Fugitive Hearts

by Ingrid Weaver

The man who staggered through the night to collapse at Dana Whittington's secluded cottage was mysterious - and more than a little dangerous. And yet, as she tenderly cared for him, she felt an aching passion growing within her - a passion that was not shaken even by the shattering news that he was a fugitive from justice....

She could not, would not, believe that Remy Leverette was a murderer. There was too much good shining through in this man, who swore he had fled prison only to protect his beloved daughter. And whatever the danger, Dana could not betray him - or a love she knew would never set her free....

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

Weaver was born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. She has a degree in English literature. After her youngest child entered school in 1989 she began writing in the hopes that she could build a career that would allow her to work from home. None of her first eight manuscripts sold, but in July 1993 her ninth, True Blue, was purchased by Silhouette Books.

Generally Weaver writes two to three novels per year, taking up to five months to finish each work. The novels are most often classified as romantic suspense, and the protagonists are put into life-or-death situations in order more clearly reveal their true characters and feelings. In many of her novels, the hero is either connected to law enforcement or the military. Weaver also enjoys including animals in her stories "because they're usually excellent judges of character."

Weaver was awarded a Romance Writers of America RITA Award in 1998 for Best Romantic Suspense for her novel On the Way to a Wedding.[3] She is also a recipient of the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award.

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

SIM #1101

[Anne Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. An edgy, redeemed antihero (who managed to totally charm me), a sympathetic writer heroine (!), and very compelling writing that really pops from beginning to end. There's very real tension and ambiguity, which is quite rare in category romance. And there's even a cat who's a legitimate character, and not just a prop. The love scenes are hot, but not gratuitous, and the plot has an interesting enough mystery element. Certainly, the resolution is very pat and there were a few less-than-realistic moments, but sometimes romantic fiction is about getting better luck than one finds in real life. Plus, it's great to see a good Canadian story; I appreciate seeing place names and settings I recognize for a change.

I really enjoyed this one, and will be adding it to my keeper pile, and the author to my future watch list.

*
ETA: Re-read, 26 July 2014 - A nice piece of winter to re-live in mid-July. I still enjoyed it, but this time the implausibility of the wrap-up bothered me a bit more. Still, it held up very well under a second reading, and I'll hang onto it again. Still okay with the 4/5 rating, though maybe more like 3.5/5 (which still rounds up to 4, for me).

[Anna Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first quarter of this book was dashing awesome handsome man stranded in the middle of nowhere rescued by damsel in a cabin with much sweet n' happy.

The second quarter of this book was HoMiGOSH, skeery horrible escaped convict with a KNIFE in the middle of nowhere with damsel in cabin - pretend nothing is wrong. Pretend nothing is wrong...

The third quarter of this book was I. Hate. This. Jerk who is following my every move, coming on to me and making me hot over him while trying to convince me that his lies were a good cause and maybe they were, but... mmmm, kissy-kissy...

The last quarter of this book was heroine so infactuated with captor and convinced of his innocence that she'll dive into the lion's den, forge any river, brave any horror, face any fire for him. Because LUVVVVVVV!!!!!!!!

It was okay. So far-fetched and skipping important details that would've made the story implausible, but... it was a semi-mostly fun, mostly decently written book.

PS: I mourned the loss of the moustache. Every hero should have an incredible 'stache. For more than five minutes, I should clarify...