Customer Reviews

Heart of Fire

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

 

 

Coralee Whitmore, a viscount's daughter, is used to ferreting out the truth in her job at Heart to Heart, the ladies' gazette she edits, so when her half-sister supposedly commits suicide, Coralee will except no less than the truth. Her quest takes her to Castle-on-Avon and into the home of primary suspect Grayson Forsythe, Earl of Tremaine, a reknowned rake whose wife was killed in the same river as Corrie's sister. Posing as a poor relation whose older husband has abandoned her, she moves in, much to the chagrin of Gray's sister-in-law Rebecca. Gray, a brooding widower, is intrigued by his distant cousin's country wife, and offers to make her his mistress, which she declines. When her true identity is revealed, however, they both have to resign themselves to the fact that the people they believed they cared for weren't real as they are forced into marriage.

On paper, all of the proper elements are there and had this just been a stand-alone, I would say it was decent, but not a keeper. However, for those who have read Heart of Honor, Krista & Leif's story, when comparing the two I feel that Heart of Fire feels almost forced and falls flat. The chemistry at the beginning of the story is wonderful, but once Gray and Corrie marry, the awkwardness between them isn't resolved well and ruins the last half of the book. Also, there were a few plot elements that bothered me and made the supposedly intelligent Corrie seem TSTL. For instance, when your life is in danger, you probably should not strike out for London at night just because your husband has injured your feelings. Though I realize that pivotal parts of the plot take place in London, it seems that Ms. Martin could have found a smarter way to get them there. Over all, an okay book that you don't necessarily have to read to follow the series.

This book left me feeling very unsure at the end.

First, the heroine lies and manipulates her way into the hero's home in order to prove he is her sister's murderer. Now this is kind of unbelievable. If you suspect someone of being a murderer do you really want to live in their home, and do something to make them potentially angry with you like...I don't know.... deceiving them into taking you in.

Second, the hero lets her stay even though he suspects she is not being forth coming. I assume this is to make the hero appear more intelligent since he is being completely duped, but do you really want to invite someone into your home and expose your family to a person whose motives are suspect.

Third, this leaves a big forgiveness scenario, and I'm not certain the heroine did enough to endear herself to the hero to achieve the forgiveness she receives. That is the reason I gave this book 3 stars.
The hero compromises the heroine and has to make it right despite the fact he has been deceived, but what did the heroine do deserve the hero's forgiveness. I am sort of on the fence on this one.

It seems the most these characters have is passion.

Coralee Whitmore doesn't believe for one moment that her beloved sister has committed suicide, let alone taken her baby with her. That could only mean foul play and Coralee is determined to find the murderer.

Disguised as a poor relation, Coralee infiltrates the household of the notorious Earl of Tremaine -the man she believes is the babies illegitimate father. There she will stop at nothing to discover the truth of what happened to her sister.

But what she finds doesn't precisely clear up any questions. In fact the longer she stays the more susceptible she becomes to the Earl's charms, no matter how much she despises his rakish lifestyle.

Good book with exceptions. I thought the characters were fleshed out well and the story carried enough momentum to keep me flipping the pages. The attraction between Corrie and Gray is immediate and builds through the book. Also the murder plot is rather interesting even though I didn't particularly care for the villain one way or the other. And I do believe that the entire premise of having Corrie pull off the disguise (fooling all those people) was a bit too far fetched (but hey its a romance!). An entertaining book, but not something that I'd call a shelf keeper. Might want to get this one at the library instead.

Since I didn't read the prequel, Heart of Honor, I can't comment there. But it does sound interesting - a viking? hero in Victorian England who comes from an isolated island where he lives with other 'warriors' like they did hundreds of year ago? Okaaaaay. But heck, I'm open to something new!

So this book can be read as a stand alone. Nothing spectacular, but a good way to spend an afternoon. Recommended.

Heart of fire is the story of Corrie Whitmore and Gray Forsythe. On the surface, the story could have been good. The mystery of what happened to Corrie's sister Laurel kept me intrigued. However, the author was very stingy with the details.
After her sister is found dead and accused of committing suicide and murdering her own child in the process, Coralee decides to leave fashionable London society to ferret out the truth. She knows her sister could not have done such a thing. So hearing rumors about an alleged affair, she heads to Castle-On-Avon determined to find out if Lord Tremaine seduced then murdered her sister.
Of course, she can't go there as herself, so she poses as his long-lost cousin's abandoned wife. A poor country girl with no education but a killer body and beautiful face. Tremaine is instantly taken with the woman and is determined to seduce her, even though he is in mourning for the wife he lost nearly four years ago.
Corrie (posing as Letty) whittles her way into the estate, searching for clues that would point to her sister's murderer. She is infatuated by Tremaine, though apparently every man in this book is Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp. She's apparently never met a man she didn't think was attractive.
For about two hundred pages, the story goes nowhere, just this stalemate between the hero and heroine; will he seduce her, will she capitulate. Until one day, she runs out, because that is what immature heroines do, in the middle of a storm and is injured. And of course Gray went out and found her, and because she was injured, he could not risk getting her back to the estate, so they found a small shack and literally, shacked-up.
Here she's been at this estate for...? I don't know, the author was not very keen on time, but let's just say a month and a half, and all of a sudden her father shows up. Which means, Corrie's cover is blown, she is not the country bred wife of his cousin which had not discouraged him from seducing her, she is the daughter of an Earl or Viscount or something.
Marriage!
Understandably, Gray is hurt and angry over the ruse, and so is determined to make her life hell. He becomes crude and crass, relating to some degree of his lovemaking with her to his own family. Gentleman? I think not.
The obligatory heroine running away even though her life was being threatened, and the ensuing chase. This story was so routine, yet there were times when one was really interested. The baby farms where small babies were essentially taken to die, and the determining who and what killed Laurel. The author just got a bit lazy, I think, directing the love-connection that she really missed a great opportunity to tell a decent story.
As i said, when the author told us what happened to Laurel, you just shook your head and said, I would have never figured that out.

Usually I enjoy Kat Martin's books, usually the heroines are fresh and the heroes dashing. This novel fell flat. Coralee Whitmore is absolutely convinced that the Earl of Tremaine is guilty not only of fathering her sister's illegitimate child but also of murdering them. She believes this based on only hearsay because no one ever saw them together.

Coralee is going to avenge her sister's death, to accomplish this she needs to infiltrate the Earl's castle, so she presents herself as a poor relative, Letty, who married a distant cousin of the Earl. Grayson Forsythe, Earl of Tremaine, accepts Coralee's story but is still very suspicious of her. Coralee is by nature independent and bold and now must present herself as meek and subservient. She sometimes forgets herself in this role and her true colors come out only to confuse Grayson.

As time passes Coralee realizes the Earl did not have an affair with her sister but is convinced someone else in the castle did. Grayson is falling for Letty and one night they succumb to passion. Unfortunately, Coralee's father finds them together and suddenly Coralee is exposed and forced into marriage with the Earl.

The Earl's anger is understandable; after all he has been duped. Coralee is aware of his hostility but still on the quest to find her sister's killer. Coralee is reckless and a bit immatureand her expectations are of a teenager and not of a 22 year old. Her reporting skills leave much to be desired and for a smart girl, how intelligent is it to explore hidden dark places by yourself without telling anyone of your whereabouts? Coralee has trouble making up her mind too, when Gray hurts her feelings, she runs back to London to stay with friends, even though she declares that she is truly in love with her husband.

The premise of the mystery was good and so was the hero. He just deserved a worthy heroine.

This is the second book in the Heart Trilogy. The first is Heart of Honor, the last is Heart of Courage.

I loved the strong heroine in this book. She is a risk taker who follows her heart to try and find the murderer of her sister after her death is ruled a suicide. She did what we all would hope we had the guts to do if our sister's name was sullied. Worse was the fact that her sister was also accused of killing her own child.

The story line was a little unbelievable in parts but if you are not too critical, it is a very entertaining read.

Loved the chemistry between the hero and the heroine. The book also made me want to read the prequel, which I'll have to find now. I love Kat Martin's books and this one was no different. The only thing that made me cringe was when the hero drugged the heroine to have sex with her. But it's a small incident in a long, wonderfully written story. I would definitely recommend this book.

although not entirely original, this story was engaging, touching and left me wishing I had more to read after I finished. The romance was lovely, the love scenes not too graphic as some can be, and the intrigue, while not as 'suspenseful' as a thriller, really delivered for me. i felt that the heroine was interesting and realistic for this type of novel; i enjoyed her witty comebacks and headstrong manner. i also enjoyed the first in this series by martin and will continue to enjoy her work.

This was my first book by Kat Martin, and I really enjoyed it. I will certainly read more by her. The story itself was not particularly original, but it was done very well and had a good ending I could get into. The story includes a hero who is an earl with a sour past, a bad disposition, and belief that love will always elude him. He finds himself attracted to his distant cousins wife, who is really a rich viscount daughter in disguise. She is trying to figure out who killed her sister, and knows the earl and his family will unnest the needed clues, so she devises the scheme to get close to the family.

The predictable story parts are abundant, including the typical 'heroine wanders the house at 1 a.m. and runs into her hero, only to get seduced', or the 'heroine goes for a horse ride/walk alone only to find the hero', oh and lets not forget the ever popular misunderstandings that could sooooooo easily get cleared up in a two minute coversation. Luckily, it DOESN'T have any typical TSTL moments. The heroine was pretty cool, and remained above board and intellegent throughout the story. The hero was great too. So despite having many of the cliche elements, Kat Martin does them pretty well. I love historical romances, and in the end I must say I really did enjoy this book. In fact, I especially liked the way the author wrapped up the ending, as it was quite moving and not overly rushed. I would have given this book 3.5 stars if not for the ending.

In 1844 Coralee Whitmore rejects the official position that her older half-sister Laurel committed suicide. Instead knowing in her heart that was preposterous, Coralee, the society editor of Heart to Heart ladies gazette, decides to apply her reporter skills to prove her sibling did not kill herself by going undercover to investigate.

She pretends to be an impoverished relation Letty, who asks the Earl of Fremaine to give her shelter as she believes Gray is at the top of the list of suspects who might have a motive to kill her sister. Instead of a cold blooded killer, Letty finds her host kind and caring. The gentle aristocrat hides his inner turmoil caused by the death of his wife from his guest. As they fall in love with the respective mask each wears to hide the real person, Letty begins to wonder who should be next on her list of potential killers while Gray feels he does not deserve a second chance especially with the nurturing Letty.

HEART OF FIRE is an enjoyable early Victorian romantic whodunit. The mystery is cleverly devised so that every clue re what happened to Laurel either affirms she took her own life or Gray is involved. However, the fun in this fine historical is the changing relationship between the lead couple; as they fall in love they begin to uncover the secrets of the other leading to trust issues. Kat Martin is in top form with this terrific tale.

Harriet Klausner