Customer Reviews

Innocent Fire

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is an excellant book. It is the first in the wonderful Bragg series. Get this book. Miranda is a beautiful, sensitive woman from a convent in France. She comes to America to meet and marry her husband, and meets her husband's friend, a wild, half-breed named Derek. Derek falls for Miranda on the spot, and she is attracted to this rugged man but she is going to marry his friend. Together the battle each other, a passion, the wild west, an a crazy madman who wants Miranda for his own. This is an excellant, sensual book.

I found this book to be one of the most disturbing books I have ever read. The heroine is continually raped. I read romance novels to enter a world of fantasy and joy not a world of crime and pain! I had to force myself to finish this book to put it behind me. After reading it I was depressed and disgusted for three days! I loved Brenda Joyce's other books so I just wanted to tell you that they are usually great. I can't say I would recommend this book to a friend, an enemy definitely.

This book was irritating in many ways. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was bad, just irritating.

For one thing, the plot was way too similar to Kat Martin's Natchez Flame - though I believe Joyce's book was written first. The plots were different, but the entire premise was nearly identical. It hasn't been that long since I read Martin's book, so to read one so similar was a little boring and annoying.

Aside from that, Miranda was an overwhelmingly tiring character. She was the very extreme of the typical naive miss of the time, to the point where she just seemed damn stupid. I realize that innocence and naivte was the norm back then for women, but she was and extreme and it got freakin' annoying to constantly read all her witless babble. And it seemed kind of unfitting that such a wordly man as Derek would become so connected to her.

The plot was a bit long and tedious and repetitive. I mean, Miranda is kidnapped three times in the book. Once or twice, okay fine, but three times? It was a bit much.

I also thought that the resolution of Miranda's feelings and her situation was poorly dealt with. It was like *snap* she'd changed her mind about certain things and all was right. There was also this side storyline dealing with Miranda's father. There were some serious issues there, but that's never resolved. At the end, he comes to see Miranda. She spends about a half hour with him, where they talk about nothing serious, and Miranda suddenly thinks to herself that he's not the beast she thought he was. That was it. It was a really cheap way to resolve something that had such an impact on the story.

Anyway, Innocent Fire wasn't a horrible book, but it's not one I'd recommend to others for reading.

Rating: 2 / 5

Book was written around 80s, this means you'll see some rape scenes, an spineless heroine, an alpha hero or/and a plot that will have you grinding your teeth if you're a strong woman.

With that said, this book was worth 4 stars if you can ignore the heroine. Yes, she gets raped a couple of times... but what made this book awful was NOT due to this harsh treatment... it was the fact you could not stand the heroines who was shy, naive, dim witted... frankly, she was an IDIOT! OMG, I've yet to come across a heroine who was this stupid. She was raised in a convent, ok fine... this does not make someone dumb!

She blushes every 5 mins, she cries every ten, everything hurts and she's scared of EVERYTHING! In addition to all this sickening weakness, she comes across as a judgmental, opinionated, bible thumping cold fish, til the end of the story. I wished through out the book the hero would just dump her off somewhere....

INNOCENT FIRE..... this title is a joke, innocent -- she was more then an innocent, she was an idiot... Fire, WHAT fire? never seen such spineless heroine in ANY romance novel, period.

DOnt waste your time with this book if you can't stand doormat heroines, it'll have you grinding your teeth all night.

I should have known better than to read a romance novel from the '80s. I love Brenda Joyce's newer books, because they're trashy escapist fun. But there was nothing fun about this book.

First of all, like others have mentioned, the heroine is an idiot. She's so sheltered that she needs our intrepid hero to tell her she's still a virgin after the first of her many kidnappings - see, she doesn't actually know what sex is. He informs her of this fact rather rudely, ignoring the fact that she's been brutalized other ways. I guess as long as there is not vaginal intercourse, it doesn't count as an assault.

Second of all, the repetitive plot drove me insane. I guess everyone living in Texas 150 years ago was constantly being kidnapped and raped by Comanches. After all, our heroine managed to get kidnapped a grand total of three times in a matter of months. And throughout her time in Texas, she was constantly being harassed, fondled, and raped. At one point in the beginning of the novel, we even get to witness the near rape of her mother. This leads the heroine to later muse that a husband can't rape a wife.

I get that this book is taking place in an entirely different era, but Joyce needs to remember she's writing for contemporary readers. I like my heroines to be a little sharper on the uptake, and I could do without all the raping. I would definitely recommend Joyce's De Warenne series of books. For the most part, the women - who can still certainly be sheltered and naive - are not total idiots, and the kidnapping/rape scenes are kept to a bare minimum.

