Customer Reviews

Oceans of Fire

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I have been a big fan of all of Christine's work since I first read Dark Desire and Wild Rain and I have been an avid collector of all her books. She has been a favorite of mine for a long time and I wait anxiously for her every book to come onto the shelves just so I can scoop one up as quickly as possible. I really liked this book because underneath all the twists and turns, it had a great deal of emotion for all of the characters involved. While I can understand that some people cannot handle the complexity of so many subplots and different characters that were so involved in the story, I for one, loved every life of every person. It made me want to learn more about each and every character without allowing me to stray from the two most important characters of all. I cried and I laughed right along with the plot and the characters. I was getting tired of all those boring and cliched books and stories that just had the main characters and very little action with the other characters and their complex lives. The fact that Christine Feehan took the risk of writing in this form, shows me she has great courage just like every one of her characters. The fact that she went into a little more detail on the other characters involved made it seem more life-like and not just like another "story" to enjoy.

Abigail Drake, the heroine of the story, is one of the seven Drake sisters with the most complex and difficult power to control: the power to get people to reveal their deepest, darkest secrets with just one word. She feels most at home in the sea and with her dolphines. She has the almost uncanny ability to talk with them. Her love, a covert Russian Interpol agent named Alexandr Volstov, had betrayed her in her eyes because he had left her in the hands of brutal police interviewers after a drastic miscalcuation of her incredible power caused horrific and unforseen consequences. She had left him many, many months ago and meets him again after an attempt on her life after she sees someting she shouldn't have. Volstov, the typical domineering and commanding, yet gentle, vulnerable, and loving, character that has become Feehan's favorite type along with my own, refuses to let her slip through his fingers a second time. Through passion, hurt, anger, and a lot of action they emerge from a dark and painful past that split them apart and come togehter in a healing future. Through many twists and turns we see their lives unfold along with the characters around them. Abby goes through waves of uncertainty of their future and about his feelings for her and so on. It is dramatic and passionate and I believe that it was an excellent story worthy of four stars. Anything that can have me feeling so much emotion in a couple of hours is worth reading. If you are a person who likes rollercoaster rides and new challenges along with a rewarding story, then I suggest you try this one out one night.

I will admit that the first time I hit the snag of another character that I had the urge to skip over it and go straight to what was happening with Alex and Abby, but, as I forced myself to go through all the subplots, I figured out (A. It made the anticipation, suspense, and curiosiy rise after every chapter and (B. Christine Feehan was just setting a foundation for a more complex and bigger series to the Drakes series. As a writer myself (maybe not a prominent one) I must admire her courage to tackle a series so complex and various that involves so many characters and their complex lives.

Courtesy of Love Romances Reviews

This latest book in the Drake Sisters series will appeal to the fans of the Dark saga, also by Christine Feehan.

Abigail Drake is one of seven magical sisters living in California. Abby's special ability is her link to the sea and all the aquatic beings, especially a bond with dolphins with whom she works. One night while swimming with her dolphin friends, she is the sole witness to a murder near the shoreline. Now, her life is in danger and she is led right back to the man she wishes she could forget.

Alexsandr Volstov is an Interpol agent investigating possible Russian mob activities in coastal California. He never expects this investigation to drop in to his arms the one woman he's ever loved. When he discovers Abby saw the murder of his partner, he knows the danger she now faces. Who better to protect her then himself? Especially if it gives him the excuse to stay close and try to win back her love.

Now Alexsandr and Abby must work together to solve the mysteries surrounding them. However, she is still emotionally hurt because of something he did to her several years before. Can they overcome the past that is separating them?

This story is typical of Christine Feehan's writing. The hero is a total alpha male who will let nothing get in the way of getting what he wants, especially if that something is the woman he's deemed as his own. The heroine as ever, is resistant to his domineering ways, resenting him for the power he holds over her, but giving in to him all the same. The only thing about this book that is different from the Dark series is that the hero is not a Carpathian. If not for that, and Abby's abilities, this story would be completely interchangeable with any book in that series.

Abigail Drake is an interesting character, with her magical abilities being quite intriguing. She has a special affinity for controlling the water and all found within. She also has the extremely useful ability of being able to make people tell the truth. The magical talents of the sisters are always the highlight in this series. However, Abby is afraid to use her powers as a result of the incident involving Alexsandr many years ago that forced her to pull away from him. Her relationship with her sisters is far more interesting than what she shares with him though. This reviewer could not stand Alexsandr at all. He is too overbearing; too "me Tarzan you Jane" for this reader. At several points throughout the story, one will want to slap him for being so pushy, and slap Abby for falling under his spell yet again. Readers will love the mysterious Russian hit man though, who is incredibly powerful with magic himself and will want to know more about him.

The plot was well done in the beginning, but it became convoluted in the middle of the book. There was too much going on that was just coincidentally linked to everything else. If the plot had been limited somewhat, focusing on one or two of the key elements rather than having so many sub-plots, it would have read much smoother. There were a few things however that made this reviewer sit back and say "Huh?" For example, what's up with the red panty ceremony anyhow? Here we have a heroine who is quite insistent she wants nothing to do with the hero but she willingly puts on a pair of red panties that have been blessed through a ceremony meant for the sole purpose of making the wearer want to fall immediately into bed with her man. This was just too absolutely ridiculous and took away from the story.

This reviewer was relatively unimpressed with Oceans of Fire. Fans of Christine Feehan who love the typical alpha males who all look and act the same will enjoy this one though, if for nothing else but its similarity to all the books in the Dark series. If looking for a unique story that is nothing like anything else on the market then one ought to pass on this book.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, August 2005. All rights reserved.

