Customer Reviews

The Elusive Flame

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I really love Kathleen's books. I first read "The Flame and the Flower" twenty years ago and I have reread it so many times that I've had to buy four books! I've read all of her books and loved everyone of them. This book was great. I was so happy to find out what had happened to Brandon and Heather. The only thing I didn't like was that this book came out before "A Season Beyond a Kiss" which is Jeff's(Brandon's brother) story. The love scenes in this book are as hot and sensual as all of her other books. Beau is a wonderful hero just like his father. And Cerynise is just strong enough to handle him yet appear shy and fragile at the same time. Buy this book and reread it again and again.

The Flame & the Flower is my favorite romance novel of all time, having read it at least 15 times, and I always hoped the author would write a sequel about this fascinating family. Twenty-five years later I got my wish with The Elusive Flame. I didn't care that it focused on Beau as an adult. I knew that Woodiwiss, with her great writing style, would do something with this character and create a great storyline. But, disappointingly, something fell short. After reading it through, all I could think of was that I wished she had done things differently. The beginning of the book starts out good, with the usual evil relative leaving Cerynise destitute. You have to feel sympathy for the heroine, and you do with her, but I just couldn't believe that she always loved Beau, and I couldn't believe that Beau would be so quick to marry her just to help her in a bind and then fall just as quickly in love with her. Perhaps if the author had written a prologue of when Cerynise and Beau were younger, writing in more detail about the times when she teased him in class, when he rescued her from bullies and others that picked on her, and the moments when she would ride with him on his horse, then we could believe that these two people were meant for each other. Once they admit their true feelings to each other, the story goes flat. How many times can you read about their tremendous devotion and their acts of lovemaking that reach incredible heights without getting bored? The best thing about a romance novel is the tension, the separation and the range of feelings leading up to the realization of love, and Woodiwiss gets them together too fast, leaving the reader nowhere to go. I wish that Beau had another woman in his life. If he's so kind and charming as the writer says, surely there must have been a woman with whom he was intimate other than harlots. Why is it that these good-looking men are only intimate with harlots? If there was another woman waiting for him in Charleston, it would've created that tension and confusion for Beau and Cerynise and the other woman. I have to admit that when I finished it, I read it again, only because I enjoyed reading about Heather and Brandon, and somehow I kept hoping that I would read things differently the second time around. Woodiwiss missed the mark on this one, but I still love her work.... And I look forward to the next Birmingham book called "A Season Beyond A Kiss." Does anyone have any info on what this book's about? P.S. I'm glad to see that others were just as confused as me about his EYE color, because she mentions in the book that his eyes are emerald in one sentence and sapphire in another. And we all know that Beau had Brandon's eyes!

Kathleen Woodiwiss wrote the first historical romance I ever read. I read "Shanna" when I was 15, and it was the standard by which I judged further novels I read. 18 years later I can still remember the names of all of the 'bit players' in that book, because Ms. Woodiwiss used to spend time developing her minor characters. I have found her work since "Come Love A Stranger" to be shallow and unworthy of the steep price commanded by a new Woodiwiss novel.

I have heard that six or eight years ago Ms. Woodiwiss became a born-again Christian and turned away from sensuality in her novels. All deference to her religious conviction aside, it seems that she has also turned from character development, ingenuity, and plausibility.

I still have my dog-eared copies of "The Flame and the Flower", "The Wolf and the Dove", "Shanna", "A Rose in Winter", and "Ashes in the Wind", but I'll not be reading any more new Woodiwiss novels.

My mother has always been a fan of Kathleen Woodiwiss and has tried, unsuccessfully, my whole life to get me to read and enjoy her books. I've tried, "Shanna," "The Wolf and the Dove," and all the others, but never could get into them. However, when my mom bought her copy of "The Elusive Flame" I figured I'd try to again read "The Flame and The Flower" because I tend to like series. I wasn't dissapointed. "The Flame and The Flower" was excellent and by the time I finished "The Elusive Flame" I found myself digging all the other Woodiwiss novels out and planning to read them. I've read some of the other bland reviews of "The Elusive Flame" and wonder, did you all read the same book I did? The characters were *not* one demensional, they were very much like Brandon and Heather. You'd expect Beau to be like his father, which he is and you'd expect him to fall for someone like his mother -- which he did. Cerynise is a lot like Heather in so many ways, the only difference being that Cerynise is a little more outspoken. All in all, it was a great read and one I'll visit many times in the future. I anxiously await the next book in the sage that began with Heather and Bradon. Thank you, Ms. Woodiwiss for an excellent book and a great group of characters!

What happened to the Woodiwiss I remember starting with "The Flame and the Flower" "The Wolf and the Dove", etc. They were so full of passion and rich character development. The woman characters now are modern day feminist not at all resembling their female counterparts of the 19th century and the male characters are weak, spineless fools. I miss the Woodiwiss stories which were truly historical romances and not modern day tales in historical settings all caught up in being politically correct and sugar coated so as not to offend.

Make that 3.5 stars. Although this book isn't as good as some of the vintage Woodiwiss books, it was still better than I expected, and thus, I enjoyed it. It starts off with interesting events - the death of Cerynise's guardian and unexpected arrival of her guardian's heir, Alistair. He doesn't particularly care for Cerynise and he makes no secret of that fact. Before she knows it, she's thrown out on the streets with no money and nowhere to go. Deciding her only choice is to return home to the states, Cerynise heads for the docks. Barely making it to the docks, she is rescued by Beau, a man she knew from her childhood. They enter into a hasty and temporary marriage as a means of keeping Alistair from taking her back as his ward.

During the long voyage to Charleston, Cerynise falls hopelessly in love with Beau. But because the marriage is only temporary, they both try not to give in to temptation and consummate the marriage -- and there's a lot of temptation. By the time they reach Charleston, both are in turmoil about the direction their relationship should take, and unbeknownst to them, Alistair is hot on their trail bringing with him the threat of death, and the destruction of their shaky relationship. To make matters worse, Beau is a much sought after and very wealthy bachelor whose family home is in Charleston. Upon their return, women pose another threat to Cerynise and her shaky marriage as they try to ensnare Beau for themselves.

While the Elusive Flame doesn't make the reader pant and sigh with emotion as much as some of Ms. Woodiwiss' earlier romance novels, it nonetheless delivers enough romance to hold your attention. The story has elements of danger, adventure, suspense, a little mystery, and a lot of jealousy - which adds a nice bit of spice. The different circumstances the two lovers find themselves in also add a good bit of excitement to the story. Both Beau and Cerynise are developed well enough that they come to life, and you can feel their feelings changing from merely curiosity and admiration for each other to a deep and lasting love.

While at first it seemed a little weird to have a man reading this book, I quickly got over my surprise since his reading didn't distract me from the story. Bottom line, this is a book I would recommend.

I ran out and bought this book after reading "The Flame and the Flower." While I've always enjoyed Woodiwiss, and have generally re-read her novels several times (My copy of Shanna is falling apart), this one is heading straight for the circular file.

I really loved the Birmingham story in "Flame and the Flower" - so much so that I started rereading it almost immediately upon finishing it. You know how they say sequels are never as good as the original - DEFINITELY the case here.

The plot was weak. The antagonists (Winthrop and his lawyer) were too stupid to be threatening. In the past, Woodiwiss's "bad guys" always seemed ruthlessly determined, and at times, downright scary. Alistar Winthrop is just a greedy knucklehead, through and through. Even before the "climatic ending" (and I use that phrase loosely), I had a picture in my head that these two buffoons looked like Joe Peschi and Daniel Stern of "Home Alone" fame. When Cerynise was doing the bad guys in, I kept waiting for her to grab her cheeks and scream ala Macauley Culkin. In fact, I wanted to do that myself! I think Ms. Woodiwiss is spending too much time watching kids movies' with her grandchildren if this is the type of ending she is coming up with now.

Bitten by the bug of political correctness, the rape or forcing of the heroine by the hero isn't present in this novel, either - which has always been part of the Woodiwiss formula. While that isn't necessarily a bad thing, in this case, it made for a weaker story. There wasn't this huge emotional obstacle for them to overcome, just their own bumbling lack of communication. The emotional tension between Beau and Cerynise just isn't there, and that tension has always been one of the fun parts of the Woodiwiss novel.

There were editting problems, too. I could never figure out if Beau's eyes were blue or green. Because sometimes Cerynise is reminded of Heather's blue eyes, and at other times, she is looking into eyes of deep green. It makes me wonder if Woodiwiss even wrote this novel. That's something that should be decided upfront. Eyecolor is a no-brainer.

While I'm still planning on reading the newest Birmingham novel, I'm not rushing out to get it. I hope it's better than this one!