Ms Joyce certainly knows how to keep a reader enthralled from start to finish. Neither the story or the characters were predictable, which is as it should be with any good novel, romance or otherwise. I look forward to the other books in the series. Brenda, you have a new fan!

I loved this book because it was not typical, this was a great story with a cute ending. My friend let me borrow it and I couldn't put it down, ever since then i have read almost all the Bragg Family novels.

This was a truly moving book. It held my attention. The characters really come alive through Brenda Joyce's creative story telling abilities!

This is one of those novels you will either love or hate depending on the type of romance you like, and I see the reviews pretty much reflect that. I've read a few of Brenda Joyce's books and I've decided I'm not a big fan of her brand of romance novels. That being said, this was by far her best and I actually really enjoyed it.

First of all, Derek Bragg is one of the best heroes I've come across and I think that is the main reason I enjoyed Innocent Fire so much. Although Miranda was definitely a frustrating female lead for 3/4 of the book, I understood her and her struggles considering her extremely chaste and sheltered background. I think Joyce could have given Miranda a little more spine at times to make her easier to relate to and and I agree with some reviewers that she suffered way too much rape and violence. But nevertheless, I still really enjoyed the story because I loved the drama and the suspense Joyce infused the plot with. Perhaps the constant kidnapping was a bit repetitive but I was not put off by it as the reader gets a genuine appreciation for Bragg as a hero and Joyce makes it incredibly easy for the reader to love him. Likewise, as Miranda matures and finally wises up towards the end, you really start to appreciate her character.

My biggest criticism of the story was how Joyce resolves Miranda's relationship with her father in the end (spoiler alert). The reader is basically led to assume that the near rape scene of Miranda's mother in the beginning was merely a child's misperception of all the facts which was genuinely off-putting. Joyce expects you to accept that in the end, her father was really a good man without so much as a conversation regarding what Miranda witnessed or an apology - it seemed so rushed and I found it very hard to justify Miranda's sudden forgiveness of him.

Otherwise, a genuinely enjoyable read from Joyce.

I have seen the low reviews on this one and I just don't agree. First, you can't tell this story without rape. Not to give away the plot but it isn't gratuitous violence; it very much reflects the times and the threat every woman faced on the frontier. Although at times Miranda's life looks a bit like the Perils of Pauline with more dire consequences, it is still believable. Second, I don't agree with the one who said it was slow. It does slow a bit in the middle but that is only by contrast with the horserace the rest of it is. I am so glad I ignored those reviews and bought this first in in the Bragg Saga (see list below).

The story begins in 1840, as Miranda, daughter of the Earl of Dragmore, raised in a convent in France, travels to Texas to meet her betrothed, a wealthy Texas rancher and a member of the British nobility, who fell in love with her picture two years ago when she was only 15. Once in America, Derek Bragg, a handsome Texas Ranger, who is half Apache, escorts her to his best friend's ranch. Miranda is so innocent she has no idea of the ways of men and women and doesn't even recognize her attraction to the handsome Bragg. Beautiful, with black hair and violet eyes, she is coveted by all men who see her, including a Comanchero named Chavez they meet in a small town, who wants her.

I felt like I was on a fast moving train reading this romance. The story was so intriguing that Joyce had me reading late into the night as Bragg and Miranda crossed the American west, and Miranda, a sensitive well-bred lady, encounters the harsh realities of life on the frontier and the rough ways of hard living men. There is much action in the story: Indian attacks, fights, Texas Rangers fighting Indians to protect the settlers and then the ever-threatening Chavez and his Indians. Derek is a wonderful hero, a man who could be both tough and tender, as he came to grips with his feelings for Miranda. And Miranda, who had a lot of innate spunk, went from a naïve girl to a strong woman.

My advice is that you ignore those low reviews and get this one if you plan to read the series. It's captivating and it is also foundational.

The Bragg Saga:

Innocent Fire, June 1988 (Derek Bragg and Miranda)
Firestorm, November (1988 Storm Bragg and Brett)
Violet Fire, May 1989 (Rathe Bragg and Grace
Dark Fires, June 1991 (Nicholas Bragg and Jane)
The Fires of Paradise, April 1992 (Lucy Bragg and Shoz)
Scandalous Love, November 1992 (Nicole Bragg Shelton and Hadrian)
Secrets, April 1993, (First in the Delanza Series Regina Bragg Shelton and Slade Delanza)
After Innocence follows Secrets (Edward Delanza and Sophie)

See also, The Darkest Heart, December 1989. It's connected to The Fires of Paradise--it's the story of the hero's parents (Candice Carter and Jack Savage)