Once more Feehan returned to Sea Haven with another spectacular story featuring the elementally magical Drake sisters showcasing the third daughter Abigail whose magical affinity focuses on the water. With her love of the ocean she has come home to study the dolphins that live and play in the waters surrounding her home. While frolicking with dolphins, the peace she shares with them is shattered when she witnesses a murder. In trying to save one of the men who was shot, she runs into none other than the one man she'd loved and left four years earlier - Interpol Agent Alexsandr Volstov!

Alexsandr had broken Abbey's heart by what she perceived as his betrayal of her for his greater love of career and mother Russia. It had taken four long years but the pain and the love he kept in his heart for Abbey was still there and burned stronger than ever. Now that she was targeted by the Russian mafia Alex had to keep her safe and convince her that his love for her had never wavered and was true!

This was an exciting tale of suspense, thrilling intrigue, and chock full of the most interesting and fascinating characters! The Drake sisters are all so wonderful with their individual skills and as a whole are fabulously entertaining along with the introduction of Aunt Carol and her creative memories scrap booking and kicking up her heels with the `Red Hat Ladies' of Sea Haven! Not only was Alexsandr one very sexy, hot, and oh so dangerous to die for heroes but his mysterious old school chum from Russia, Ilya Prakenskii promises to make life VERY exciting in a future book for one of the Drake sisters (who affectionately dubbed him as a `rat bastard')! Oh my goodness, this was a terrific page-turner from beginning to the very end. Feehan's masterful storytelling keeps the plots fresh, the suspense high and the sensual play totally invigorating!

This is definitely my favorite story of the bunch, it centers around Abbey and Aleksandr and we get to know a lot more about them and understand more of their back story, (especially since abigail isnt mentioned a lot in the other books much to my disappointment as she is definiteley one of my favorite characters). Aleksandr was trained from birth to be a ruthless agent and he became a police officer who needed a little help on solving a case so he turned to a lady known for her powers of discovering and envincing the truth, little does he know that he would fall in love with her. Abigail didnt know that he knew about her powers beforehand so she though that he wanted her for herself an she tried to help him on his case but things went wrong during questioning and Abbey lost faith in both her powers and in aleksandr. Abigail loves aleksandr but she has to find a way to trust in both him as well as her powers again before she can accept him back into her life, especially since she's in danger and he's bound and determined to protect her and keep her in his life.

3rd in the Drake Sisters Series by Feehan, this story features Abigail Drake, who is home visiting her sisters, and swimming/communing with the dolphins when she witnesses a murder. Abby becomes a target of the killers while she and the dolphins are saving the life of a local man who'd been shot, as well. When her mysterious Russian lover from her past appears and protects her, they work together using the paranormal capabilities of the sisters to find who tried to kill Abby's friend and who did kill Aleksandr's partner. This one got me hooked on the series, and I am now impatient for the rest of the books to come out!

Even though I didn't give this book a very high rating, I did enjoy it.

My main thought with finishing it was.... what just happened? I found myself more interested in what happened to Ilya, the Russian guy with "powers".

There were too many characters to try to follow, although the Aunt was funny and quirky - but the whole scrapbooking thing was extremely annoying. I agree with others that the middle was weak, and that if you hadn't read the other two books it was hard to figure out what was going on. The main character was too much of a pushover to really appeal to me, but she had possibilities I wish had been explored more. For instance, if she had such an affinity for the sea and water, why did it seem as if it was a passing mention? I kept waiting for her to spend more time in the ocean and with the dolphins, perhaps able to communicate more with them. It didn't seem like a talent, more like an interest.

The characters seemed to be all over the place, not much depth at all. I know the book was supposed to be about Abby, but all of a sudden a sister would be thrown in for a minute then poof, back to Abby's angst.

This is my first Christine Feehan book and I really can't decide if I will buy another one.

I am a Christine Feehan Fan. I love all her series. I started with the Dark and I am onto the Game and Drake sister series. This book explores the story of Abigail, Abby the third sister (and third book)and her MAN Sasha/Aleksander. This book was Hot and extremely romantic. Abby is a Marine bioligist and Sasha is an Interpol Officer. They have a heavy an extremely interesting past that has Abby devastated and unwilling to forgive Sasha. It takes time for her to find her way back to him and her getting there is worth the wait. I loved how Ms. Feehan hinted at Joley and Illya having a thing eventually and I cannot wait for Jonas and Hannah to get with it. This book is a mystery/Hot Romance complete with strong wonderful woman, Strong gorgeous well endowed men, terrorist and art thieves. Trying to find who and where the murderers and thieves will strike again is thrilling. BRAVO, Another Hot Hit.

I had a hard time getting ahold of the first two Drake sister stories, but have noticed that with the Carpathian series by Feehan, each book was a story complete, whether you had read the others or not. This is not true of this book. I need to find the other two before it to see if it is more or less helpful. Here is what is a problem:

Feehan assumes that the reader is "In on the joke" or the story. She references things that you can't know unless they are mentioned in the first two books.

She talks about the prophecy? She talks about each sister's gift, which if you haven't read the books makes no sense. Most readers are forgiving in series if the author takes even two paragraphs to fill in back story. I wish Feehan had chosen to do that.

It may turn out that I would give this story a high rating after I understand half of what is going on. But right now, it is just sitting as a choppy read. Worth reading, but not worth extolling the virtues of!

i thought this was an okay book to begin with but then you add in the fact that it repeats itself half a dozen times it gets downright annoying. the two main characters have the same conversation like 20 times but they never come to a solution or really even fully discuss it they just kind of skim over general topic.

She is an excellent writer all around. So if you like her stories you will like this book. Not her best, but still awesome.