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Seattle #2
Flickering Flames
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”(Psalm 119:105, KJV).* * *A dedicated nurse is troubled by her pastScoffers said the Seattle hospital could never be built. God and Nicholas Fairchild knew better. Now doctors and nurses follow in Jesus’ footsteps and bring healing to body, mind, and soul.Helping to save young lives can never erase Nancy Galbraith’s pain over those she could not save as a child, but following her calling as a nurse in Pediatrics helps. So does her growing love for Dr. Damon Barton.Nancy dreams of the day when they will marry and have children of their own, the day she has waited for all her life. Yet before that can happen, the couple must face and overcome secrets from the past . . . secrets that become a raging inferno that only God can stamp out before Flickering Flames reduce their love to ashes.Award-winning author Colleen L. Reece once longed to become a nurse but God had other plans for 150+ Books You Can Trust” with six million copies sold.
223 pages, Hardcover
First published January 7, 2009
10 people want to read
About the author
Colleen L. Reece
245 books37 followersCOLLEEN L. REECE writes under the pen name Connie Loraine and is one of Heartsong's most popular authors. Colleen learned to read beneath the rays of a kerosene lamp. The kitchen, dining room, and her bedroom in her home near the small logging town of Darrington, Washington, were once a one-room schoolhouse where her mother taught all eight grades! An abundance of love for God outweighed the lack of electricity or running water and provided the basis for many of Colleen's 140+ books.
Her rigid "refuse to compromise" stance has helped sell more than 6 million copies that help spread the good news of repentance, forgiveness, and salvation through Christ. Colleen helped launch Barbour Publishing's Romance Reader flip books, the American Adventure series, and her own Juli Scott Super Sleuth Christian teen mystery series. In 1998 Colleen was inducted into the HeartSong Hall of Fame in recognition for her contribution to Heartsong's success.
Her rigid "refuse to compromise" stance has helped sell more than 6 million copies that help spread the good news of repentance, forgiveness, and salvation through Christ. Colleen helped launch Barbour Publishing's Romance Reader flip books, the American Adventure series, and her own Juli Scott Super Sleuth Christian teen mystery series. In 1998 Colleen was inducted into the HeartSong Hall of Fame in recognition for her contribution to Heartsong's success.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 18, 2023
Nancy and Damon have had growing feelings for each other since they've been working together as nurse and doctor at Shepherd of Love Hospital. But a fiery tragedy and a critical vow from the past could destroy the couple's chances of having a future together in Flickering Flames by author Colleen L. Reece.
I first read this ChristFic novel maybe more than twenty years ago in a romance collection called Seattle.
While I recall that the romantic storylines weren't what I liked most about the collection, and I'd forgotten that this second novel's main characters are Black, I found a family matter in the story to be unforgettable, from my first reading until this one.
"Tell the truth, Damon..."
The novel's super-short prologue and epilogue are also rather effective in their shared use of crucial imagery.
However, I don't agree much with the book being called a romance. For much of the story, the romantic relationship isn't the central focus, and the romantic emotion/devotion is poorly developed. The hero's and heroine's feelings rush to love during chapters when the couple has few conversations with each other and little time together while they're busy dealing with their own separate matters.
Also, the dialogue sometimes reads a little like a romance novel from the '50s or earlier rather than like the language of people in their twenties and thirties in the 1990s. The characters don't always come off as natural, and I found some of the exchanges unconvincing for Black characters, especially a joke from Nancy regarding being a "slave." I'm not sure the author even realized what the "slave" term could sound like coming from a Black heroine who's serving for a while in a household of rich Caucasians.
Moreover, like in the book before this one, the novel oftentimes sounds more like a Bible lesson than natural storytelling.
Even so, my nostalgic side was still glad to revisit the family part of the plot I never forgot, and I may reread at least one more novel in the series: one that I think doesn't have another "male doctor, female nurse" pairing from the hospital.
I first read this ChristFic novel maybe more than twenty years ago in a romance collection called Seattle.
While I recall that the romantic storylines weren't what I liked most about the collection, and I'd forgotten that this second novel's main characters are Black, I found a family matter in the story to be unforgettable, from my first reading until this one.
"Tell the truth, Damon..."
