Customer Reviews

Fever

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The vivid descriptions and character details of this book kept me glued to the pages for three hours...when I reached the end with real tears in my eyes. Ms. Sutcliffe took the time to develop this book as few other historical authors do. I could actually feel the frustration of living in a time when it was forbidden for slaves to learn to read and people could be hung for doing it. I liked the heroine's resilience and determination to rebuild her plantation no matter what it took, even if her beloved rejected her along with everyone else. Kind of a like a nice Scarlett O'Hara.

Unfortunately, there are several inconsistencies and holes in the plot. For example, the plantation--Belle Jarod--had come from her father, Jack Broussard, yet bore the name of Juliette's mother, Maureen Jarod. One is led to believe in the beginning that Maureen was nothing but a prostitute who destroyed her husband's life with her affairs with other men. Then we find that she befriended slaves and worked side by side with them to make the plantation successful. We know for certain that she had one affair--with her husband's best friend--but that is supposedly because her husband neglected her because of his responsibilities on the plantation. So I'm confused. DID she have a lot of affairs? WAS she a prostitute? Or was that all blown out of proportion?

Maybe I read the book too quickly, but I am really fuzzy on how the house burned down the same day Jack found Maureen with his best friend. Jack must have done it, but since Maureen died in the fire, wouldn't that be murder? Such a thing is never suggested. And there are other fuzzy parts. Like how did Juliette end up in the river that day when Chance saved her? It didn't appear to be suicide. And when the five hooded monsters came to Belle Jarod and the black woman died trying to protect Juliette, what exactly did they do? Was it so horrible the author is trying to protect our sensibilities? More fuzzy parts and questions. And Tylor was a caricature of a villain. He didn't have one speck of good in him, so it was too easy to hate him. Ms. Sutcliffe could have given him a bit more depth.

But both Juliette and Chantz are well-drawn characters who are not easily forgotten. Some of the details may be unclear, but it IS clear that I was hooked from the first page, and by the middle of the story, even the thought of eating lunch could not draw me away from it. "Fever" is a much deeper, darker story than I am used to reading, and it left me reeling with strong emotions. I recommend it with these words of warning: don't ask too many questions and don't start reading it if you have a big project to finish.

Richly descriptive, chock full of conflict, secrets and heat, Katherine Sutcliffe's FEVER delivers.

Chantz and Juliette are true soul mates, yet betrayal waits at every turn, threatening their love and lives. Their unflagging stamina in the face of one trial after another inspires.

Become part of 1850s Louisiana in this beautifully written love story. Katherine keeps getting better and better.

Katherine Sutcliffe has long been a favorite of mine and with her latest offering, FEVER, I can see why she continues to be an author whose books I will always pick up. Intense and beautifully written characters, a hero to die for and an heroine who is (thank goodness!) not some simpering miss! Run, do not walk, to pick up this latest fabulous book from Ms. Sutcliffe. Bravo!!!

Rarely when I read a romance novel do I truly get swept away in a story. "Fever" accomplished this rare feat. I sat down to read it and was simply transported to a different era. Sutcliffe has an amazing way with description... I felt the steamy Louisiana heat, I could taste the pralines melting on my tongue, I could hear Rosie singing from the kitchen, I could smell the stagnant flooding river water... really the descriptions in this tale were superior to anything I've read in a very long time.

This story is a somewhat cliche tail of love... the mud dauber overseer of a plantation and his forbidden love affair with the debutante heiress of the Big House. That being said, it was refreshing to read it. I enjoyed Chantz, the hero, on many levels. He is sexy, smart, reckless, bold, passionate... his growing love for the robust little Juliette is adorable. The little girl invades all of his senses and drives him mad with passion. The sincere innocence to which Juliette loves is refreshing too... she simply takes this man's face into her hands and declares her love for him, much to his utter surprise and chagrin.

I loved how the hero and heroine had such strong chemistry built on something other than attraction. Chantz was Juliette's hero when she was a child and he literally saved her life by heroically tumbling into a fire to pluck her from her bed. He was her caretaker many times too, and it's obvious this little girl did not have a lot of stable heroes to exemplify. Chantz was her sunshine as a child and now, as a grown woman, he's still her sunshine. When he plucks her from the river it's obvious the two of them are destined to save each other, again and again, both physically and emotionally. The attraction between them beyond that is memorizing and palpable. I was literally on the edge of my chair waiting for each kiss between them.

If there were any issues with this novel, it would definitely be that several plot details are just sorta... grazed over. For example... how did the original fire start that killed Juliette's mother? How did the second fire start, the one towards the end of the novel? When Chantz was mugged was it simply a stranger and a random event or was that supposed to tie into the novel? What exactly happened when the masked men attacked Juliette and how did India die? How is it that Tylor was able to whip Chantz- Chantz was not a slave, he was an employee. Why did he submit to the whipping? I didn't get that whole part.. it was treated as though Tylor owned Chantz and could punish him how HE saw fit, not how the law saw fit.

Honestly, I didn't notice this stuff until I turned the last page. I sat there, completely sated and pleased for a while... then I stopped and thought back and noticed there were some details left out. I went back and my mind and filled them in a little just to make myself happy. Also... the plague stuff at the end... seemed sorta tacked on. I wasn't sure what to make of that. It was so rushed and overwhelming in the last handful of pages.

Overall, highly recommended. Delicious romance! I also recommend Sutcliffe's "Dream Fever" which also features a rambunctious woman-child and a dark, tortured hero and "My Only Love"... a lovely Regency tale with a more mature heroine.

I wasn't going to write a review of this one... until I saw all the negative reviews! I'm not defending Sutcliffe's work-- I think, in all, her novels speak for themselves.

However, I loved this book! It was one of the first ones I ever read back in high school and I still remember everything about the book. I've since re-read it a couple times and LOVE Chantz. He was big, bad and brooding... but I felt like when he and Juliette were intimate, it wasn't rough and dominating like it could have been if the author wasn't careful. Instead, you get to experience the couple's love for eachother as the intensely complicated and deep emotion is it-- at times maddening, bittersweet, passionate, obsessive, desperate, soulful, sweet, triumpant and healing. I felt like these two were meant to be together, even if they had to fight themselves to make it happen.

No, this novel isn't overwhelmingly suspenseful... but you know these characters are torn and feel deeply. In a romance novel, isn't that what counts?

Katherine Sutcliffe is hit or miss with me, but this one was definitely a hit. The plot and setting are steamy. The characters are complex and interesting. I especially like the godfather/villain, Max. Max seemed like the kind of person who could have gone either way.Circumstances eventually pushed him into villainy, but he didn't really want to be the villain. He wanted to have a wife who slept with him, a son who wasn't an idiot, and a farm that didn't keep getting flooded. Since nothing ever seemed to go right in his life, he had to keep trying, and that led him to being the bad guy.

I really liked the steamy scenes between the family members. It reminded me of Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". They drink and say terrible things to each other and then laugh about it. It was riveting.

I am a long time romance reader (over 20 years). I am a long time fan of author Katherine Sutcliffe. Out of all the books I have read by KS over the years, this one would fall down the middle - not great but, not awful. Simply a decent try but, nothing memorable unfortunately.

Like a few other reviewers, I concur that there was a lot of missing information in this story (how did Juliette end up in the river being rescued by Chantz and how did she not die floating in the river face down, how did the house burn down that Maureen & Jack lived in and no one got blamed for the deaths, how was it half the people were related to one another -Chantz, Liza & Tylor yet, most didn't figure it out for awhile?), poorly explained events and happenings (who did beat up Chantz in the alley and take his money, who was the group that killed India and what really happened to her the night they came to Belle Jarod for Juliette), as well as circumstances that were simply out of this world and hard to believe could happen (the yellow fever epidemic that claimed 10-11,000 lives yet, only took Max and Tylor at the end but, no one else in the immediate family - they all appeared immune). Many things went over the top (constant descriptions of how beautiful/sexy and desirable Juliette was to every hot blooded man, how handsome/sexy and naughty Chantz was to every hot blooded woman, how much they desired one another but, couldn't act on things or dangerous results would happen). Many people contradicted themselves as well - was Juliette's mother a saint or a true sinner? KS made her look very bad and then too good to be true, what was she? Juliette's father looked to be a good man and then perhaps a bad man possessed by the demons of love. Was he bad or simply misguided? Most of the plantation workers were shown to be wonderful people, most of the plantation owners and people in town were not. Max and Tylor were mean and hateful - no good seemed to appear in them. How many white woman would have been allowed to beat and smack white men - especially while defending slaves (even when it was the right thing to do)? In the deep south back when this story took place - even a white woman could have been flogged, beat or killed for such actions but, Juliette had no fear of rebuttal - not realistic.

There was almost too many obvious references of good versus evil, rich to poor, white to black and so on. I think to make this story much more interesting, the lines between all these things should have been more blurred and not so clear cut. Human actions, human emotions and human desires are rich, full bodied and complicated and clear cut lines are not so easy to see in real life.

There were times when the relationship with Juliette and Chantz would start to have momentum but, then stop. Outside actions kept causing their relationship to take time to develop and seem deep and real. The attraction and sex was clearly there but, I had trouble tuning into the "real emotion" between the two. It was easy to see why they were hot for each other. But...why did they fall in love - that was harder to see and feel.

I think KS missed the mark in many of these areas when writing the story of Juliette, Chantz and the secondary characters in "Fever". Like all her books, I always have such high hopes that the characters will blossom in time as will the story line. This book had plenty of potential but, seem scattered and not well developed at times. Because enough parts worked, I gave it 3 stars....I would have liked to give it more but, the drawbacks were too many to allow for that.

I am disappointed that it has been hard to find new books by KS (last ones seem to be 2003 and 2004 season) and those are more modern novels. Her last historical romances seem to be 2000 and 2001. If you have not read her yet, a few top picks by her would be "Dream Fever", "A Fire In The Heart" and "Shadowplay". If you like historical romances loaded with the works - these three will do it for you. These books are heavy on emotions, intensity, sexual sizzle, passion and are well thought out. The characters in these stories will be memorable indeed. These books I would give 4-5 stars. A few other books she wrote that are fairly good are "Once a Hero", "Jezebel", "Devotion", "My Only Love", "Miracle", "Hope and Glory", "Renegade Love" and "Desire & Surrender" . I would give this batch 3-3 ? stars. Other books by her are not much worth mentioning, were only so-so and I read them as only to work on completing my collection by her (Whitehorse, Heart Possessed, Love's Illusion, Obsession, etc). In this last batch, emotionally - they left me cold, intellectually - they left me bored, and physically, they had me racing through the pages to finish each book so, I could quickly go on to another novel that I prayed would be much, much better!

I don't know if KS is a hit or miss author due to poor editing, publishing over-sights before printing or if the author herself looses interest or steam at times. She is truly remarkable and talented. When she hits her mark, there are few better than her. When she misses her mark, it stings. Even though this story, "Fever" was average, this author is worth adding to your collection. Many romances out there these days fit set categories -light & fluffy or funny & sexy or dark and brooding or hot and dirty, etc. but, few can do it all. I would say KS is a more well rounded author and her best books show her depth and talent by combining all these elements at once. Pick her up and give her a try! Happy reading.

This has been one of the few books I have read and read until it was over. KS has created an awesome story, and the settings throughout the book are spectacular. I literally felt as though I was there in the bayou. Plus, I always love a romance novel that gives great sexual tension between the principal characters, and this one has plenty of it, even towards the end of the book. I recommend this to anyone with a free day and night because you will finish it in one day. I did it in a day and a half because I fell asleep with the book. Oh well...

I read this right after finishing "Darkling I Listen", a 5 star triumph. I couldn't put "Fever" down, so intense and vivid it is. However, it just was not quite as good as "Darkling", so I gave it just 4 stars. Ms. Sutcliffe is one heck of a writer. As I read, I felt the heat and humidity of the deep south. She is gifted in being able to represent the cadence and colloquillisms of the slaves. But the trials and tribulations just kept piling up. The incidence of the yellow fever was almost too much; kind of an "over the top" addition to an already boiling pot. Still, I enjoyed it and darned if she doesn't write the most appealing heroes in this genre.

This was my second Sutcliffe novel (Notorious being the first)and I have to say that this book blew me away! From the first page til the last I was simply captivated. This book has over 400 pages and I finished it in two, count them TWO days! Set in Louisiana, the author made me feel the intense heat of the bayou and made it come alive with her words. It was definitely not a light read. Very intense and a superbly written story with intriguing characters, some you couldn't help but love, others you couldn't help but hate. Thank you Ms. Sutcliffe for a superb story. This one will stay with me for days, the mark of a fantastic story and author.