Customer Reviews

Fire in the Heart

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

 

 

I enjoyed this book so much!! I couldn't put it down. I even skipped my kickboxing class just to continue reading it!! The sex scenes were absolutely sizzling, but very, very believable. They were so ordinary, yet intense. The Heroine was a little too much, but of course, she had been raised in an orphanage and had to survive.

Unlike some of the readers who found it historically untrue, I beg to differ. The ton married below themselves all the time!! Especially women were married all the time!! They were absorbed into the system. The bit about her moving around while pregnant and the wedding were a little too far fetched, but I enjoyed it all the same. The ending was sort of rushed in my opinion, but that is possible because I didn't want the story to end.

This book did what it was supposed to do. It took me into another world. And I was happy to stay there. I strongly recommend it. One of the best!!

Sorry. I don't see what all the excitement is. I tried, I honestly tried to read this book. I tried to get into the characters. But I could see nothing appealing in Bonnie... yes, the author tried to make one sympathetic to her circumstances, but she was spiteful, vicious, dishonest, and frankly, all her anger against the "hero" made no sense at all. It's difficult to believe a gentleman would be attracted to her. You may account for lust, with a vivid stretch of the imagination, but it's a real stretch.

Maybe they were a match, after all; as a hero, Damien came up short. His reactions to other the characters are not consistant... one moment he's tolerant, the next he flies off the handle. Furthermore, and all the brooding just gets boring.

Perhaps it gets better. I don't know. There's only so much I could force myself to read before I gave up and put the book away. I think I made it to Part 2, but it was an effort.

My advice to anyone looking for a good read? Judith McNaught. Julia Quinn. Kathleen Woodiwiss. Shirley Busbee. Johanna Lindsey. Nora Roberts. Jennifer Crusie. Teresa Medeiros. Susan Sizemore. Ah, but my list could go on and on, and that's not my purpose here.

The only thing this book lacks is compelling characters, interesting dialogue, honest emotion, and a storyline.

In the summer of of 1996 my grandma gave me this book and said it was one of the best she ever read, being 16 at he time and more interested in computers, boys and music I took the book and put it away for later. Two months later I was bored and decided to try reading this, my first ever romance novel and with one chapter I was hooked for life! I have been reading historical romances for almost 17 years now and never have I found one to replace "A fire in the heart" as my favorite! The characters in the book become so real in your mind and you can almost see them in people you know, some of the other reviews said they did'nt like the characters because of broodiness, spoiled behavior, or indecision in their actions but that is what sets this book apart from the rest. It is a romance not a fairytale where everyone is perfectly behaved, always makes the right decisons and never has a change of heart. While reading about Damiens struggle with his feelings for Bonnie you are made to understand what true love can make you do, and while reading of Bonnies temper tantrums and sometimes violent behavior you come to understand that we dont always do the right things to someone you love and there are consequinces for that. This book has the perfect balance of romance and real life to make you believe that this is a truly great love story of passion, lust, forbidden love, and forgivness . I have had four copies of this book so far because I always go back to it when I want a great read to make laugh, cry and fall in love.

This was the first book I ever read by this author. I initially read the book several years ago but I pick it up ever few months and re-read it. One of the few books to ever make me cry and laugh out loud throughout the entire book. You can't help but feel connected to the characters and deeply moved by their circumstances. This book is my favorite of all time!

but I wish I could get the TIME that it took to read this one..BACK.

I don't have a lot of good things to say about A Fire in the Heart. My first Sutcliffe book was Dream Fever, and I can honestly say it ranks up there in my "all time favorites". I was so excited about this "new author" that I went and bought her entire backlist. I've now read 3 of her books, and Dream Fever is the ONLY one I've really liked. Love's Illusion was OK, but this one was BARELY readable. Only determination got me through this one. Was Dream Fever just a "one hit wonder""?

Here are my beefs:
1. I struggled with the whole ward/guardian relationship. It seemed weird and incestial at times.
2. Bonnie was a HORRIBLE character. Instead of feeling sympathy and love for her...I felt that she acted like an entitled snob...ungrateful and completely unlikable.
3. Damien bugged me too! Not only was seducing a vulnerable girl in his home deplorable, he takes Bonnie's virginity and then vows to never touch her again and disappears. This bothered me greatly the FIRST time, but when he kept using her and then vowing to never do it again, I was pretty much done with him.
4. Bonnie's pregnancy bothered me. It seemed ridiculous (both Bonnie and societies response).
5. The ONLY characters I liked in this whole book were Damion's mistress and his brother. How sad.

This book deserves more than 5 stars!!!!!!! This is the first book I read of Katherine's and I knew I wouldn't stop here. The story rolls you through so many emotions you sometimes can't tell when you're feeling one thing or the other. The heroine has a will stronger than steel and I admire her greatly. The hero himself, you will hate and love; you have no choice.

