Ecstatically happy in her marriage to handsome gentleman pirate Reed Taylor, Kathleen is never far from her beloved husband's side-until their idyllic existence is shattered by the onset of the War of 1812. Her worst fears are realized when she receives word that Reed's ship, the Kat-Ann, has been sunk, and all aboard have perished. Refusing to believe that Reed is dead, Kathleen mounts a desperate search with the aid of Jean Lafitte's pirate band, to no avail. The memory of the burning passion they shared is ever present in her aching heart-and then suddenly an ironic twist of fate answers her fervent prayers, only to confront her with evidence of a betrayal that will threaten everything she holds most dear.
Catherine Hart is one of today's most popular romance authors and has earned many prestigious writing awards since she started her craft. With 16 historical romances and 2 novellas under her belt, Catherine keeps very busy giving romance readers lots of great reading. Many of her books have made their way to bestseller lists then went on to win awards such as the Romantic Times Storyteller of the Year, a Lifetime Achievement Award for Western Romance. Also, she was recently inducted into her high school's Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame, an honor she cherishes. Catherine is donating total profits from one of her novellas to promoting adult literacy and she credits her success to a firm belief in true and lasting love, an overactive imagination, an insatiable thirst for knowledge and an off-the-wall sense of humor. Catherine resides in Ohio, where she was born and raised and she is the mother of 3 grown children, a "Nana" and the adoptive "mama" of a Siamese cat named Sassy and a Pekingese dog named B.J., both of whom have found a place in her historical novels. Ms. Hart has a passion for Ohio State football, Native American crafts and culture, romantic movies and books, travel, "oldies tunes" and her husband of 29 years, her own special hero.
I am giving it 4 stars because the writing was superb!
On the other hand...read this book on your own peril. I hate cheating. I know. I just do! I like my romances...lovable. I do not care for the groveling. But erm...here? There wasn't even a speck of groveling. The hero was a jerk. And when I say jerk...I do not mean 'oh he had sex with an other woman' jerk. Nooooo...
I mean he had sex with an other woman because he could not help himself while waiting to be rescued for am deserted island, freaked out because his wife was 'unfaithful'(I am using this term loosely because the woman was engaged and believed to be a widow!), and decided to torture her with keeping his...mistress(Or what ever your deserted island paramour can be called) in their house!While their children lived there! OMFG!!! At one point he even stood doing nothing after the little island mistress hit his child! All in the name of revenge over his wife.
And in the end he almost left the wife he claimed to love so much (I have no way to confirm this-he did not show it for a second) because he did not know whose child his wife was going to have and he was jealous. He was now jealous. Talk about irony! Again...OMFG!
On the other hand-Jean,the other man, was a sweetheart and I wish the heroine ended up with him. The way he told Reed he does not care if the baby is his or Reed's almost made me cry. :(
P.S.I wish Reed died. On the fuc.ing island. While he told Sally all about his family and said that he would leave his wife!!! (I am guessing he told her this in order to f.ck her. I mean, we all now how he is obsessed with his wife. Lucky wife!) Die, bastard, die! P.P.S.He did not grovel for a moment! Not a moment! Jerk! And she just took him back :(
Bad books are so much easier to review than good ones.
Unprotected SPOILERS below. Proceed at your own risk.
I don't have a lot of positive things to say about this book, so I'm going to begin with those:
• The author doesn't have a manwhore hero/celibate heroine double standard. (The manwhore hero? Yes, he very much clings to a double standard, but we'll get to that in a moment.) The supposedly widowed heroine takes a lover -- indeed, falls in love again -- before being reunited with her undead (and unfaithful) husband. • The OW never gets the better of the heroine. Their confrontations are remarkably petty (it's practically a prank war from the heroine's side), but the only points the OW scores are those handed to her by the undead husband. The heroine never gives the OW the satisfaction of seeing her fears, never backs down, and never loses face.
Mostly, though, the book is ruined with ineffectual writing. The whole scenario should be incredibly angsty: the wife believes her husband has been lost at sea, searches for him desperately (because she's a privateer *and* a lady) while mourning wildly, then takes her vengeance out on the ships of the British navy, aided by her husband's good friend and fellow privateer Jean Lafitte. Lafitte loves her and they grow increasingly close until they become lovers and get engaged. Then -- surprise -- they take down a British ship that just happened to have rescued her undead husband from the deserted island where he had been stranded for the past year...with sexy blonde teenager Sally Simpson.
