Winter Fire [Paperback]

Jo Beverley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2004

Through no fault of her own, Genova Smith is in the precarious position of accompanying the Marquess of Ashart to a Malloren family reunion. Even more distressing, she and the infuriating rake have been caught in an unexpectedly passionate kiss, forcing her into the most dangerous situation of all: pretending to be betrothed to the one man capable of stealing her heart...

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Genova Smith convinces her employers, the elderly Trayce ladies, to let her bring an abandoned baby with them to a Christmas party at Rothgar Abbey, even as she does her best to get the Marquess of Ashart, the man she mistakenly believes to be the father, to accept responsibility for his actions. Ash has no intention of claiming the child, but he agrees to accompany his great aunts to the holiday fete, despite the family tragedy that has turned Ash and the Marquess of Rothgar into mortal enemies. When she is caught with Ash in a seemingly compromising situation, Genova agrees to a pretend betrothal but has no intention of giving in to her desires for the wickedly handsome Ash. While truth and forgiveness unite two long-estranged branches of a family, an intelligent, ever sensible heroine and an elegant, sinfully seductive rake spar with splendidly sexy results as RITA Award-winning Beverley, with her usual delectable wit and superb characterization, returns readers to the unforgettable world of her Malloren series. John Charles
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

"Romance at its best."
-- Publishers Weekly (Publisher's Weekly ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade (November 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451216008
• ISBN-13: 978-0451216007
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,272,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jo Beverley writes bestselling historical romance set in her native England. She was born and raised in the UK, and has a degree in history from Keele University in Staffordshire, but she lived in Canada for 30 years. Now she's returned to England she enjoys doing even more on-the-spot research.

Her 30+ novels have won her many awards, including 5 RITA awards, the top award in romance, and 2 career achievement awards from Romantic Times. She's a member of the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame and Honor Roll. Publishers Weekly declared her "arguably today's most skillful writer of intelligent historical romance."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mhhh..., October 31, 2003

By 

"gallina33" (Santa Fe, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winter Fire (Paperback)

Set in 1763 England, Jo Beverley's Winter Fire tells the story of Genova Smith, an impoverished companion, and the Marquess of Ashart. He is a womanizing, "tortured" nobleman, who apparently is dominated by his grandmother. His plan in this book? Destroy the Malloren's, Beverley's characters from previous books.
I can't say I loved this book, but neither did I hate it. The beginning is a bit complicated, with too many things happening at once, and the author does not manage to describe the scenes well. Once I passed page 30, things started to make sense.
If you enjoy explicit sex scenes, this is not for you, there is one, almost at the end. But if light romance is what you are looking for...go ahead, and buy it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Georgian Period Malloren Family Addition, May 15, 2004

By 

M. Rondeau (West Springfield, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winter Fire (Paperback)

Setting - England 1763 --- In an effort to escape the home of her father and his new wife, Genova Smith found herself accompanying the elderly Trayce ladies, Lady Calliope and Lady Thalia to Christmas revelries at Rothgar Abbey as their companion. The tedium of the journey ended abruptly as they stopped to aid another carriage on the road. Requesting assistance, the woman, identifying herself as Mrs. Dash, requested that Genova transport the woman's child and his wet nurse to the next inn to await the arrival of Mr. Dash. Mr. Dash turned out to be the dashing and devastatingly handsome Marquess of Ashart, who just happened to be the great nephew of the Ladies Calliope and Thalia. Handsome as he was, Genova was disturbed that he refused to acknowledge the child as his and seemed more intent on vexing her with some very disturbing kisses. After discovering that his Aunts were on their way to Rothgar Abbey to visit his mortal enemy and cousin, the Marquess of Rothgar, Ash agreed to accompany them the following morning.

Unfortunately, through a series of mishaps, the next morning found both both Ash and Genova in a compromising situation, which was witnessed by two other travelers. Lady Thalia quickly covered up the imminent ruin of Genova's virtuous reputation by claiming that Genova and Ash were secretly engaged. Agreeing to carrying out the façade of a loving couple for a few days before a public breakup, Genova found that there was more to the man than his purposeful attempt to destroy his mortal enemy. While playing at pretending to be in love, Genova discovered that her feelings for him had changed. Freeing him would be the right thing to do but it would leave her with a broken heart as she had fallen hard and deep in love with the dashing devil.

Although, this was Ashart's story, featured prominently as a secondary but important player in the story, was Rothgar and of course, he was as intoxicating and sexy as always. So, in effect, what the author has given us are two heroes in one amazingly wonderful story! Discovering and proving paternity of the child was secondary to the building of a peaceful pact of peace between the cousins and the dialogs and verbal duels were fabulous with all three players taking part - Ash, Genova, and Rothgar in this fully robust and skillfully plotted confrontation. Beverley is a remarkable storyteller who once more brings Georgian England to life with golden prose and emotional feeling into one more beautifully written romance. Awesome stuff from one of the stellar authors in this genre! --- Marilyn, Official Reviewer for www.historicalromancewriters.com ---

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Christmas "Regency", November 9, 2003

By 

Puerto Rican Quaker "sasha30605" (Naples, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winter Fire (Paperback)

This book gave me an afternoon of pleasant reading and a fresh new story with familiar characters. I missed Rosa and Brand, but was happy for the dialogue with Portia. The style is different than the other Malloren novels, instead Winter Fire reads a lot like Beverley's Christmas Regencies such as Christmas Angel and Forbidden Magic. If you want frequent juicy sex scenes this is not the book. If you want a sweet romance that is satisfying in plot and character development (still containing a bout of sizzling sex) this is for you. I enjoyed the book and will read it again before Christmas.