The novel's super-short prologue and epilogue are also rather effective in their shared use of crucial imagery.
However, I don't agree much with the book being called a romance. For much of the story, the romantic relationship isn't the central focus, and the romantic emotion/devotion is poorly developed. The hero's and heroine's feelings rush to love during chapters when the couple has few conversations with each other and little time together while they're busy dealing with their own separate matters.
Also, the dialogue sometimes reads a little like a romance novel from the '50s or earlier rather than like the language of people in their twenties and thirties in the 1990s. The characters don't always come off as natural, and I found some of the exchanges unconvincing for Black characters, especially a joke from Nancy regarding being a "slave." I'm not sure the author even realized what the "slave" term could sound like coming from a Black heroine who's serving for a while in a household of rich Caucasians.
Moreover, like in the book before this one, the novel oftentimes sounds more like a Bible lesson than natural storytelling.
Even so, my nostalgic side was still glad to revisit the family part of the plot I never forgot, and I may reread at least one more novel in the series: one that I think doesn't have another "male doctor, female nurse" pairing from the hospital.
August 11, 2016
Flickering Flames is the second book in the Seattle series by Colleen L. Reece. It takes place in Shepard of Love Hospital and find out that a nurse and a dr's paths has crossed once before a long time ago.
We meet a Pedriatrics RN named Nancy Galbraith, who's life has flickering flames and lives with them everyday. Each child she takes care of it reminds her of the little sister that she lost. Nancy has never told anyone what happened on the day she lost her mother and sister in the fire. As the years go by she has nightmares of that day, no one really understands her past. One day as a child that is dying does she realize that she needs to talk to someone. The hospital director sends her to a really good friend and that is when Nancy opens up about what happened.
Dr. Damon Barton has a past that he keeps locked inside of him. Damon works with Nancy at Shepard of Love hospital when he is needed. As the time goes by while working together he falls in love with her but wonders if she could handle his past. One day Damon ask Nancy to join him at church at Shepard of Love Sanctuary. That is when Nancy noticed as the sun shines thru a window a outline of orange outlines Damon's profile view. Nancy puts two and two together it was Damon that set the fire which cost the lives of her sister and mother.
Damon's brother Curtis shows up without a word and then ask Damon for help. Damon refuses to help him cause he's not sure what is going on. Curtis is being chased down by people who wants him dead, but now Damon and Nancy's lives are both in danger. Curtis gets beat up really badly and is taken to the hospital. That is when the truth comes out that Damon wasn't the one who started the fire it was Curtis. All this time Nancy was putting blame on the wrong person. Once Nancy has forgiven Damon the love for eachother is very strong. Soon Nancy is about to marry her Dr. Damon Barton.
We meet a Pedriatrics RN named Nancy Galbraith, who's life has flickering flames and lives with them everyday. Each child she takes care of it reminds her of the little sister that she lost. Nancy has never told anyone what happened on the day she lost her mother and sister in the fire. As the years go by she has nightmares of that day, no one really understands her past. One day as a child that is dying does she realize that she needs to talk to someone. The hospital director sends her to a really good friend and that is when Nancy opens up about what happened.
Dr. Damon Barton has a past that he keeps locked inside of him. Damon works with Nancy at Shepard of Love hospital when he is needed. As the time goes by while working together he falls in love with her but wonders if she could handle his past. One day Damon ask Nancy to join him at church at Shepard of Love Sanctuary. That is when Nancy noticed as the sun shines thru a window a outline of orange outlines Damon's profile view. Nancy puts two and two together it was Damon that set the fire which cost the lives of her sister and mother.
Damon's brother Curtis shows up without a word and then ask Damon for help. Damon refuses to help him cause he's not sure what is going on. Curtis is being chased down by people who wants him dead, but now Damon and Nancy's lives are both in danger. Curtis gets beat up really badly and is taken to the hospital. That is when the truth comes out that Damon wasn't the one who started the fire it was Curtis. All this time Nancy was putting blame on the wrong person. Once Nancy has forgiven Damon the love for eachother is very strong. Soon Nancy is about to marry her Dr. Damon Barton.
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July 14, 2014Once again Colleen Reece has written an excellent Christian romance that will instill in even unbelievers a reason to learn about Christianity. A truly inspired author!!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews