Heart of Fire

Dark Enchantment #5

by Louise Cooper

Lianne looks into the heart of the topaz and sees the boy she will fall in love with. She also triggers an old family curse. But, good or evil, once she's begun this story, she must see it through to the end.

Also published as Firespell.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Louise Cooper was born in Hertfordshire in 1952. She began writing stories when she was at school to entertain her friends. She hated school so much, in fact—spending most lessons clandestinely writing stories—that she persuaded her parents to let her abandon her education at the age of fifteen and has never regretted it.

She continued to write and her first full-length novel was published when she was only twenty years old. She moved to London in 1975 and worked in publishing before becoming a full-time writer in 1977. Since then she has become a prolific writer of fantasy, renowned for her bestselling Time Master trilogy. She has published more than eighty fantasy and supernatural novels, both for adults and children. She also wrote occasional short stories for anthologies, and has co-written a comedy play that was produced for her local school.

Louise Cooper lived in Cornwall with her husband, Cas Sandall, and their black cat, Simba. She gained a great deal of writing inspiration from the coast and scenery, and her other interests included music, folklore, cooking, gardening and "messing about on the beach." Just to make sure she keeps busy, she was also treasurer of her local Lifeboat station.

Louise passed away suddenly from a brain aneurysm on Tuesday, October 20, 2009. She was a wonderful and talented lady and will be greatly missed.

Reviews

[Tamar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg..I have been looking for that book for age..Glad someone else knows it beside me!!! I read that book when I was 15 and I totally loved it!! It's so romantic and magical!!!! I couldn't put it off and I could completely relate to Lianne..Her love story with Renard is so sweet!

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice story, but it would probably be more magical to read in your teens.

It chased a feeling of wonder better than it tried to make complex characters or a tidy plot. But it was short, so the trade-off felt worth it for the heavy dose of fantasy.

The beginning was my favourite, when everything was still unnerving. The mismatched gifts and the curse of miserableness were really intriguing. But the second half dampened it.

It didn’t make sense for Leanne’s ancestor to back out of the marriage with the Wizard’s son. He demanded a spell to make him rich in exchange for marrying off his daughter, but once it was granted, he thinks their new status is too good for the Wizard. Even though a Wizard powerful enough to cheat the economy must be a preferable father-in-law to a nobleman.

This is why the Wizard’s son haunts them, until he can find a female descendent willing to marry him.

It also doesn’t make sense that after generations of the curse, the family would still be opposed when Lianne is happy to marry him and lift the curse. And when the only other outcome is for everyone to be miserable.

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mindless teen fiction.