The Flame & the Flower is my favorite romance novel of all time, having read it at least 15 times, and I always hoped the author would write a sequel about this fascinating family. Twenty-five years later I got my wish with The Elusive Flame. I didn't care that it focused on Beau as an adult. I knew that Woodiwiss, with her great writing style, would do something with this character and create a great storyline. But, disappointingly, something fell short. After reading it through, all I could think of was that I wished she had done things differently. The beginning of the book starts out good, with the usual evil relative leaving Cerynise destitute. You have to feel sympathy for the heroine, and you do with her, but I just couldn't believe that she always loved Beau, and I couldn't believe that Beau would be so quick to marry her just to help her in a bind and then fall just as quickly in love with her. Perhaps if the author had written a prologue of when Cerynise and Beau were younger, writing in more detail about the times when she teased him in class, when he rescued her from bullies and others that picked on her, and the moments when she would ride with him on his horse, then we could believe that these two people were meant for each other. Once they admit their true feelings to each other, the story goes flat. How many times can you read about their tremendous devotion and their acts of lovemaking that reach incredible heights without getting bored? The best thing about a romance novel is the tension, the separation and the range of feelings leading up to the realization of love, and Woodiwiss gets them together too fast, leaving the reader nowhere to go. I wish that Beau had another woman in his life. If he's so kind and charming as the writer says, surely there must have been a woman with whom he was intimate other than harlots. Why is it that these good-looking men are only intimate with harlots? If there was another woman waiting for him in Charleston, it would've created that tension and confusion for Beau and Cerynise and the other woman. I have to admit that when I finished it, I read it again, only because I enjoyed reading about Heather and Brandon, and somehow I kept hoping that I would read things differently the second time around. Woodiwiss missed the mark on this one, but I still love her work....If you haven't read already, I recommend The Flame and Flower, Ashes in the Wind, and Petals on the River.

P.S. I'm glad to see that others were just as confused as me about Beau's EYE color, because Woodiwiss mentions in the book that his eyes are emerald in one sentence and sapphire in another. And for those of us who are The Flame and Flower devotees, we all know that Beau had Brandon's eyes! Emerald!

and rereading it, over and over, most of Woodiwiss's other books haven't compared. "Petals on the River" was close, but the sexual and emotional tension between Cole and Alaina was breathtaking, heartstopping and in the end, very satisfying. "The Flame and the Flower" suited me because I like when the lead male character is more aggressive and rough around the edges, as Brandon was. I don't ususually expect much of sequels in general, and though Beau and Cerynise (couldn't get used to that name) had great sparks, Beau was just a little too tame for me and what is with the changing eye color? First they were green as emeralds, then compared to Heather (his mother) as sapphire blue, then green for most of the novel, then again randomly blue. I'm a stickler for good editing, and that just threw me sometimes. In addition, I wish that Beau and Cerynise would have had even more sexual tension; they got together and resolved their love issues too quickly for me to be interested throughout the whole book. The subplot with Alastair and his solicitor were ok, but the plots to murder Cerynise and the attack scenes that ensued seemed just thrown together and not well thought out. Maybe Woodiwiss wanted Beau to have more of an "adventurous" life since he settled down so quickly. I did appreciate the fact that Cerynise was a painter. I would have liked to see a subplot involving her artwork more than attacks on her life. As for what was said about the "Home Alone" elements toward the end, you hit the nail right on the head. Clunk!!!

I admit this was a pretty good sequel to "The Flame and the Flower". A bit different from the original, but good. I usually dislike sequels and find them never holding a candle the original, but this one held a pretty strong one. The beginning was kinda hard to trudge through in my opinion, but once it got rolling, it was really good. I liked the hero Beau Birmingham,(Heather and Brandon's son from The Flame and Flower)he was a very strong character. Was alot like his father from the first book. Cerynise was a strong heroine and never seemed to falter and become weak as in some romance novels, she held her own. My only complaint was in the "villians". The first book, the villians were really scary and had you wondering what would happen next, very unpredictable. But these "villains" weren't anything of the sort. They were clumsy and predictable. I also was dissapointed in how quick the couple seemed to fall in love. They were suppose to be old friends and she always loved him as a child, but I just wasn't convinced. Though I was excited to see the characters from "Flame.." appear. Heather and Brandon was funny and the same as usual. The story line could've been better. As with the other reviews, I thought the ending was a bit stupid and seemed derived from a certain "movie", but I wont say anymore. =) Also I was as confused as everyone else to what color Beau's eyes were during the entire book! One time they were Blue the next they were like Brandon's(green), then Sapphire! Aside from that I did enjoy the story. Most of exciting part of the story is on the ship to the Carolinas. I am now looking forward to the 3rd in this series, "Season Beyond A Kiss". I hope this helps anyone out there!