Winter Fire [Mass Market Paperback]

Elizabeth Lowell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1997

Orphaned at thirteen, a mail-order bride at fourteen, widowed at sixteen, Sarah Kennedy has learned to depend upon no one but herself--reserving all her love for her younger brother Conner, and for the wounded hawks she heals and returns to the air.

A hardened Civil War veteran, personal tragedy has taught Case Maxwell three things: to be a patient, deadly fighter, to love nothing that can die; and that justice is blind. But when a confrontation with his sworn enemies, the Culpepper clan, leaves him near death, Case finds himself, like many another damaged wild creature, under the tender, unwanted care of Sarah Kennedy.

Destiny has brought the healer and the warrior together to brave chilling risks and dangerous truths in a hard, magnificent land--two souls haunted by a perilous present and the bitter ghosts of the past. But the intense emotion both Case and Sarah fear--the passion that burns like fire in the very heart of winter--is the only thing that can truly save them, as together they seek the courage to face the greatest risk of all: love.

Orphaned at thirteen, a mail-order bride at fourteen, widowed at sixteen, Sarah Kennedy has learned to depend upon no one but herself--reserving all her love for her younger brother Conner, and for the wounded hawks she heals and returns to the air.

A hardened Civil War veteran, personal tragedy has taught Case Maxwell three things: to be a patient, deadly fighter, to love nothing that can die; and that justice is blind. But when a confrontation with his sworn enemies, the Culpepper clan, leaves him near death, Case finds himself, like many another damaged wild creature, under the tender, unwanted care of Sarah Kennedy.

Destiny has brought the healer and the warrior together to brave chilling risks and dangerous truths in a hard, magnificent land--two souls haunted by a perilous present and the bitter ghosts of the past. But the intense emotion both Case and Sarah fear--the passion that burns like fire in the very heart of winter--is the only thing that can truly save them, as together they seek the courage to face the greatest risk of all: love.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Widowed at 16, Sarah Kennedy's marriage left her with a bitter taste for men. Her biggest concern has been for her 15-year-old brother, Connor. But with the dangerous Culpepper Clan nearby, she now worries for herself as well. As if in answer, a badly wounded Case Maxwell is deposited at her door. Accustomed to tending injured hawks, she tends him with care. But Case has far deeper scars than Sarah can see. He seeks revenge against the Culpeppers for reasons he can never forgive or forget, until Sarah teaches him how to love again. A warm, satisfying read. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Bestselling paperback romance novelist Lowell (Autumn Lover) makes her first foray into hardcover with this smoothly written post-Civil War western romance. Shortly after the death of her parents in a flood, 14-year-old Sarah Kennedy, now responsible for herself and her younger brother, Conner, becomes a mail-order bride, marrying a brutal older man who drinks and demands painful sex. Widowed two years later, she strives to maintain her farm in the Utah wilderness, where she lives with Conner, an outlaw named Ute and an ex-prostitute known as Big Lola. When she meets Case Maxwell, who is hunting down the Culpepper gang for murdering his niece and nephew, Sarah is still quite certain that she hates sex. But after he is shot in her backyard, she can't help surreptitiously peeking at Case's bulging loincloth while she's patching up his handsome, bullet-riddled body. While he finds her equally irresistible, he firmly resists the idea of marriage or children. His desire for revenge against the Culpepper gang is matched by Sarah's quest to find a silver treasure that she knows is buried near her property. Case agrees to help Sarah find the cache, but suddenly there is a crisis when Conner falls into the hands of the vicious Ab Culpepper. Case proves himself a hero, and the finale is a rousing, old-fashioned shoot-'em-up worthy of Louis L'Amour. Though the dialogue is sometimes sappy, Lowell keeps her entertaining story moving briskly. (Nov.) FYI: Lowell also writes SF fantasy under the name Ann Maxwell and, as A.E. Maxwell, she coauthors mystery and suspense novels with her husband, Evan Maxwell.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Avon (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380775832
• ISBN-13: 978-0380775835
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #341,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( L ) > Lowell, Elizabeth

More About the Author

NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell has numerous historical and contemporary novels in print, including her four-book series of suspense novels featuring the unforgettable Donovan family--AMBER BEACH, JADE ISLAND, PEARL COVE and MIDNIGHT IN RUBY BAYOU. Ms. Lowell's current release, DEATH ECHO, is Book 5 in her St. Kilda Consulting series and features twin yachts, international gangsters, and plenty of romantic-suspense. There are more than thirty million Elizabeth Lowell books currently in print. Ms. Lowell lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant story!!, December 29, 2000

By 

Natasha Abed - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winter Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

Elizabeth Lowell once again works her special magic. Sarah is a woman who has seen the darker side of life, but she is determined to hold on to her property and ensure that her brother receives an education. Case is disillusioned with the world, and reluctant to love again after the Culpeppers destroyed his neice and nephew.

The two come together in a beautiful and well-written novel. Once Sarah realises that she loves Case, she gives him her all, while he (like all men!) is a bit slow on the uptake. Nevertheless, you're left with the definite feeling that these two will be together well into their twilight years.

I especially enjoyed the way Case slowly introduced Sarah to passion, carefully erasing her fears and teaching her the pleasure that can be experienced between two lovers. An abusive older husband made Sarah wary of sex, but Case heals her in the same gentle way that Sarah heals the wounded animals that she finds.

Sarah in turn teaches Case to love again, a realisation that hits him especially hard when he realises that he cannot live without her. In a harsh land where eking out a living is practically all-consuming, the fragile love that blossoms between these two is poignant and touching. Naturally, a keeper.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once again Lowell excels at western romance., July 1, 2001

By 

mirope "mirope" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Winter Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

The books in Elizabeth Lowell's "Only" series (to which "Winter Fire" is loosely related) are the best of the western romance genre, and "Winter Fire" amply proves this point. This is the story of Sarah Kennedy, a young woman who had to sell herself into marriage at the age of 16 to an abusive old man in order to support herself and her brother. After becoming a widow, Sarah continues to try to support herself, her brother and a few other strays she has picked up in the harsh Utah territory. One of her friends brings her Case Maxwell, a Civil War veteran seeking vengence against the Culpeppers, a rogue clan that tortured and murdered the young members of his family during the war. When Sarah meets Case, he has been badly shot in a showdown with some of the Culpeppers, and she nurses him back to health. Case has been so emotionally taumatized by what happened to his nieces and nephews that he has completely shut down emotionally. Much to his disgust, he finds himself becoming attracted to Sarah. Sarah's horrible experience with her dead husband made her disgusted with men and sex, and she also does not welcome the attraction she feels for Case. The two struggle to build a relationship while continuing to fight the Culpeppers and while searching for silver Sarah hopes will guarantee her future. Lowell deftly handles the emotional drama in this story, not to mention sexual tension, without making all the characters so angst ridden that their eventual emotional reconciliation isn't believeable.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real page-turner!, August 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Winter Fire (Hardcover)

When I first heard about the book Winter Fire, I wanted to own it. It first got my attention when one chapter of the book was included in the back of another one of my books. A superb continuation of the book Autumn Lover. It is a beautiful love story about Sarah and Case, who meet by chance when Sarah goes for a walk in the middle of the night and nearly stumbles right into the Culpepper's camp. When it mentioned that Sarah had been married at the age of thirteen, it caught my attention. When it talks about her younger brother that's dependent upon her for his well-being, I was intrigued. When it says, outright, that Case had been the one to give her her first real kiss, I was hooked. It's always like that with Lowell's books. Every one of hers is a must-have, must-see, must-read book if ever there was one. Once again, well done, Lowell!