What do you think?
Rate this book
Diamond Fire
Too hot to handleCamilla hadn't seen Virginia in years, but she certainly couldn't ignore her childhood friend's urgent plea to come to Hawaii. Her cool reception from Virginia's husband was both unsettling and understandable; Virginia and their young daughter had vanished.Good manners dictated Alex Conti invite Camilla to stay in the guest room, but he made it clear she was neither welcome nor wanted. Though distant and desperately worried about his daughter, Alex hardly seemed the monster Virginia had described…
217 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1991
7 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Anne Mather
798 books357 followersAnne Mather is the pseudonym used by Mildred Grieveson, a popular British author of over 160 romance novels. She also signed novels as Caroline Fleming and Cardine Fleming.
Mildred Grieveson began to write down stories in her childhood years. The first novel that she actually finished, Caroline (1965), was also her first book to be published. Her novel, Leopard in the Snow (1974), was developed into a 1978 film.
Mildred Grieveson began to write down stories in her childhood years. The first novel that she actually finished, Caroline (1965), was also her first book to be published. Her novel, Leopard in the Snow (1974), was developed into a 1978 film.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 25, 2017
Re Diamond Fire - I think Anne Mather was going for neo gothic in Hawaii or something here. But this one was just too out there for me and it was boring to boot.
Huge spoiler warning before I start:
The H is married for 95% of the book to the h's friend. Now the claim is that the marriage is on the rocks and has been for years and technically they never get past roofie kissing and fondling while the H is still married. But for all intents and purposes, the h spends most of the book totally infatuated with a married man and the H eventually reciprocates.
This one starts with a little H POV, he has just returned to Oahu from Los Angeles and he notices a good looking redhead trying to rent a car at the airport and having a little ranty moment cause she can't. The H is shocked he is interested, cause he hasn't been interested in sex for years - not since he married his wife, who is apparently missing along with his five year old daughter.
The redhead is the h. She is a solicitor in England and has come rushing over cause her old school friend of 15 years wrote her a desperate letter, complaining that she was being abused and that she was held prisoner on her husband's Oahu estate.
The h, who hasn't actually seen her friend in over six years and missed the wedding, still feels the old girl school ties to her friend and wants to help. The h is an orphan and was sent to the pricey boarding school by a fond godmother where she met the H's wife as a girl.
The H's wife was the daughter of a former socialite who sponged off others for a living after her own money was gone and the h's friend, Gold Digger Girl, was taught that it was her job to use her fabulous looks to snare a wealthy guy and provide the financing for her and her mother to live in the pricey style they were accustomed to.
So Gold Digger Girl and the h parted ways after boarding school. The h got a grant and a fast food job and worked her way through law school and her law clerk articles and now is a fully qualified British Solicitor - she also speaks in so many broken phrases for the entirety of the book that I though I was reading a Barbara Cartland novel. The use of ellipses was way, way overdone for the h's conversation.
However, as we soon find out when the h shows up in taxi at the H's estate, she probably has good reason to stutter pause. For Gold Digger Girl has a nasty hard drug habit and has taken the H's daughter and disappeared. The H eventually reveals this to the h after he lets her stay in his lovely home and they have a few drinks one night. We also find out that GD Girl has been a drug addict since before she ever married the H. The h remembers the last time she actually saw the woman and now belatedly recognizes the signs of someone with a bad habit.
The H explains that he offered GD Girl a divorce at any time. But she must want something else and as she has his daughter, whom she almost killed once before in a nasty car accident while GD Girl was wasted on drugs, GD Girl must be intending to use the girl in some way.
So the h is settled in the guest suite at the H's house, we meet his second in command skeevy cousin, his Italian father and mother and his snotty housekeeper and butler who all make it clear that they despise G D Girl - well all of them except for the skeevy cousin.
The h spends most of the first part mooning over the H and his hotness, then GD Girl calls the h at the H's home and the H is having the phones monitored. The h doesn't mention the phone call, she is still muddling over what to do as GD Girl was pretty hysterical and the h wants to go home, but the H won't let her leave, he is furious she is colluding with GD Girl.
The h goes to the H's office after an argument with the housekeeper and while she is there, she and the H share a roofie kissing moment. The h wants to leave still, but the H refuses to help her get a flight out and the wait list is very long. The h takes off to wander around Honolulu and GD Girl shows up while the h is wandering around.
GD Girl is very agitated and indicates that she is involved with the H's skeevy second in command cousin but she won't say what exactly is going on. She claims her daughter is safe and that she wants the h to help her, but she is so whacked out that the h can't make out what GD girl really wants.
The h goes back to the H's house after GD Girl wanders off again and the housekeeper interrogates her, but the h doesn't tell the woman much of anything. The H shows up again when the h is fresh out of the shower and another roofie kissing moment with groping occurs when the H claims he has gotten a letter from GD Girl outlining the conditions for a divorce so he can get his daughter back.
To make a long, boring story short the whole situation is this:
GD Girl and the skeevy cousin knew each other and were lovers before GD Girl married the H. GD Girl had a child to keep the H from divorcing her. Skeevy Cousin was the product of a marriage between the H's father's sister and a man who ran off. Skeevy Cousin has an eye to the main chance, so he used GD Girl to try and get control of the H's company and oust the H's side of the family. The demands were that the H turn over his stock in the company to GD Girl in the divorce settlement and he could get his daughter back. Then Skeevy Cousin would marry GD Girl and take control of things. But GD Girl's little drugged out mind knew that something wasn't right - even tho she told the h that she had GD Girl's blessing to seduce the H, as she was in love with Skeevy Cousin.
So GD Girl and daughter magically reappear in Honolulu as they had never really left and the Skeevy Cousin shows up to take the h to the happy reunion. But Skeevy Cousin actually knocks the h out and locks her in a storeroom on the H's yacht - were GD Girl and the daughter were staying. Skeevy Cousin is hoping the h will die and be unable to testify that he was an accomplice to this whole scheme as she is the only one who has actual proof that he was involved.
The H and his daughter find the h when they return to the yacht to get her doll she left behind. The h is rescued and returns back to England when it is clear the little girl is safe, GD Girl is in rehab again and the H can get on with his life.
A few months later the H shows up in England pretending to be a client for the h and she goes unsuspectingly to meet him. He is angry that the h just left him without a big confrontation or something. They finally lurve it up as the H is now divorced, GD Girl is off in the mists and the skeevy, murderous cousin is banished to another part of the family firm. The H and h are planning on marriage and a few more kids for the HEA.
The married H with the whacked out wife is one that AM has done before, with much better effect than what this was. This was just flat out boring and the h mooning for pages over the H was just plain tacky. The skeevy cousin getting out of an attempted murder charge was also ridiculous. There was really no romance in the story at all, so add in HEA unbelievability along with an h who really needed to use her words to total up to a very un-fun and tedious HP outing.
Huge spoiler warning before I start:
The H is married for 95% of the book to the h's friend. Now the claim is that the marriage is on the rocks and has been for years and technically they never get past roofie kissing and fondling while the H is still married. But for all intents and purposes, the h spends most of the book totally infatuated with a married man and the H eventually reciprocates.
This one starts with a little H POV, he has just returned to Oahu from Los Angeles and he notices a good looking redhead trying to rent a car at the airport and having a little ranty moment cause she can't. The H is shocked he is interested, cause he hasn't been interested in sex for years - not since he married his wife, who is apparently missing along with his five year old daughter.
The redhead is the h. She is a solicitor in England and has come rushing over cause her old school friend of 15 years wrote her a desperate letter, complaining that she was being abused and that she was held prisoner on her husband's Oahu estate.
The h, who hasn't actually seen her friend in over six years and missed the wedding, still feels the old girl school ties to her friend and wants to help. The h is an orphan and was sent to the pricey boarding school by a fond godmother where she met the H's wife as a girl.
The H's wife was the daughter of a former socialite who sponged off others for a living after her own money was gone and the h's friend, Gold Digger Girl, was taught that it was her job to use her fabulous looks to snare a wealthy guy and provide the financing for her and her mother to live in the pricey style they were accustomed to.
So Gold Digger Girl and the h parted ways after boarding school. The h got a grant and a fast food job and worked her way through law school and her law clerk articles and now is a fully qualified British Solicitor - she also speaks in so many broken phrases for the entirety of the book that I though I was reading a Barbara Cartland novel. The use of ellipses was way, way overdone for the h's conversation.
However, as we soon find out when the h shows up in taxi at the H's estate, she probably has good reason to stutter pause. For Gold Digger Girl has a nasty hard drug habit and has taken the H's daughter and disappeared. The H eventually reveals this to the h after he lets her stay in his lovely home and they have a few drinks one night. We also find out that GD Girl has been a drug addict since before she ever married the H. The h remembers the last time she actually saw the woman and now belatedly recognizes the signs of someone with a bad habit.
The H explains that he offered GD Girl a divorce at any time. But she must want something else and as she has his daughter, whom she almost killed once before in a nasty car accident while GD Girl was wasted on drugs, GD Girl must be intending to use the girl in some way.
