Customer Reviews

Lord of Fire (The Knight Miscellany)

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is Lucian's story and Ms. Foley was very good in what she penned!

Lucian is a twin but feels that he never measured up to his other twin Damian in anyone's eyes. He follows his brother into the war but decides that the Army is not for him he makes the choice to become a spy instead and fight the war on that front. Damian feels that he has taken the wrong road and turns his back on his brother. Lucian starts living his life then as if he really is a black hearted soul with no conscience.

Alice has lost her mother and father, and just recently her brother has come back from the war and dies from his injuries and now she is left with his wretched wife Caro and her nephew Harry whom she loves. It is this love for her nephew that helps Alice and Lucian's paths cross. Caro has gone to London and has plans to play the two Knight twins against each other. Even though Damian does not act like he cares for Lucian, Lucian has no qualms about looking out for Damian and lets him see Caro for what she is. A player and out for herself in all imaginable ways. Caro follows Lucian to his home down near Bath to his secret society party. Alice follows Caro there because Harry is sick and wants his mama. What happens is that Alice ends up in the Grotto and Lucian thinks that she is a spy out to kill him.

Of course there is more that goes on but the end result is that Lucian sees something in Alice that he has not found in his life someone that cares regardless of the circumstances. He makes a deal with her he will let Caro go home to Harry if Alice stays for a week. He promises that nothing will happen she just needs to keep him company. She stays and finds not only herself but also her best friend and Lucian finds his salvation.

This is a very romantic story with plenty of emotional moments. Lucian allows himself to be seen not only as a strong hero but also as a human when he lets down his own emotional guards down. There were many tender moments between Alice and Lucian and these moments were not between the sheets. The second book in the Knight family series is wonderful and you don't want to miss it.

I'd like to begin this review by saying that I am a big fan of Gaelen Foley's Ascension series. Lord of Fire initially looks like its going to reach the par set by the Ascension series, but it misses the mark.
There are things I loved about this book, notably, the underworld setting at Revell Court. The initial meeting of Lucien and Alice sets the reader up for high expectations. However, as the story progresses, Alice's ad nauseam purity and unselfishness and the artificial virgin vs. [bad girl], Alice vs. Caro, dichotomy just set my teeth on edge.
After pulling an all-nighter to read this book with great anticipation, I had to conclude after the first few chapters that this story was painted in too-broad strokes of black & white, good & evil. Just very one-dimensional characters.
In some storylines, authors manage to get away with dogmatic characterizations of heroes and villains. Unfortunately, this is not one of those times. Everyone's characterization just flattened out into stock cliches. I kept flipping the pages in vain, looking for someone to surprise me.
I love Ms. Foley's writing style. But, in this case, it wasn't enough to make the story enjoyable for me.

First off, I'd like to say that I have read a LOT of historical romance novels.. McNaught, Kat Martin, Deveraux.. and Foley is, by far, THE VERY BEST. This book is excellent. Lucien will melt your heart.. an excellent read, and one that I would recommend to anyone who reads historicals.

Lord Lucien Knight has a problem. He has an intruder in his house that may thwart his carefully laid plans. Revell Court is an estate Lucien inherited from his father, which he converted into his "fortress of sin", a discreet house of pleasure catering to his guests' ever whim. Shrouded in secrecy is the true purpose for Revell Court. It is a listening post for the government's secret service, designed to lure top international spies into its net and extract information from them.

Into this snare walks Alice Montague. She has arrived to fetch her sister-in-law, Caro, and take her home because Harry, Caro's son, is sick. Caro is Lucien's mistress. Lucien is immediately taken with Alice not only because of her beauty but her innocence. His work and his life experiences have made him into a cynical and distrustful man, and to know there is someone of such innocence who exists in this world is refreshing but almost hard to believe. He designs a plan of his own to keep Alice at Revell Court for a week to which she reluctantly agrees.

Meanwhile, Lucien finds out that his nemesis, a French spy named Bardou, is alive and preparing to wreak havoc in London. Lucien drops off Alice in Bath and orders her to stay away from London. Alice doesn't listen. She follows Caro and Harry to London and refuses to listen to reason when Lucien tries to persuade her to leave. I'll end the summary here.

Lucien is a likable character. He is not as dark as his twin Damien but Lucien is, all the same, haunted by the atrocities of war and estrangement from his brother. He and Damien had a falling out because Lucien opted to go into Diplomatic services instead of continuing his service as a military officer. He longs for something pure or good in his life that will help him to believe again that uprightness and wholesomeness do exist in his world; that there is a noble purpose to his mission.

While I love Gaelen Foley's Knight Series, I think, however, that Lord of Fire is the weakest of the group. This latest tale about Lord Lucien Knight and Alice Montague fell far short of Lord of Ice, the story about Damien Knight. The storyline was not quite as good nor the characters quite as impressive. The female characters are infuriating. I couldn't, for example, bring myself to even like Alice. She may be beautiful with plenty of goodness in her to "save" Lucien, but she was also mind-numbingly stupid. If you were dating one of England's top secret agents and he warned you to stay away from London because something disastrous was going to happen, would you blithely walk into the enemy's snare because you were angry with your boyfriend? That's Alice for you. What a self-centered, dull-witted girl.

Can Gaelen Foley do no wrong? I read this book in one sitting. An all night one. LORD OF FIRE was so fast-paced and action packed that I could barely find a place to stop for the night...so I just didn't. The book is a balancing act of romance, angst, mystery, steamy sex, and doing the right thing. Ms. Foley balances them like a pro without losing her innate and colorful writing style. Her books always have some underlying topic of importance and are never an empty bubble of simpering heroines and jealous heroes. Oh no, LORD OF FIRE, introduces us to a heroine who may seem like a bit of a doormat at first. But lets beware of first impressions, Lady Alice has thorns that are a perfect foil for Lucien and his devilish ways. Rather than becoming a story of opposites attracting, LORD OF FIRE is a waltz between doing the right thing and doing what you want. The two end up balancing perfect...with Gaelen sweeping the reader into a fantastic romance, startling mystery, and action packed adventure.

This is how a romance should be. In a time when so many of the great historical romance writers have turned to following mainstream and publishing contemporaries, I am so glad to have stumbled up on Gaelen Foley. I loved her Ascension series and THE DUKE and now LORD OF FIRE only prove how a talent can expand and blossom.

This is the first book that I've read by Gaelen Foley and I must say that I enjoyed it! I liked the characters and could empathize, though I thought that they were a little underdeveloped. (Or maybe I just wanted to know more. I haven't read The Duke, which might make a difference.) I can overlook any lack of character depth because of the intensity of the plot. It was great--and the lone-wolf spy vs. the determined innocent is a favorite scenario of mine!

As I was browsing her other books, some reviews mentioned that Foley is not always historically accurate. I noticed this a few times while reading Lord of Fire, but I didn't think that the inaccuracies detracted from the story itself.

Overall, Lord of Fire is worth reading and I can't wait for Lord of Ice to be released!

This is the story of Lucien, twin brother of Damien Knight. I read Lord of Ice before this and it has to be one of the best in historic fiction I've read. The problem in this one is, as others before me have mentioned too, the unlikable heroine.

The beginning of the book was more than promising. Dark, sensual, exciting scenes start to unfold in Lucien's country home with mysterious guests, spies, secret passage ways and an incredibly pure heroine in the middle of all, strangely attracted to the master of all these, Lord Lucien Knight. Lucien "forces" her to stay with him in his home and they fall in love; the dark hero and the pure heroine. So far so good. As soon as they both admit to their love for each other I started to hate Alice (and perhaps dislike Lucien). She treats Lucien, who up until then appeared strong, confident, decisive, as if he were a child. "Please be careful my love", "oh, my heart what must you have been through" etc. And strong Lucien, puts his head on her lap for her to coddle him as if he were a puppy. I understand that he was starved for love but this transformation from rock hard to puddle was more than a romantic ever asked for. The only thing that saves him in the end is that he chooses revenge instead of love. And Alice is not happy that he is not firmly wrapped around her little finger! Oh no! She decides she has had enough of him and goes straight into the enemy's hands instead of Lucien's warnings about what could happen if she came to London. It turns out that pure and innocent and good Alice, is an unbelievingly CONTROLLING female, that rather sees Lucien as his mother than his lover. And poor Lucien, what has befallen him! It is my opinion that most romance readers like me, do like their heroes strong and solid as rock, but soft and caring about their one true love. What this book misses, is the diference between soft and "jump doggie, jump!" which Lucien has turned to.

Not my cup of tea this one. On the other hand, the story of Damien, the other twin, is for me the best in a series of great books.

I finished reading this book in 1 day.

This is Lucian's story. The "fallen" twin who just never quite measures up to his brother. A spy who hosts "orgies" in his underground grotto to gain useful information for national security. A man who is the verge of personal collapse. He has seen, experienced, and performed dispicable acts of humanity and is completely disenfranchised with everyone and everything. He is alone.
Enter Alice Montague.

She is his opposite. A naive, innocent, virgin who has never seen half the things that haunt Lucian. The scene and circumstances to which they meet for the first time is perhaps my favorite meeting of all time, and there are scenes throughout this book that make it UNFORGETTABLE (ie..the rain scene, the hot springs scene, the key scene..just to name a few).

Other reviewers have mentioned the unlikelyhood that these two could ever actually get together. Others talk about Alice's naivity and purity as being annoying or stupid. I just don't agree. Alice is exactly what Lucian has been missing from his life, and if she were any different, I don't think she would've had the impact on him that she did.

I really liked Alice....I really loved Lucian. He was a unique blend of power, strength, vulnerablity, and tenderness. He is in touch with his feelings and tells Alice he loves her before she tells him. He goes to extreme measures to keep her with him, but as soon as their friendship develops past attraction, he gives her the keys (literally and figuratively) to leave. Of course by this time, WHY would she want to! This is a wonderful love story. This is really Lucian's story of his redemption and acceptance of himself...the definition of "a keeper".

I guess how much you like a given romance novel depends on where it falls in the queue of romance novels you have already read.

For me, Lord of Fire was an absolutely heart-palpitating favorite. I loved Lucien. He captured my imagination as the ideal "wicked but not really" hero. I loved the heroine. She was the perfect blend of fiestiness and wide-eyed innocence for me, still a wide-eyed innocent myself, to completely "buy" and understand. And, the book was exciting. Their tense, sometimes romantic, sometimes almost violent exchanges (not just sex, but everything) thrilled me.
Moreover, I fell in love with Lucien. He was so enigmatic - at times breathtakingly romantic and at other, harsh and impenetrable. I adored the book and couldn't get enough of him.
And, since I couldn't get enough of him, after I finished Lord of Fire, I voraciously kept searching for more books like it. And, not too surprisingly, I found them. Lucien, after all, is not too rare as far as romance heros go, I now realize. And, I am not sure, but I think that if I had gotten to one of the others before I did to him, I would have fallen in love with "Alastair" or "Devon", and thought that Lucien was just a poor stereotype.

But, if you enjoy tenderness and harshness, and crave to fall for an enigmatic man who can remain aloof and unaffected by perversions while falling helplessly inlove with an angelic girl, then how can I not recommend one of my faverite romance novels ever?

Other books I enjoyed for pretty much the same reasons as above(and I bet I have read as many as you!) include:
Jane Berry's "Grand Illusions", Catherine Coulter's "Rebel Bride" and "Lord Harry" and Joan Wolf's "the Gamble". Also good, but not really romance novels, are "the Gambler's Rose" and O. Henry's short story "The stockbroker's marriage".

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Lord Lucien Knight is a brilliant spy for the English Crown. Years at war have honed him into a hard, cunning man. But very few know of his secret life as a spy, so genius is he at his deceit. He is one of the best, respected by his fellow spies, but shunned by the one person who means the most to him, his twin brother Damien. That is, until an innocent young woman stumbles into his private sanctuary....

Alice Montague swore to her brother on his deathbed that she would always watch out for his young wife and their son. This vow is what brings her to Lucien's den of depravity where he does much of his work, to return her sister-in-law, Caro, to her son Harry, who is ill. Alice is appalled when she arrives at Lucien's home and enters into his private Grotto. Lucien is intrigued by Alice and forces her into a deal with the devil, making her spend a week in his home, alone with only Lucien and his servants there.

Alice vows to resist Lucien's allure, going home as innocent as she arrived. Unfortunately for her, he is very good at his seductive game and she falls under his spell and in love with this mysterious man. Lucien finds himself in love with Alice as well, but she does not yet know of his secret life as a spy. He is afraid to tell her the truth, for fear she will spurn him as his brother did.

While Alice and Lucien are growing closer, so is an evil adversary from Lucien's secret life, the only man who was ever to break him, Claude Bardou. Bardou has been hired for a mission of destruction in London, but his personal task is to destroy Lucien. He must find Bardou before the man can carry out his plans and he will also finally get to seek his revenge against his most vile of enemies. Will Lucien defeat Bardou once and for all and find happiness with Alice? Will she accept his other life or will it turn her against him?

Ms. Foley's talent is all the more evident with every book she writes and this novel is no exception. Her characters are so full of life and so real that one almost expects to see them walking down the street. Lucien and Alice have such an incredible relationship that starts out rocky, and stays that way until they learn to accept each other for who they are, faults and all. When Lucien finally admits his true feelings to her, his love and agony are so strong and he is so vulnerable, it actually brought tears to they eyes of this reviewer.

The action in this story never ends either. It grabs the reader from the very first page and carries the reader on a roller coaster ride of excitement, all the way to the gripping climax. The opportunity to meet Lucien's twin brother, Damien, and some of his friends, sets up the sequel to this book Lord of Ice.

Ms. Foley is truly a rising star of the genre and will have the readers anticipating each additional book. Good news as well... there are plans to write stories of more of the Knight family siblings.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, June 2002. All rights reserved.