Customer Reviews

Snow Fire

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Okay, I'll admit it: I like reading about heroines who are in dire need of a strong hero. As I picked up Snow Fire, and read the back cover, I thought "Maybe this will be good." Big mistake. I'd once read another book by Norah Hess - Caleb's Bride - and thought it awful as well. This one has not the rapings and cursings, but it has totally useless characters. Not to mention , you read it, and it looks like something a really amateur writer would produce. The main characters, Stone and Flame, are both in love with one another, but Stone likes to tease and flirt with an Indian maiden, Little Bird, and Flame doesn't like it, but she has lost her memory and wants Stone to care for her and Shilo, who is in love with Little Bird, treats her like crap and Little Bird is oblivious to how angry Flame gets with her, even when Shilo points it out to her and-- (does it sound like I'm rambling on, because that's what the book is like.)
Now, I don't like writing bad reviews, but when I find a book like this with a reputed good author's name on the front, I feel like screaming.
I'm sorry if you're a die-hard Norah Hess fan, and you don't like this bad-mouthing, but this book truly deserves it.

I am a hard core Norah Hess fan and I have to say this book was totally awful. For starters the character names are so ridiculus that I had a hard time getting past that . Next there is no plot to speak of and the characters are completely 1 dimensional. Half way through the book you dont know anything to speak of about them and frankly you dont care. Please dont waste your time or money with this book. Norah Hess has some wonderful books out there unfortunetly this is not one of them.

This book actually has no plot, no suspense, and very poorly written. The outcome of each situation is so predictable as to delete any interest you may have. Storm and Flame have very little repore' and very little interaction. Then there is Shilo and Little Bird. One minute he hates her and the next he's crazy about her. When Shilo and Flame try to make Shilo and Little Bird jealous we never find out if Storm every actually understands what they were plotting. I felt as though I was reading a 5th grade pupil's writing. Norah Hess can do better than this.

There's a lot going on in this novel, three romances, rape, murder, cattle rustling and none of it works well. This novel relies heavily on coincidences and miscommunication.

The lead character Flame, you guessed it she has red hair, lives with a sadistic mother and her lecherous boyfriend on a remote ranch. One night her mother's boyfriend tries to rape her. Her mother saves her from ravishment but believes Flame has enticed her boyfriend to her bed and beats her senseless and leaves her outside. Flame manages to get on a horse to ride away and luckily Stone Falcon finds her and nurses her back to health.

Flame is the woman Stone has seen only once from afar and is determined to marry. When she awakens she has amnesia. This suits Stone fine and they pretend to be husband and wife at his ranch until she can regain her memory. Flame is drawn to Stone but is uncertain of his feelings since he is very friendly with an Indian Maiden Little Bird whom he rescued from would be rapists. Little Bird, however, is in love with Stone's best friend, Shiloh who has feelings for Little Bird too but is convinced that his love is not reciprocated because Little Bird must love Stone, after all he rescued her.

Added to the mix is Flame's father. He abandoned her when she was three because he just could not stand his wife, so he leaves his little girl in her vile clutches to run off to the mountains for thirteen years. He has decided to stop pouting over his fate and wants to see Flame again. Of course, Flame has amnesia and does not recognize him but takes a shine to him instantly, spending time with him everyday at her old ranch helping him with chores and such and wonders why her husband would be suspicious of all the time she spends with a virtual stranger. Flame is incredibly trusting or just lacking common sense. Flame's father has an old girlfriend in the vicinity too and they begin a torrid romance.

This novel needed to focus much more on Stone and Flame. It was almost an annoyance when the plot shifted to other couples mainly because there was so little character development in any one person. I never really knew anyone in this novel.

I'm sorry to say I aggree with all the sad comments written about Mz. Hess's work. I tried several of her books and my opinion never changes. I'm sure she's a nice lady, but perhaps she best stick to baking cookies with the grandkids. Whenever my daughter and I want a good pants-peeing laugh we go straight to the library for Norah Hess books. We take great joy in reading it aloud to each other as we try to figure out what in the world is going on, who is who as we navigate through the poorly written sentences. Wonder who her editor was?

I was shocked that the copyright for this book was 2000, just a decade ago. This book reads like a very old-fashioned romance. The type was overly large and the style was very immature. I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress story line (especially of the wild west variety) and I bought this book based on the blip on the back.

What we have here is a story about two people with very contrived names... yes, Stone and Flame. Stone sets his eyes on Flame when she is riding through the local town and literalljoy decides upon sight that she will be his woman. He never talks to her and decides to hunt her down the next spring. Not surprisingly, he happens to be near her ranch during a storm when her awful mother and stepfather cast her into the yard after a horrid beating. She's unconscious and he nurses her back to health. When she awakes, she has amnesia and he tells her that they are married and the story goes from there.

There is also a side story of an Indian maiden which I actually liked.

If you are a fan of Western romance, you might want to give this one a try. Otherwise, I'd save your money.

The uninspired names of the main characters give the first clues about the writing level of this book. Stone and Flame are our hero and heroine, Rebel and Lady are their horses, and Shilo and Moonlight are their Indian friends. A litany of other simply-named-simply-drawn characters also appear, bobbing in and out of a meandering and whatever plot.

This author may have more of a career writing for preteens with this elementary style of story telling. Just take out the sex. For adults, it's virtually unreadable.

Having read and enjoyed all of Norah Hess's previous novels, I had a difficult time believing this was written by the same author. It read like a first novel by a not very talented author. The characters lacked proper developement and while the story line had great potential it was more like reading the first draft or outline for a potentially great novel.

I love Norah Hess books. This is the second book that I've read by her. Devil in Spurs was the first. I like her style of writing and she does write well.