Lord of Fire

Rating:
Summary: Another Regency romp by the talented Gaelen Foley
Review: Courtesy of Love Romances

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.

Rating:
Summary: another great by foley
Review: Lord of Fire features the younger twin, Lucien, who is a soldier-turned-spy...and alone. In order to obtain enemy information, he forms a secret "club" in the Grotto...until one night, when an innocent walks in on his party...

Alice Montague, prim and virtuous, is shocked to discover Lucien's underworld, yet needs to find her sister-in-law in order to bring her back to her son. This is fine, until she finds herself trapped in Lucien's ultimatum, to live with him for a week.

Add on action scenes like no other and a sneakpeek into his twin's life and it results in a well-rounded, carefully thought out romance novel that is definitely not your average roll-in-the-hay. So far, Foley has not disappointed me. Her books broach subjects that other authors maybe are...afraid...to approach in a romance novel, but I feel that she integrates it seamlessly into her stories. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: More depth please!
Review: Where shall I start... characters undeveloped and full of irreconcilable differences; a master spy that commits the same mistake again and again; a heroine that faces choices that are not real choices. And the list goes on. I could not keep thinking that the heroine needs to grow up and face life. But what really annoyed me enough to make me write this commentary is that the respected American author is confusing the Wild West with Napoleon Era England. Let just say to Ms. Foley THERE ARE NO SHERIFS in England neither at that time, not ever nor since. This is an entertaining book but I would advice you buy it used. It I not worth USD7. More research would behoove the author.

Rating:
Summary: Great action scenes and teriffic characterizations
Review: In 1814, the Ton compares twin brothers Lucien and Damien Knight. While Damien recently returned home a war hero, Lucien left the military two years ago. Lucien has earned a reputation as Lord Lucifer for his decadent parties while Damien seeks a wife. Lucien eliminates the widow Caro Glenwood as a spousal candidate for his sibling by sleeping with her.

Alice Montague worries about her sick nephew Harry who wants his mother. She decides to go to Lucien's house of sin to bring Harry's mother Caro home with her. Instead she meets Lucien and finds herself attracted to the enigmatic male who can be so compassionate towards a little boy yet so passionate with her. Alice will soon learn the truth behind Lucien's dual nature when she becomes a periled pawn of his enemy because Lord Lucifer uses his debauchery role to hide the counterespionage ring that will insure Napoleon fails to return from Elba.

LORD OF FIRE is an exciting historical romantic suspense novel that never slows down for a moment even as the story line remains within normal sub-genre boundaries. Lucien is an intriguing lead character because he displays a duality that enables the audience to understand his motivations as his two disparate lives clash between love and loyalty. Alice is a heroine whether she is fighting with her country's enemies or raising Harry. It is this lead couple that makes Gaelen Foley's novel so entertaining that the audience will anxiously await Damien's tale released in February.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat dissapointing...
Review: After reading Foley's The Duke and the excellent Ascencion trilogy, I became a little spoiled and expected everything else she wrote to be of the same high caliber. Lord of Fire is not a bad read, I don't think Ms. Foley could write a "bad" book, it is merely a little dissapointing considering her previous efforts.

This is the story of Lucien, one of the Knight twins. Lucien became a spy during the Napoleonic wars. He continues to spy for England after the war by luring people into an underground cave beneath his home and staging orgies. This is where he meets Alice Montague when she mistakenly wanders into one of his infamous parties. Alice's nephew has fallen ill and wants his mother who happens to be Lucien's current mistress. Alice is at once repelled and intrigued by Lucien and what's going on around her. Lucien falls immediately for the fair, innocent Alice and cons her into staying at his house for a week. During this week he intends to seduce her and Alice intends to refuse him but instead they end up falling for each other. Things do not go smoothly for the pair since Lucien can't or is unwilling to give up his secrets to Alice and someone from Lucien's past wants him dead.

I loved Lucien's character, he's got this little boy lost quality that tugs at the heart. Alice was not as clearly defined.She was described as a sweet unassuming young woman but more than once she acted selfishly and was annoyingly demanding of Lucien at times. My real problem with this book was the supense/action/murder plot. I felt too much time was devoted to that part of the story to the point where it overshadowed the romance. I don't mind the whole suspense/action deal as long as it is a backdrop agaisnt which the characters grow and get to know and love one another. Also, I felt the beginning of the story (when the orgy takes place) was a bit overblown. I couldn't help but think: Is that really the best place for spies to obtain information? I was a bit skeptical.

Regardless of this I still enjoyed this book, I just felt that it wasn't comparable to this author's earlier works. :)

Rating:
Summary: Girls...Gaelen Foley does it yet again!!!
Review: Brilliant!!!! I absolutey love Ms. Foley's work!!! It's funny...as soon as Ive decided that I have a favorite, she goes and writes another book..and I just can't decide!!!! Lord of Fire is so wonderfully written!!! It is full of all of the rich emotion and complex characters that I have come to expect when purchasing a book by this outstanding author!!! Lucien was sooo tortured and beautiful...and Alice was his perfect match...This story was divine!!! Girls...buy this book!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Close to being good, but not close enough
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: another great by foley
Review: Lord of Fire features the younger twin, Lucien, who is a soldier-turned-spy...and alone. In order to obtain enemy information, he forms a secret "club" in the Grotto...until one night, when an innocent walks in on his party...

Alice Montague, prim and virtuous, is shocked to discover Lucien's underworld, yet needs to find her sister-in-law in order to bring her back to her son. This is fine, until she finds herself trapped in Lucien's ultimatum, to live with him for a week.

Add on action scenes like no other and a sneakpeek into his twin's life and it results in a well-rounded, carefully thought out romance novel that is definitely not your average roll-in-the-hay. So far, Foley has not disappointed me. Her books broach subjects that other authors maybe are...afraid...to approach in a romance novel, but I feel that she integrates it seamlessly into her stories. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars for the fabulous LORD OF FIRE!
Review: Lucien Knight is an expert spy, living on the fringes of society and manipulating the those around him like a master puppeteer. But he's never seen anything like the very proper Lady Alice, a goody-two-shoes beauty who turns his tightly controlled world upside down. Their romance is a sizzling, sensual affair--absolutely fabulous! Add to that an intriguing suspense element in the form of Lucien's spy enemies and you have a true keeper read. Don't miss it!

Rating:
Summary: Superb!!
Review: This was an excellent follow-up to The Duke. I loved the complexities of Lucien, the fallen angel. I also loved how Alice balanced him out so well. Unlike some reviewers, I thought the spy subplot worked well and made the book much more interesting than Lord of Ice. My only criticism of Foley's Knight novels is that I wish there were just a few more love scenes. Otherwise, definitely worth the money.