Flame

by Toya Richardson

Running for her life, Amberly discovers home truly is where the heart is.

Amberly is beautiful, successful, and determined. She is also suffering the heartbreak of a vicious break up with the man she thought she was going to marry. Working night and day for the family's London business, she is determined to make a success of at least one area of her life, even if it means sacrificing all other areas.

However, although Amberley is moving on, her obsessive ex-boyfriend has very different ideas. Living with a secret terror and feeling increasingly threatened, Amberley's health begins to suffer, forcing her to seek refuge from all the London complications by returning to her childhood holiday home at the Cornish Coast.

Her stay in the beautiful wilds of care-free Cornwall doesn't just lead to a recovery of her body, but of her heart and soul too; offering her a second chance at happiness and finding a happy ever after... until, that is, her ex-boyfriend decides to rewrite the ending.

A thrilling romantic suspense guaranteed to keep the pages turning as Amberly runs for her life and tries to find happiness.

Genres: Romance

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 6, 2015

About the author

My mum read to me from an early age and encouraged me to write my own stories. She was positive I could become a published author. Unfortunately she passed before she could see my dream come true. I still miss her love and friendship. It was the catalyst for me to start writing seriously.

I write paranormal and contemporary romances and romantic comedy.

When I'm not writing I enjoy reading, cinema, live gigs, theatre, keeping fit, travel, Formula One, darts and spending quality time with friends.

Reviews

[Danielle's · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flame is about a red headed beauty who gets into a relationship with the wrong guy. Steve is a jealous, controlling, walking nightmare and needs some serious therapy. Amberley loves her job but Steve is even ruining that. He won’t accept it’s over and Amberley needs to get away.

Amberley goes to her childhood holiday home in Cornwall. It’s the therapy she needs. She catches up with old friends and new feelings arise.

Greg is a good friend and wants to be more. He’s understanding of her situation and supporting. Greg is an old friend and has just returned from travelling. This is a romance but Steve is a scary stalker making this also horror.

Flame is something different for me. The fact people like Steve exists is frightening. Amberley handles her situation well and she isn’t frightened of men. I won this book in a giveaway. This book would be more suitable for an audience who wants to read about challenging relationships. It’s written well and Amberley is a strong character.

3 stars out of 5.

[Angelina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toya Richardson is a new author to me, and Flame is the first book I've read by this author. The blurb caught my interest straight away, and I couldn't wait to dive right in. However, life got in the way and I became frustrated as I struggled to find time to read this book. I was so glad when I did eventually find the time as this story was unputdownable and so enjoyable to read.

I loved Amberly who was strong and never let her evil ex stop her from living her life. I was able to relate with some of what Amberly went through, and I liked how the author showed the positive side of police involvement as I know from personal experience the fears you have of not being believed or listened to. We get to follow Amberly as she bravely testifies against her ex, and also uses her experiences to help others. She basically turns something negative into a positive, and this just made me love Amberly even more.

Greg is definitely the sort of patient, caring and supportive guy I'd love to meet myself. He was just what Amberly needed, and I loved discovering their history together from when they were younger. Some of my favourite scenes where of them sat at the cliff top. The author wrote in such a way that I was able to clearly visualise what they were seeing, and I could definitely see these moments being perfect for a movie.

Toya Richardson is a talented author who definitely needs to be discovered by more readers. Flame would be a good book to start with as an introduction to this amazing author's work. I will most certainly be keeping up to date with Toya Richardson’ writing journey, and I will be reading Destination Love as soon as I can. If you haven't already, then I definitely recommend you pick up and read this 5 star story about strength, survival, and love.

[Kerry Mcclenaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. There’s some serious topics within which happen too often, but the love and laughter throughout the book show that there’s a life (and love) beyond it all. You just need to be open to it. I loved this book since the moment I opened the book and would happily read again.Toya Richardson

[Marcia Carrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Businesswoman Amberley Masterson suffers from the machinations of abusive fiance Steve Jackson, and flees London, and Steve, for the sanctity of Cornwall, but will he catch up to her, and cause problems there also?

FLAME is an engrossing romance novel with three-dimensional characters and a realistic, thought-provoking storyline. Steve Jackson is a well-developed villain excellently portrayed by the author, and protagonist Amberley is given equal depth and scope, as are the supporting characters, her reactions compelling, driving the story into unexpected directions. All in all a great book and an introduction to the author's works, which I look forward to seeing more of in the future.

[Michele A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

We begin this book with Amberley finding herself in a breakdown from work stress and an abusive ex. She retreats to Cornwall where her family has a cottage for some much needed rest and relaxation. She sees her old friend Greg and they begin a relationship, although Amberley runs hot and cold on him at every turn. Steve, the ex continues to torment and threaten her. When things culminate in Amberley and Steve having a final altercation, Amberley can't deal with the consequences and leaves Cornwall behind to get her head together supposedly. Amberley was hard to connect with throughout this book and her actions were pretty self-absorbed and childish. When Greg and her should have been grieving together she tells him she wants no contact and leaves for London. Her absence from Cornwall was mind-boggling and made the story that much disjointed to me. There was some flow issues with the story as it shifted continually with her and her brother having to go back to London and they Amberley getting offered a consulting job that didn't do one thing for this plot. Overall it was an okay book but was difficult to connect with the characters and the story line.

[Ivana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flame is a story about abused woman and new beginnings.

It describes problems abused women experience in society. Law is on abusers side most of the time and victims feel hopeless. This book shows how emotional and physical abuse affects victims life.

Really liked book and absolutely adored Greg.
I did not understand some of Amberley's actions at first but then i tried to put myself in her shoes. I realized she dealt with whole situation good, considering trauma. I would, probably, never again trust men. She did not gave up at the end.

Toya Richardson is new author to me but after this book i will read more of her work.

[K.M. Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book that I have read by Toya, and ut certainly won't be the last. It was such lovely, touching story, set in Cornwall.

Amberley visits her family cottage in Cornwall, when her health takes a tumble through stress and an abusive ex partner.

Amberley meets up with childhood friend and their friendship turns into a relationship. Steve, Amberley's ex goes looking for revenge and makes their life hell. Heartache and tragedy strike, leaving Amberley looking for answers.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to other books by Toya.

[Rae Ewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok..

This book was just on for me. It felt stilted to me. The h was kind of an idiot and because of that, we missed out on a good port of their relationship. The "separation" was just strange and there was no good reason for it. I feel like we missed out on a lot as readers, but I can't really explain it well because the story was just awkward. Not a bad book overall, it not great either.

[Kazz Mossman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amberley our heroine, was going through a traumatic time being stalked by her ex boyfriend. A deranged man who thought he owned her. Things began to worsen when she finds herself falling in love with Greg, a childhood friend from her parent’s holiday home in Cornwall. Some lovely descriptions of the area, it made me feel I was also there. Greg being a local artist made it more intriguing.

Unfortunately, the mystic of Greg was lost because the viewpoint continually jumped from Amberley to him, a technique I’m not a great fan of. There were a few issues with the story telling, although it didn’t put me off because overall, I enjoyed.

You can read my full review on my blog: https://karensbookbuzz.wordpress.com/...

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was superb, I couldn't put it down, great story, brilliantly written. Well done Toya.

[Sue Wozniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Flame’ is expertly written. Toya Richardson has a concise, clear and precise style of writing, which makes her text quick and easy to follow, in particular suiting the ‘thriller’ elements of this novel, and making it a real page-turner. Toya’s accuracy in describing action, conversation and places is spot-on. This novel is also remarkable for its sensitive understanding of the effects of stress on individuals. The author’s obvious affection for real places in Cornwall, where much of the novel is set, is touching and adds to its charm…. perhaps it can serve as a useful travel guide too! You can also learn a lot about setting up a small business and court processes from it! This novel is a romance as well as a thriller, and as is usual for this genre characterisation is idealised and motivation kept simple, allowing the narrative to crack on. The only aspect of this story that did not quite convince me was the heroine’s sudden and frequent thwartings of a romance that she believed was the true love of her life… and her ‘beau’ indeed seemed most promising (and patient!)… perhaps a couple less ‘thwartings’ might have seemed more plausible. Seduction scenes are particularly sensual and honest. Toya is a very skilled writer who includes a lot of unexpected and interesting aspects and information in her novel, and I look forward to her next cracking read!

[Booklover BEV · Rating 5 out of 5]

wish i could mark this book 10 fantastic heartbreaking tale of abused amberley {flame} gripping made me cry fantastic ending read till i couldnt put it down chapter after chapter well done to the author