed!, February 14, 2005

By 

Deborah MacGillivray "Author," (US & UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Divine Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

Melanie Jackson is simply a beautiful writer. I could sit and read her prose without worrying where the words would carry me, just enjoying the beauty of her craft. This gift is coupled with a second talent - a vivid imagination. Jackson has taken us to Scotland where seven tears summons a Selkie and a ghost of a lonely piper still haunts and ancient castle. She lured us down moonlit moors where smugglers still plied their trade. More recently she has been taking us on one wild ride as the host of Fae fight the encroaching menace of the Goblin Horde as they peddle their dangerous Goblin fruit (and by the way, they were likely responsible for the mess in several cities of late!). These tales mark Jackson as one of the most original writers in Paranormal Romance. Often in Romance, you see books being similar. No one touches Jackson. She boldly blazes forth to write highly fresh tales, and Divine Fire is yet again one of these brilliant gems.

This time Jackson pokes her finger at Lord Byron and Frankenstein. What really happened that weekend when they Shelleys, Byron and John Polidori wrote their tales of vampires and monsters? Well, to learn the answer, you must approach Damien Ruthven. A man with dark secrets and long memories of that night over a hundred years ago.

Brice Ashton has written a biography about Lord Byron. She is surprised to get a message from Ruthven telling her she made three mistakes. Three mistakes only he holds the knowledge to correct. Intrigued, Brice accepts the invitation with the belief Ruthven has in his possession documents about Byron and Lady Caroline Lamb. Only the knowledge is not on paper, it's locked inside Damien's head.

In 1816, Dr. Johann Dippel invites Lord Byron to his chateau with the offer of curing his epilepsy. He did. But it had side effects that have caused ripples through the centuries. Ruthven's summoning of Brice now puts her in danger as there are those who want Ruthven to atone for that long ago night when vampires and monsters were born.

To say any more than that, would take the edge off this highly charged romance tale that delivers on so many levels. Once again, Jackson weaves her magic as few can do!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 stars., February 28, 2005

By 

AK "Bro" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Divine Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

Damien Ruthven was prepared to despise the latest Lord Byron biography to come across his desk. To his surprise, it was the most accurate one he'd ever read, despite a few errors. The authoress, Brice Ashton, knew things about Byron no other biographer ever had written- and Ruthven should know, since he was once Byron. In a case of the cure being possibly as bad as the disease, he'd long ago sought a cure for his epilepsy, with the result that he was now virtually immortal. Being so set apart from the rest of the world turned him into a very lonely man, nothing thrilled him and he didn't expect it to, until in answer to his summons, Brice walks into his life. Once more, he feels alive, yet he has made his angel a target. The creature who made him what he is wanted to kill him and thus find atonement before its own death. If Brice interferes, she is fair game as well.

***** Vibrant originality makes this what can best be described as a fast paced modern gothic novel It is the kind of book you don't want to end, but still want to see how it ends. Though I adore Ms Jackson's goblin novels- this surpasses them in excellence. *****