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Phoenix Rising
When her brother is shot down over France during World War I, Kenna Chalmers becomes a nurse in the army in order to search for him
340 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 27, 2019
Chronologically, this story occurs before the author's To Face the Sun so make sure you don't read it out of order because it will spoile your reading experience as it did mine
The other reasons I disliked it was because the plot relied on soooooooooo many contrivance, coincidences, and implausible episodes, some of them loose threads that were never quite tied up.
The heroine was such a Mary Sue that even Bertrice Small would look askance at her. Seriously, all these dashing men from the four corners of the world, from the hero, to multiple OMs, to random minor male characters would fall in love FOR LIFE at a glimpse of her silver, shining moon hair and remain hopelessly devoted to her until their last writhing moment on their death bed. All that and she is beautiful on the inside too: nursing skills that would put Florence Nightingale to shame, bravery, charm, selflessness, chastity, class etc. Give me a break!!!
The major force driving the plot is the heroine's desperate efforts to find her brother, a WWI pilot who has been shot down in France. So imagine my disappointment when after many misadventures, Great, Big, Terrible Misunderstandings and angst,
The romance was a total fail too because the heroine was so ambivalent, switching her allegiance from OM to hero to OM and on and in endlessly, and I never felt she had any love for either of them.
The next book, To Face the Sun, deals with heroine's daughter who will also become a wartime nurse, this time during WWII. Imho, the romance in that story worked better and the plot contrivances and Great, Big, Terrible Misunderstandings slightly less jarring.
The other reasons I disliked it was because the plot relied on soooooooooo many contrivance, coincidences, and implausible episodes, some of them loose threads that were never quite tied up.
The heroine was such a Mary Sue that even Bertrice Small would look askance at her. Seriously, all these dashing men from the four corners of the world, from the hero, to multiple OMs, to random minor male characters would fall in love FOR LIFE at a glimpse of her silver, shining moon hair and remain hopelessly devoted to her until their last writhing moment on their death bed. All that and she is beautiful on the inside too: nursing skills that would put Florence Nightingale to shame, bravery, charm, selflessness, chastity, class etc. Give me a break!!!
The major force driving the plot is the heroine's desperate efforts to find her brother, a WWI pilot who has been shot down in France. So imagine my disappointment when after many misadventures, Great, Big, Terrible Misunderstandings and angst,
The romance was a total fail too because the heroine was so ambivalent, switching her allegiance from OM to hero to OM and on and in endlessly, and I never felt she had any love for either of them.
The next book, To Face the Sun, deals with heroine's daughter who will also become a wartime nurse, this time during WWII. Imho, the romance in that story worked better and the plot contrivances and Great, Big, Terrible Misunderstandings slightly less jarring.
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May 22, 2022Note to self: Compare my pb copy with the Amazon version to see if it's neutered or not.
March 6, 2025
This was okay, (as far as the history/adventure part goes) but I might have liked it better if I hadn't (without realizing it) read the sequel first. Knowing the fate of the h's brother, it took away from her search for him in this book, which was the main focus of the story.
And it might have been better if it had been the only focus. Her relationship with the H (if you can call it that) really fell flat. I never got a HEA vibe from them; in fact, it never seemed to me that she had any real feelings for him at all. I ask you: does taking the OM's advice and swallowing ipecac, so she'd throw up and avoid consummating her marriage with the H sound like a woman in love? HELL NO!!
In most novels, you just know the h is crazy about the H, even when she's shouting, "I HATE you!!" all over the place, or even when she's telling herself she despises him. But in this one, when she says she doesn't give a damn, you get the impression you can believe it. Up until the very end she's refusing to compromise, looking for a means of escape, telling him she wants him out of her life, etc., so that when she's finally saying, "I love you!" it doesn't ring true.
Neither did this book.
And it might have been better if it had been the only focus. Her relationship with the H (if you can call it that) really fell flat. I never got a HEA vibe from them; in fact, it never seemed to me that she had any real feelings for him at all. I ask you: does taking the OM's advice and swallowing ipecac, so she'd throw up and avoid consummating her marriage with the H sound like a woman in love? HELL NO!!
In most novels, you just know the h is crazy about the H, even when she's shouting, "I HATE you!!" all over the place, or even when she's telling herself she despises him. But in this one, when she says she doesn't give a damn, you get the impression you can believe it. Up until the very end she's refusing to compromise, looking for a means of escape, telling him she wants him out of her life, etc., so that when she's finally saying, "I love you!" it doesn't ring true.
Neither did this book.
December 15, 2025
This little masterpiece definitely doesn’t deserve four stars, because it was a hot mess, full of incredibly unbelievable and downright stupid scenarios, with characters behaving in equally idiotic ways. That said, the book kept me glued to it, so something must have been done right 🤦♀️🤣
June 19, 2020
Kept my interest…
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews