Flame

by Tara Heavey

Single mother Rachel and young son Ember are on the run from something. Or is it someone? Something or someone dark and threatening. They hope that they are running towards a better life, a life of hope and light. But will they be able to remain unseen and fully escape their past? To create the future that they both desperately long for and deserve, in the heart of the beautiful and verdant Irish countryside. Perhaps finding healing in the magical landscape itself. Maybe. Just maybe. With the help and romantic attentions of Ben the solitary woodsman and the surprising friendship of Madame Cyn, the bosomy and outspoken cafe-owner. And a friend that Rachel could never have imagined. A ghostly presence from the distant past, this time a positive force. Add to the mix a mystical forest and the sudden appearance of an orphaned fox cub ... Through it all. Can the flame of hope and love be kept alive?

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Suspense

290 pages, Paperback

Published July 10, 2017

Reviews

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written with a strong main character that grew into her strength and her own. I enjoyed Flame, Ember, Rachel, Ben, and Cynthia. Great characters with bold personalities and a story to tell.

The story had so many grains of truth embedded. People are not always what they seem, and we are all made up from the sun of our pasts.

[Book Wyvern · Rating 1 out of 5]

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

This just seems like it’s trying much too hard to be poetic. It’s taking away from the story and really making me not want to read. I got to chapter 4 and I just had to stop. I just could not go on. So this is a DNF for me.

I feel like this would have been a decent book, not great but decent, had the writing been better and not trying so hard. Why do we need to know that this minor side character has wide matronly hips and breasts pointing at Rachel?

Also, the detail just made no sense to me. Turquoise streaks in the sky? If that’s supposed to be the Aurora Borealis then I feel like that’s the most insulting way that you can describe that beautiful, breath-taking even when everything else has been trying too hard to be poetic. You seem to try and put poetry into things that don’t need it but when something would actually benefit from it, you dumb it down?

The cover is pretty but that really seems like the only thing going for it. The title makes me worried about how the book would be and I was right. The story does not match the cover.

All in all, I would not recommend this book to anyone. Just seems to be trying too hard and yet not trying hard enough.

Thank you for reading my review.

-Sam

[Sandra Lopez · Rating 2 out of 5]

It all begins with a woman moving into a new home with her son, who is an “elective mute.” Not too sure what that means.


Story was pretty slow from the start and carried considerable lag throughout. It mostly centers on the mother and son settling in a new town, but you also get a brief POV from the other characters, like the diner owner and the woodsman. How does a woodsman come into play? The change in POV’s was a little disconcerting.


There were also some awkward phrases like, “He looked up at her with noisy eyes.” What did that mean? I’m sure this was probably the author’s effort to sound poetic, but that just didn’t make sense. Eyes don’t make a sound.

Judging by the plot summary, the mother and son are running away from something or someone (this is all very vague, btw), and then a “ghostly presence” and “mystical forest” are added to the mix. Oh, and there’s also an orphaned fox cub. It was kind of scattered and pointless. I actually expected more of a thriller/suspense story.

It just wasn’t what I expected.

[Jo-Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mother will do anything to keep her child safe. In this case, Rachel and her son were running from an abusive man. She was sure he would never find them in the remote cottage they rented. They settled in, making friends and the boy even got a pet. It was an unusual pet. When he found a baby fox without a mother he wanted to look after it and save it. Then he trained it as he would a dog.

I was impressed with the way the subject of domestic violence was handled in this book. It showed you can get past it and live a good life. With help from her friends, Rachel did just that. She was a strong woman but coddled her son. It was understandable that she was protective of him after living with such a horrible man.

This was an enjoyable story and clearly well researched, however, I found there was too much description about the countryside in the first half of the book - slowing the story down. The thing that was really irritating was that we didn’t find out why they were running until well into the book.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed the story, the characters, the plot. Read it from cover to cover in 24 hours. Unputdownable from start to finish. Loved the characters and the way the author handled the serious issue of domestic violence. Very well written and thought provoking tale.

[Marbea Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thoughtful and thorough emotional and triumphant novel. There were more than one person of interest and the characters made the story have depth. It was mystically thought provoking and heartfelt. I enjoyed the plot,historical events,and the phenomenal life changing conclusion I didn't see coming.

[~Mindy Lynn~]

AMAZON FREEBIE 8/5/17