I fell in love with this book and partly because it was the first book ever to make me cry. When things were so rough, and I thought they were never going to get back together I couldn't help but feel for Bonnie. Then, of course, you can't help but feel for him too, especially when he finally admitted to himself that he loved her and was finally searching all over for her after she left. This book is a great read and is highly recommended. You won't be disappointed.

I wish I had listened to the more critical voices on these pages and saved my money for a better book. Katherine Sutcliffe's 'A Fire in the Heart' is not only filled with terrible historical errors and anachronisms, it also boasts a heroine who is irritating, tiresome and idiotic. I often wonder why certain writers believe such women could ever inspire love or friendship! The only thing they could ever inspire is an itch to defenestrate them (joining the books, of which they are the heroines)

Bonnie is supposed to be a girl who spent a considerable number of years in a poor house (where one would have most certainly been broken by the constant abuse, psychological and otherwise), until she manages to escape. On the run, hungry and feverish, she collapses at Damien's, the Earl of something and Baron of something else, threshold and at death's door. After the Earl/Baron and his household give her shelter, protection from her pursuers and life-saving care, little Bonnie starts on the mend. So what, pray, is the first thing she does as soon as she comes to? Why, she flings the broth offered to her across the room, abuses the staff and the Earl, breaks a valuable heirloom and behaves as if she's some spoiled minor royalty touring the Yorkshire Dales, entitled to all and everything these people have. Such behaviour would not only be unthinkable in the rigidly structured social spectrum of the Victorian era (where Bonnie would have been dispatched, without further ado, back to the poor house...had she behaved like she does in Sutcliffe's book, which would have been inconceivable in the first place), but it would, rightly, earn the silly cow a kick up her backside today. Yet, Sutcliffe believes such character to be attractive, feisty, spunky, peppy, with an adoring readership waiting for her next bout of shenanigans. What a load of codswallop!

As if an annoying heroine was not enough to put you off, the book is also full of glaring historical errors and anachronisms. For example, the way the writer treats the issue of 'illegitimacy' is scandalously wrong. The legitimate heir of a title and an estate (both entailed) could not be forced to accept an illegitimate brother into his life or home, by any will of any father. Illegitimate sons were entitled to absolutely nothing (nor could they inherit an entailed estate or title, even if there was no legitimate heir).If the titled father of an illegitimate son wished to leave something to the latter, that could only come from the father's private income (i.e. income obtained by the father's private financial activity, provided the capital did not come from the estate's funds or income), or in the form of lands privately purchased by the father (again with money that had nothing to do with the estate). The one thing a titled father could not do was to write a will forcing the legitimate heir to acknowledge an illegitimate brother (such will would be invalid). Given this, Damien could not be bound in any way to his illegitimate brother, nor could the latter stay in Damien's home against Damien's wish.

Similarly, Sutcliffe disregards all widely known facts about the near impossibility of obtaining a divorce (especially one in which the woman initiated proceedings)and has Damien asking his mistress to divorce her husband and marry him. Sutcliffe does goes through the motions and throws historical info at the reader(a few names and dates here and there), but her book has no real historical sense or feeling. All her characters emote, speak and think as if they are creatures from the 1980s and have nothing to do with the later half of the 19th c. As for the sex, it too goes through the motions and it is rather yawn inducing.

Some readers may find the hero somehow interesting (as some, not much, attempt at psychological complexity has been made), but any good will shown to the writer shall not be rewarded, as a most insufferable, stupid and annoying heroine will be waiting for you round every corner. Bonnie and the complete disregard for historical accuracy defeated my patience by chapter 9, where I gave up trying to plough through this book. I'm happy to report that I got rid of it faster than you could say, "Gordon Bennett!".

One of the best romances I have ever read ! Brilliant story and great characters. With every turn of the page you are carried along with Damien and Bonnies love story, hoping and praying that Damien will at last put his unhappy past behind and finally acknowledge - what all his family and friends have always known -that he is deeply in love with his 'urchin'. With so many obstacles in their way you begin to wonder if their love story may not have the happy ending you are praying for. But the narrative keeps you guessing to nearly the very end ! Excellent read.

My son wanted to know why I was always smiling when I was reading this book. This truly is the one of the sweetest romance books I've ever read. Highly recomended. 2 thumbs up!

The BEST book I have amongst my hundred collections of Diana Palmer, D. Macomber, J. Lindey, I. Johansen etc. This is absolutely fantastic. Page turning with moments of drama that will make your heart twist. You will never ever regret having this book. Its a definite MUST HAVE!

My first romance book was Barbara Cartland when I was in Grade 3. There will be a time that you'll be so exhausted reading the same old plot of. J. Lindsey, J. McNaught, J. Krentz, Nora Roberts, R. Rogers, K. Woodiwiss etc. After a while, you'll you'll get more adventurous to try books of Harold Robbins, J. Krantz or even, take an adventure with Sheldon, Anne Rice, L. Deighton or even Agatha Christie (one of my old time fave).

Apropos, Your romantic heart will be looking for romance in a new paradigm. THIS IS THE BOOK!. This is a BEST SELLER. Count on the experts.