Immortal Heart

LadyTech #1

by Julie Miller

Her career and sanity threatened by a security leak on the job, computer genius BJ Kincaid is assisted by investigator Brodie Maxwell, who resists falling in love because he believes anyone who loves him is cursed.

Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Historical, Ebooks

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1997

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

USA TODAY Bestselling author Julie Miller writes breathtaking romantic suspense. She's won a National Readers Choice Award and two Daphne du Maurier Awards among other prizes. She was also honored to receive a Career Achievement Award from RT BookReviews and has been a finalist for many national and international awards. Her books have appeared on the USA Today, Publisher's Weekly, Amazon and BookScan Top 100 Romances bestseller lists.

Writing about Kansas City cops, Julie has crafted bestselling, award-winning books for Harlequin Intrigue. In addition, Ms. Miller publishes romantic suspense books with a military twist. Millions of copies of her books have been sold in print and digital formats around the world.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. I have had this one on my TBR for a long time and finally decided it was time to read it. Brodie is a medieval knight who pissed off a sorcerer. This sorcerer condemned Brodie to immortality, never being able to marry and have children and fated to tragically lose anyone he came to love. Fast forward 800 years. Brodie had served in the Marines with the late husband of one of BJ's coworkers. When BJ started having problems with blackouts and stolen computer problems Emma asked Brodie to come and investigate. Brodie is a big man, scarred from all the battles he has fought in. He can be very intimidating, but he is also a true knight - chivalrous and caring. He immediately senses that there is true evil at work and has to find a way to protect BJ while he investigates. I loved the way that he was always there with what she needed, whether it was comfort or a boot in the rear. He also found that he cared for her far more than any other woman he had ever known which terrified him for her safety. BJ was a genius who had been isolated since she was a small child. She was never given the chance to make friends or have boyfriends. Her people skills are not the greatest but she would really like a chance to be normal. When she started having the blackouts she feared for her sanity. At first she wasn't happy to have Brodie with her 24/7 but soon came to realize that he was completely on her side. She also trusted him quickly when he was able to pull her from the blackouts. I loved their interactions as they got to know each other. I liked the way that BJ was able to see the man under the scarred warrior and the way that Brodie was able to open up to BJ. There were some interesting twists to the plot, but I was right about the identity of the bad guy. I absolutely LOVED the final chapter. I will have to find and read the other two related books.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Romance Novel that my former High School English Teacher wrote. It is her dream to write romance novels for a living and this on got her started. She has now quit teaching and writes full-time. Go Mrs. Miller!

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been an amazing book if it weren't for the sudden "I Love You" and the hero's stubbornness. Meh.

[Isis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read that tugs on the heartstrings. I was caught up in the world of Brodie and BJ, and only put the book down when it was impossible for my eyes to stay open any longer. Watching Brodie and BJ's relationship as it began and grew was incredible!

I got this as a free ebook from Amazon.com, but even if it weren't free, I'd have bought it. Wonderful story.

4.5 stars

[Paranormal Romance · Rating 5 out of 5]

The hero is employed at the company to discover what and who is interfering with the heroine's mind and making her question her own sanity. He knows better than anyone that he's a monster. Psychically, his size, his scars and his stern personality makes people openly stare in horror at what stands before them. And internally, he remembers the things he's done and the people he's hurt and considers himself worse than a monster, he thinks himself evil. But the heroine, even from the first meeting, sees something deeper. She sees past the scars to the man underneath, the man who's suffered great pain in his life but despite his appearance is a good man. He's sweet and thoughtful. He reminds her of a knight of old, and really he does consider it his duty to defend and protect his charge. Not because it's his job but because he can't stand the idea of such a beautiful creature being hurt. Not when she shows him affection and tenderness, both he's been severely lacking in for his many years. Their relationship develops quite quickly from being just a bodyguard/ward into something far more important. The heroine feels this instant and powerful craving to trust him and she does because he believes her when she tells him her troubles. Someone is playing with her mind, whispering and somehow controlling her. It's becoming not only a risk to her company but also to her very life and those around her. And now that she has her larger than life protector, this entity feels threatened and in turn now the hero's life is in danger. So much is stacked against their relationship not limited to just the heroine's problems. The hero himself is cursed. To live for eternity and cause pain and death to anyone he loves. That is his punishment for unintentionally killing the daughter of a wizard. So no matter how much he loves this woman and longs desperately for that happy ending, fate will eventually rip them apart. Regardless of this impeding doom, they can't seem to keep their hands off each other. The connection is too powerful and their mutual longing for something other than loneliness is pulling them together. But as was bound to happen, something pushes them apart. And it's not the hero's immortality or the guilt, it's the heroines fear. She can't believe the man she thinks of as a father could be the one behind these attacks let alone that he's an immortal wizard. So when the hero tries to tell her this, she doesn't believe him. The pain of this mistrust makes the hero grow distant. But he refuses to allow her to be hurt. Even if he can never have, nothing will hurt her while he's alive.

Second time reading this book and I have no idea why I didn't recognize the awesomeness of it the first time around but I know now. My goodness the ANGST. The drama! My heart! Tortured hero? Check. Sexy intense but loving relationship? Check. Wizards....Check. I couldn't have loved this hero anymore if I tried. Gentle giant with such a tormented soul. He deserved the heroine's kindness and he deserved to be happy. His devotion to the heroine was constant and admirable. Even if she faltered, he was always on her side and there to help her through it all. This book is so much better than it's cover. It just real heart and absolutely adored it.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought Immortal Heart (LadyTech #1) was just okay overall. The premise had potential, but it never fully pulled me in, and by the end I didn’t feel invested enough to continue with the series. Going into the story, I was expecting much stronger Beauty and the Beast elements, but those aspects felt very minimal and underdeveloped to me.

One of the biggest challenges for me was the narration. Having a non-human narrator made it harder for me to connect with the story and the characters, and I honestly think the book might have received a better rating from me if the narrator had been human. That distance kept me from fully engaging with the emotions and relationships. While some readers may enjoy the unique perspective and genre blend, this one just didn’t click for me, and I don’t see myself picking up the next book in the series.

[Maria]

FREE today (February 24, 2025) on Amazon.

[Maggie Hesseling · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid modern romance with a twist. Brodie is a knight from the 12th century, cursed to live life as an immortal unable to love without the woman dying on him. In present day he's an ex-marine, living isolated in order to protect himself and the women he might potentially fall in love with from Heartbreak. Of course that only works if you keep to it. When he's called to help a dead marines widow with a problem surrounding one of her colleagues, history is determined to repeat itself.

Like I said, this is a solid romance. I think a little bit more editing may have been nice, just to tighten it up a bit (some things seem to fall out from nowhere), but I enjoyed the characters and the elements of fantasy that were there.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another Kindle freebie from Amazon. The description drew me in with the background of an ancient curse and immortal foes battling each other across 800 years. In the reading, however, I was much more drawn to the interactions between BJ Kincaid, computer prodigy, and Brodie Maxwell, scarred warrior. Getting to know them and seeing them get to know each other made this a heartwarming read. I found myself kind of skimming the ancient bits to get back to BJ and Brodie. I was a bit annoyed with the overt Beauty and the Beast nods because they felt overdone. I think most people would have drawn those kinds of connections in their own minds without needing it spelled out.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in high school when I first read this book, and while it's obviously not the greatest romance novel I ever read, it was good enough that I remember it 11 years later. If I still had my copy, I would most likely reread it.

I believe Julie Miller is now primarily a Harlequin writer, and that's not typically my brand of preference when it comes to romance novels. However, this was Miller's first published novel and a contemporary/paranormal one at that. I'd say for a first attempt, it was pretty darn good.

[FayAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm personally not into sorcery or witchcraft types of reading. I guess it's because 'I' cannot grasp the reality of that style of paranormal writing. Immortal Heart was NOT awful, just not exactly my cup of tea. When I'm into a book it'll usually take me hrs-1 day to finish (even with interruptions) not 4-5 days. Though this wasn't horrible it wasn't one of my favorites either. Now to try & finish the other 2 even knowing they are paranormals not contemporary like I was originally expecting.

[Jeriann Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Conquers the Darkness

Julie Miller takes a break from the Kansas City Police Department and gives us this significantly updated reissue of her paranormal romantic suspense, Immortal Heart. I thoroughly enjoyed this beauty and the beast romance that MS. Miller does so well. If you've read this before, take another look. A terrific HEA.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It was kind of like Beauty and the Beast. I really liked it. the character depth of Brodie and BJ. The twists of the plot, though expected were great. I look forward to reading more of this series!