Devil's Fire

by Jean Evans

"I don't care for company, Miss Tarrant, and in particular I don't care for yours."
When Abigail Tarrant is employed to escort the young Sophie Farraday to join her father in India, she is shocked by the coldness of their reception. For Brett Farraday, ruthless owner of the ruby mines in Mandara, makes it quite clear that both she and his own daughter are an unwelcome intrusion.
Why does Brett have such a vengeful anger against the past? And what really happened to Sophie’s mother? His cold-blooded decision about their future only reinforces the enmity between them. But Abigail is torn, for she has fallen under the magical spell of Mandara ...

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Jean Evans was born in Leicester in 1939. She married shortly before her seventeenth birthday and had two married daughters and six grand-children. She gained valuable information and background for her Medical Romances from her husband who was a senior nursing administrator.

Having lived in various parts of the country, including the beautiful Vale of Lywyd, Jean settled in Hampshire, close to the New Forest and within easy reach of the historic city of Winchester.

She was instrumental in forming a Writers' Group in Denbigh, North Wales, and was a member of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.

She also wrote under the pen-name Leonie Craig.

Reviews

[JR · Rating 2 out of 5]

- Hero spurns young daughter because her (dead) mother had an affair with neighbour
- Hero bullies heroine, who is a quasi-governess, into marriage of (his) convenience
- Hero forces himself on heroine
- Hero allows loyal servant to be torn to pieces by ravaging tiger

It's a great pity the tiger didn't get the "Hero"...

Rating 'Devil's Fire' a one-and-a-half star vintage romance read.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off quite well but the romance took a long time to develop. The heroine is a patient suffering soul who believes in morals while the H has never been celibate even after their marriage and "rape alert" not once but twice. Om ow drama nearly wrecks the marriage. However the backdrop of colonial India was interesting though I really don't understand how the tiger got inside the house since it was being guarded by the gunmen.
Personally I thought the last episode used for the Hea was too disgusting and graphic for the romantic ending.

[Bea Tea · Rating 2 out of 5]

The H in this is complete dog shit. He rejects his child, despises the h, rapes her multiple times (awful, physical ordeals where the restraint, pain and fighting-back are detailed in a really disturbing way) and she is 'I love him, oh how I love him' and all I can do is scream 'WHY???' Only decent character was Gopal and he fuckin' dies so fuck this.