So the h is settled in the guest suite at the H's house, we meet his second in command skeevy cousin, his Italian father and mother and his snotty housekeeper and butler who all make it clear that they despise G D Girl - well all of them except for the skeevy cousin.
The h spends most of the first part mooning over the H and his hotness, then GD Girl calls the h at the H's home and the H is having the phones monitored. The h doesn't mention the phone call, she is still muddling over what to do as GD Girl was pretty hysterical and the h wants to go home, but the H won't let her leave, he is furious she is colluding with GD Girl.
The h goes to the H's office after an argument with the housekeeper and while she is there, she and the H share a roofie kissing moment. The h wants to leave still, but the H refuses to help her get a flight out and the wait list is very long. The h takes off to wander around Honolulu and GD Girl shows up while the h is wandering around.
GD Girl is very agitated and indicates that she is involved with the H's skeevy second in command cousin but she won't say what exactly is going on. She claims her daughter is safe and that she wants the h to help her, but she is so whacked out that the h can't make out what GD girl really wants.
The h goes back to the H's house after GD Girl wanders off again and the housekeeper interrogates her, but the h doesn't tell the woman much of anything. The H shows up again when the h is fresh out of the shower and another roofie kissing moment with groping occurs when the H claims he has gotten a letter from GD Girl outlining the conditions for a divorce so he can get his daughter back.
To make a long, boring story short the whole situation is this:
GD Girl and the skeevy cousin knew each other and were lovers before GD Girl married the H. GD Girl had a child to keep the H from divorcing her. Skeevy Cousin was the product of a marriage between the H's father's sister and a man who ran off. Skeevy Cousin has an eye to the main chance, so he used GD Girl to try and get control of the H's company and oust the H's side of the family. The demands were that the H turn over his stock in the company to GD Girl in the divorce settlement and he could get his daughter back. Then Skeevy Cousin would marry GD Girl and take control of things. But GD Girl's little drugged out mind knew that something wasn't right - even tho she told the h that she had GD Girl's blessing to seduce the H, as she was in love with Skeevy Cousin.
So GD Girl and daughter magically reappear in Honolulu as they had never really left and the Skeevy Cousin shows up to take the h to the happy reunion. But Skeevy Cousin actually knocks the h out and locks her in a storeroom on the H's yacht - were GD Girl and the daughter were staying. Skeevy Cousin is hoping the h will die and be unable to testify that he was an accomplice to this whole scheme as she is the only one who has actual proof that he was involved.
The H and his daughter find the h when they return to the yacht to get her doll she left behind. The h is rescued and returns back to England when it is clear the little girl is safe, GD Girl is in rehab again and the H can get on with his life.
A few months later the H shows up in England pretending to be a client for the h and she goes unsuspectingly to meet him. He is angry that the h just left him without a big confrontation or something. They finally lurve it up as the H is now divorced, GD Girl is off in the mists and the skeevy, murderous cousin is banished to another part of the family firm. The H and h are planning on marriage and a few more kids for the HEA.
The married H with the whacked out wife is one that AM has done before, with much better effect than what this was. This was just flat out boring and the h mooning for pages over the H was just plain tacky. The skeevy cousin getting out of an attempted murder charge was also ridiculous. There was really no romance in the story at all, so add in HEA unbelievability along with an h who really needed to use her words to total up to a very un-fun and tedious HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2015
A good read.
Passion and emotions enbound between sexy Alex and sweet Camilla but they are forbidden as Alex is married.
Camilla comes running when her childhood BFF implies her marriage is not what it seems and she needs help. Getting drawn into more than she bargained for Camilla wonders if she should leave upon discovering that both Virginia and her daughter have disappeared. But her attraction to Alex and her curiosity hold her captive.....discovering that Virginia is not who seems to or who she remembers challenges her beliefs in what is right and her loyality.
Beautiful locations help draw you into the intrique awaiting Camilla as she discovers things are not what they seem....and love can come from a forbidden man.
Passion and emotions enbound between sexy Alex and sweet Camilla but they are forbidden as Alex is married.
Camilla comes running when her childhood BFF implies her marriage is not what it seems and she needs help. Getting drawn into more than she bargained for Camilla wonders if she should leave upon discovering that both Virginia and her daughter have disappeared. But her attraction to Alex and her curiosity hold her captive.....discovering that Virginia is not who seems to or who she remembers challenges her beliefs in what is right and her loyality.
Beautiful locations help draw you into the intrique awaiting Camilla as she discovers things are not what they seem....and love can come from a forbidden man.