Sally -- not knowing the female pirate captain she's speaking with is in fact her lover's wife (Kat does her pirating in disguise, so can't reveal her identity to claim her man) -- declares that Reed is her fiancé. When Kat asks if Sally is aware that Reed has a wife and two young children, Sally blithely claims that Reed will be divorcing his wife as soon as they return to America. Reed is standing right there! Does he deny it? No. And this is the one element of his infidelity that's going to stick in my craw, because -- since we have no details of their time together on the island -- to me it suggests that Reed was making false promises to Sally to keep the happy sexy funtimes harmonious. (Not that Sally is incapable of lying, but to lie directly in front of the one person who can expose the lie? And he doesn't? Yeah...there were conversations on that island.)
Reed quickly gloms on to the notion that Kat and Jean were in a relationship (bitterly confirmed when he sees the engagement ring, thought Kat will never admit that she and Jean had been lovers) and decides to punish Kat by threatening her with divorce and depriving her of seeing their children if she doesn't play the role of amenable, biddable wife. Plus he invites his desert island hookup to their home to recover from her ordeal, where he gives Kat, his own family, and all their neighbors in Savannah the impression that he's still sleeping with her.
The problem isn't that we know he isn't sleeping with Sally. The problem is that there's just no emotion in this section at all. It's too much bland telling without showing. We're told that Reed showers attention on Sally at parties, but we're not shown scenes of his doting on her from Kat's perspective. We're told Kat is aware of the neighbors' confusion and gossip and pitying glances, but we feel no humiliation coming from her. It's a jealousy snoozefest.
The only emotion this book stirred in me was anger over Reed's hypocrisy. He had an affair because he apparently couldn't go one year in a survival situation without banging someone. He makes no apologies for his infidelity, but excoriates Kat for moving on when she believed she had been widowed.
I didn't read this book, I just read a few reviews (from 1 to 5 stars) and the spoiler made me SICK! ARGGGGG Not only bothered me that hero cheated on the heroine, but she also moved on TOO quickly (less than a year) and the WORST of that with hero's best friend! :O Just one word: DISGUSTING (U_U)*
P.S. I just found out that there is a book by this author about how the main characters fell in love. So, this author sold 1 book with 1 HEA and then in another book both main characters DESTROYED their HEA in an instant :O What the hell! The book of the cheating was released in 2000 and their first HEA was released in 2002. Pleaseeee somebody SAVE US! These authors (not all of them) and their CRAZY ideas :S
Update: (Correction) January/9/2016 I searched on internet about the author and her books and found out this page: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/c... It contains a brief biography and a list of her books and series chronologically. Both books: Fire & Ice and Ashes & Ecstasy were published originally in 1984 and 1985. They don't belong to a serie, but both stories are about the same main characters, Kathleen Haley and Captain Reed Taylor.
Skimmed only the juicy parts which was about the last third of the book. This hero was pre-tay nas-tay to say the least. HUGE hypocrite who knew his wife wasn't dead but carried on with his mistress while shipwrecked. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he was on that deserted island a year, but still. He should've at least gave the missus a break considering he was the true adulturer. But not only didn't he, but he brought the ditzy OW home and rubbed his long suffering wife's face in their relationship. If you want to be utterly pissed off, then you've hit gold! This book deserves a 5 in that department.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Book 2 in the Fire and Ice duology featuring Kathleen and Reed. The books were originally released in 1984-85, but the ebooks are available free with Kindle Unlimited (with modern covers) and don't show that they are part of a series.
This book starts about 4-ish years after Fire and Ice ends. Kat and Reed are super duper happy and have two kids.
Overall, a highly drama/angst feel read with a happy ending.
I might be a little touched, but after reading all the reviews on what a jerk the H was, I actually had some symphathy for him.
He was a jerk, no question,
There is a definate double standard being applied, but who cares if you're the one in a world of hurt. I kinda felt for him, and him being a complete douche bag was in line with the story.
This book is a great read it is part two of Fire and ice but the story is still very exciting keeps you guessing and on edge of what's about to happen I really enjoyed reading this book Catherine Hart did a great job. Kathleen & Reed will always hold a special place in my heart 💗
Pages 1-133: Five (5) I fucking love you two stars
Pages 134-312: Negative, (-5) negative five fucking what the hell were you thinking stars To say you disappointed me here, Kat, would be an understatement. I lost 90% of my respect for you in a short 20 pages. And half these pages were extremely boring. I do give a bonus point to that wonderful and entertaining parrot, however.
Pages 313-478: (4) Four you people are fucking entertaining stars For the people who said he was too forceful here, clearly, have not read book 1, this was pretty tame compared. And I don't think Reed can honestly be at fault.
