Customer Reviews

Heart on Fire

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

 

 

Diana Simmonds is a great storyteller. I really like books where you don't so much read the story as live it. The characters are real and have depth. 'Heart on Fire' was so good I ordered an extra copy -- because I don't know when I'll get the first copy back from friends! I also just read 'Forty Love' and I can't really say which one I liked best (I ordered an extra copy of this book too). If you like Diana Simmonds' 'Heart on Fire' and 'Forty Love', you might want to try 'Under the Southern Cross' and 'Silent Heart' by Claire McNab, and of course 'Curious Wine' by Katherine Forrest

This is definately a great book. One of the best romances I've read. Looking forward to more books by Diana Simmonds. This is my fave of hers so far. linda.allen@MCI2000.com has great suggestions. Also try Karen Kallmaker's Painted Moon and Wild Things.

Great romance novel. It compares to other great lesbian romances. I loved the way it was written, you get caught up in the struggle between the two women to become lovers. The author takes you into the heart and soul of the women and the beauty of the area that surrounds them. Makes it a special place. One I would like to visit.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Jody is a seemingly atypical country star (i.e., she doesn't sleep with just any adoring fan) with an interesting band. Her bus breaks down in the middle of the Australian Outback and they find themselves stuck at a small truck stop for a few days. Grace, the owners' daughter, is a 28-year-old divorced virgin who immediately has unfamiliar feelings for the singer. After a little time and soul-searching on both women's parts, they find happiness with each other.

This is a lovely book with which you will not be disappointed. It is well-written, thoughtful, and believable. I'm only sorry I waited until 8 years after it was published to discover it!

There are lots of novels that promise a story of love discovered, but so few deliver it as well as this one. Jody thinks it's just a momentary diversion on an unexpected layover. Grace allows it to happen as a part of her self-exploration. Neither of them believes that love is even in the picture and yet the reader knows it, with every kiss and every caress. Both of them are so certain that their encounter will lead to nothing that they leave themselves vulnerable to feelings that demand a future.

The Australian setting of the novel is wonderfully conveyed, and the music that surrounds Jody a compelling part of her story. But the centerpiece of this novel is the unexpected love and the way these two women pursue their chance at happiness.

The biggest obstacle this book faces is in the comparison of it to Curious Wine. I personally don't think there is or ever will be a better lesbian love story than Curious Wine, but standing on its own merits, Heart on Fire was a good read. I base my opinion on whether I finish the book in less than a few hours. It means I couldn't put it down, or didn't want to. Granted, being an English major I've learned how to read fairly quickly, but believe me, I usually savor good love stories. There are many books from Naiad I've bought, and there are some that I just couldn't even finish because it didn't grab me. This one did. Just one lesbian's opinion.

I couldn't put this book down.I read in one night and loved it. She really made me feel the story. I'm looking forword to reading more of her work.

It is a little dated but a nice sweet romance. My only complaint is the extended angst of the main characters. Love is love, it's rare and should be cherished.

I've got a pile of about a dozen books that I bought for Summer reading. This one was recommended for those that enjoyed Curious Wine (my favorite Lesbian Romance). I had read Diana Simmonds book Forty Love many years ago and re-read it at the beginning of the Summer, so I was already familiar with her work and the Austrialian Setting. I wasn't sure I was going to like this book as it first began, but then I found myself reeled in. After I was done I re-read it from cover to cover (which I'm finding myself doing with about all the books I've read this Summer ... including re-reading the really good parts over and over). What I wish for all the Lesbian Romances that I've read this Summer is that there is a sequal or the story continues after the pair finally realize that they have to be together. I always have to use my imagination after the last page to think of "what's next for these two ?"

I read "Curious Wine" one day then the next "Heart on Fire", and all I could say is that there is no way possible "Heart on Fire" can compare. "Curious Wine" was my first novel of this sort and boy talk about exquisite. I think I have read and re-read it about 3 times, in that week, while I've only read "Heart on Fire" once and then I skipped around--- alot. I guess the reason the story was not interesting was that the chemistry between the character's was not there for me.