November 8, 2023
I like reading a romance novel after reading a few mysteries but wasn't pleased with this one....too many descriptions of crazy sexual scenes...don't believe anyone can be that enthralled or overcome with 'desiring' the opposite sex.
I finished the story because I wanted to find out how Virginia who is has a huge addiction to drugs will make out....she has married a very rich man, Alex Conti and they have a 5-year old daughter. Virginia and Marie have supposedly left Hawaii and Virginia is making big demands while hiding from Alex.
She invites a school friend, Camilla, whom she hasn't seen for 6 years to come to Hawaii because she needs her....Camilla arrives but Virginia and Marie are not there. Alex is overcome by Camilla and tries to tell Camilla what Virginia is really like.
Alex has a cousin who works in his huge company but is actually keeping Virginia in drugs and trying to take over the family company.
Virginia ends up once again in a rehab hospital, the cousin isn't charged for attempted murder and Alex and Camilla marry. Disappointing story....
I finished the story because I wanted to find out how Virginia who is has a huge addiction to drugs will make out....she has married a very rich man, Alex Conti and they have a 5-year old daughter. Virginia and Marie have supposedly left Hawaii and Virginia is making big demands while hiding from Alex.
She invites a school friend, Camilla, whom she hasn't seen for 6 years to come to Hawaii because she needs her....Camilla arrives but Virginia and Marie are not there. Alex is overcome by Camilla and tries to tell Camilla what Virginia is really like.
Alex has a cousin who works in his huge company but is actually keeping Virginia in drugs and trying to take over the family company.
Virginia ends up once again in a rehab hospital, the cousin isn't charged for attempted murder and Alex and Camilla marry. Disappointing story....
October 2, 2025
The guy in this takes the Mr. Rochester approach to mental illness: ignore it and hope the problem resolves itself while you cheat emotionally! Especially because substance use disorders are obviously a sign of bad moral character and not a disease worthy of treatment (gross take)! Meanwhile the protagonist lady is dtf knowing this man is still married to someone she calls a friend. Ick
April 15, 2021
Total meh! Wasn't impressed with the story or characters. 1 1/2 stars at best.
January 16, 2025
Very good story. This author usually disappoints, but not this time!
May 18, 2016
2008 review MY THOUGHTS: The book was readable. I felt the book had more mystery than romance which is understandable since the hero's wife and beloved daughter were missing. Although I guess I would be a hypocrite if there was major love scenes between the hero and heroine and the hero is still married. ~_~ The only thing I can say is the hero's wife had given her approval, hahaha. But no, amazingly, they finally do the deed after Alex is divorced. I did enjoy the book, it was a good read and kept me in a suspense as to what Virginia's motives were, who the other villain was, and when the heck will Camilla and Alex get together! But I thought it was lacking in the romantic scenes, although the ending tried to make up for that.
August 14, 2012
The hero and heroine met when the heroine traveled to see her long time friend after numerous pleas. So the heroine flies to Hawaii, only to meet the hero, her friends husband. Soon she finds out her friend and her friends daughter have disappeared without a trace. Eventually an attraction develops between the hero and heroine but it might just foil the villains plans.
November 30, 2013
I normally love Anne Mather's romances because she's adept at creating a slow burn between the characters that I find sexier than the two of them jumping into bed together immediately. You can sense the chemistry through looks, errant touches, etc.
This one though... it was just boring.
This one though... it was just boring.
October 13, 2013
Boooooring.
Read
June 28, 2018Too Hot To Handle
Camilla hadn't seen Virginia in years, but she certainly couldn't ignore her childhood friend's urgent plea to come to Hawaii. Her cool reception from Virginia's husband was both unsettling and understandable; Virginia and their young daughter had vanished.
Good manners dictated Alex Conti invite Camilla to stay in the guest room, but he made it clear she was neither welcome nor wanted. Though distant and desperately worried about his daughter, Alex hardly seemed the monster Virginia had described. Camilla wanted to help. But everything she did seemed to complicate matters. As did her growing attraction to Alex, whose eyes held an enigmatic mix of pain and raw desire that sent her senses reeling.
Camilla hadn't seen Virginia in years, but she certainly couldn't ignore her childhood friend's urgent plea to come to Hawaii. Her cool reception from Virginia's husband was both unsettling and understandable; Virginia and their young daughter had vanished.
Good manners dictated Alex Conti invite Camilla to stay in the guest room, but he made it clear she was neither welcome nor wanted. Though distant and desperately worried about his daughter, Alex hardly seemed the monster Virginia had described. Camilla wanted to help. But everything she did seemed to complicate matters. As did her growing attraction to Alex, whose eyes held an enigmatic mix of pain and raw desire that sent her senses reeling.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews