Customer Reviews

Fireside

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

 

 

I'm appalled that someone trashed this book with a 2 or 3 line review. Obviously someone with an ax to grind.

This was a WONDERFUL book. It's a clear departure from her beloved Tristain series, but the reader is given a chance to see another side to this wonderful storyteller. Cate Culpepper's Fireside is the story of a restless woman, Mac, who is a new therapist at a women's shelter (Fireside). She never stays in one job very long, and has her own reasons for that. She also has a nagging voice, or ghost, that has followed her to her new job.

At Fireside Mac meets Abby, the shelter's resident doctor. The attraction evolves between them, but Mac is sure that it's a one-way attraction, since the doctor is certainly straight.

I could feel the warmth of the fire and the caring that all of the residents and staff have for one another. There are stories and issues that each person brings to the center, and facing those head on can be terrifying, but can also result in gaining victory and shaking off the hold that they have had on their lives. Each woman works to gain independence, confidence and security. Can they forgive themselves for events in their pasts?

I certainly loved Cate Culpepper's Tristain series, and I hope that she writes a sequel to that some day. However - this book is a great stand-alone book that will renew your faith in the human spirit.

Buy this book and read it! You will not regret it.

This book is a "cozy" read about friendship, love, and real life struggles. The characters are very likable and it's nice to spend time with them. The action takes place at a domestic violence shelter staffed by three women who somehow manage to work closely and still be friends - and more. It was interesting to get an inside look into this kind of setting. Not a job I'd want, sounds unsafe from the violence they all face but good to know more about it. There is a ghost of sorts of in this book, it felt out of place until the end when it finally came together and made sense thus allowing the one character to find herself and feel whole and at home at Fireside. Yap, the book is well named and I enjoyed it.

I hadn't read anything by Culpepper prior to this, but will go back and read her others now. This was a lovely story, with well thought out characters and the women's shelter was an interesting setting. I enjoyed not only the burgeoning love story between Mac and Abby but also the way the other relationships develop. The 'B' storyline with Mac was also intriguing and I enjoyed the pay-off from that as well.

I believe Fireside is the first Culpepper novel I have yet to read, but it won't be my last. I'm not one to usually jump on stories that include the paranormal, but I have to say I enjoyed the journey as Mac and Abby found friendship, love and the family that they would grow old with; while Mac came to terms with past memories and put her ghosts to rest. There were no sexy love scenes, but there was love and romance. My last thought about this story, is that if I had read it in my 20's, I probably would not have enjoyed it. I think there is a message in the story & lives of each character, but it takes a certain maturity level to get it.

There is nothing spectacular or unique about the premise of this book. The story follows one of the few basic recipes in the genre. Lesbian meets straight girl, straight girl has funny feelings she can't explain, lesbian confesses attraction, and they ride off into the sunset. Sounds simple, right? Not so quick.

Although the premise is cookie-cutter, the characters and the telling of the story are not. Mac is a psychotherapist. She has deep-rooted personal issues, can never stay happy in one place for long, and moves around a lot. She takes a job at Fireside, a unique kind of residential women's shelter in the woods of Virginia. Her first day on the job, she meets the initially scary Cleo (who quickly turns into a protective teddy bear) - security - and the intriguing Abby - on-site doctor. Knowing there are lines that shouldn't be crossed, Mac stays away from Abby even though she quickly falls and falls hard for the physician. It doesn't take long for Abby, who considers herself straight, to start questioning her feelings for Mac.

As these two women work through their problems, the author sprinkles sub-plots throughout the text. One husband finds his wife at the shelter. The take in a runaway from a local home. The shelter's benefactor and her husband provide some needed comic relief. And, finally, Mac confronts her own demons.

Bottom line... A good solid story with a three-dimensional cast of lovable characters.

A gentle tale that, apart from the lesbian element, is very formulaic and reminiscent of Mills & Boon novels of 20 years ago. The characters lack depth, especially Abby who turns from being straight to loving women without a second of self-doubt, angst, or introspection.

It's a book that is readable and all too easy to put down. It's probably worth 3 stars but loses one for having a ghost as a character. It's been done to death, doesn't add to the book, and requires that disbelief not be suspended, but hung by the neck until dead.