Okay, I'm going to start with Kat. I find it the ultimate betrayal to your husband and the love you shared together to start a relation other than friendship with someone you were both close to -such as a best friend- be your husband dead or not . I find it disloyal and highly dishonorable to engage in such activities, it is a knife in the gut to the union you shared together . The fact that people use the excuse of their love for the deceased to rectify their being together makes me the sickest. If your husband were alive, you wouldn't even think about it, if you divorced he'd still never forgive the two of you. So why does the world feel in death it is okay? The worst thing of all was I felt there was little fight from you at all, Kat. Where was your little Irish stubbornness here? Yes, you were depressed and morning but I still don't think that is a good enough reason. How can you say you love someone with all your heart, yet give it away so freely? The first man to show you a little comfort and you go diving head first into his bed. Pathetic, I'm sorry to say. I actually closed one eye while I had to read about your disgusting passion with one another.
Mr. Reed Taylor. Let's get to you because you are not innocent either. You truly are the definition of a rake, aren't you? My god, you'd stick your dick in anything with holes, wouldn't you? I wish you would of been stuck on that island all alone and had to do with making a coconut your mistress. The fact that you, dear sir,knowingly cheated on your wife makes you just as bad. I mean how is she to ever trust it wouldn't happen again because clearly you have no self will. Yes, you are man, you have needs. May I suggest next time you get more reacquainted with rosy palmer. I'd have more to say I'm sure if I actually had to read about your cheating.
With that, I'd say you two are fairly equal in your treachery to one another. The fact that neither of you re-engaged in your cheating after you found one another, I can applaud. Kat, you had every right to be mad at Reed when you found out about Miss Sally Simpson. Reed, I actually think the way you acted when you got back was justified. Not only did you feel betrayed by your wife but your best friend, as well. Yes, you made it seem as if you were still carrying on with your mistress but the author plainly stated you were not. You were only trying to make your wife as jealous as you felt. It was quite clear he still loved her, I can't imagine how hard it would be to come to terms with your wife sleeping with your best friend, and possibly be carrying his child. For the people who seem so upset at Reed, I'd like to point out actions speak louder than words. Did he not still turn to her at the end of the day to make love to her, though he could of easily carried on with Miss Simpson while she resided in the home,yet he did not. Who was there to comfort her when her grandmother died? He was. Did he not protect the child she was carrying by not allowing her to ride to Emerald Hill? Yes. Did he not follow her to Emerald hill, just to be next to her at the end of the night? Could he of not just allowed Jean to die? And finally, he did come to terms with it which I think makes him more of a man than any of you are giving him credit for. He was still a gentleman at heart whether anyone else cares to see it or not. I think she should of at least told him the truth about her and Jean, he had strong suspicions, you can't ever get past a conflict like that in a relationship if all things are not voiced, they will stew and simmer below the surface, always a questioning doubt in ones mind. But apparently if the author says differently, it won't. Kat, and her antics against Miss Sally Simpson was great, and way to get a bitch slap in there. All and all.
This was infuriating tbh. Dude was stranded on an island with a girl he banged for a year but yet he’s literally ready to kill Katherine because she finally found a bit of comfort with another man AFTER exhausting all avenues and accepting her husband was dead....dfsdfs @ men! The hypocrisy.
I understand the hero’s reaction upon learning about his wife’s and best friend’s relationship and then the pregnancy. I hate how he and the heroine did not even talk to each other. You know to sort their problems out. Instead the writer just went with the physical attraction as if it alone solves the plot and conflict!! Typical bodice ripper. Please writers put some logic and rationality into your stories. Anyways, the hero’s behavior and actions were inexcusable. But then so were his wife’s (the heroine). I get it that she fully believed herself a widow but she was so selfish, an irresponsible mother and a bitch for leaving her children in the care of her relatives while she went on to her daring escapades to grieve for her husband’s death. She did not even bother to think of her children lovingly while she was away but instead thought and dreamed of another man’s touch and caresses. How about her children? You can really feel the heroine’s grief over the death of the hero but their children lost him too. He was their father! The heroine was acting like it was only she who lost someone. She ignored and neglected her children’s feelings. They’re only children. Too young to experience such tragedy. Where was their mother when they needed her most and their mother’s love? Well, she was at sea doing all sorts of sexcapades with her lover. The heroine could not even bear to look at her baby son for he resembled her husband so much that it hurt and infuriated her. Because it reminder her of the husband she claimed she dearly loved and lost. The heck? What kind of a mother would hate her own child for a despicable reason such as that? The hero did not fall in love with the woman whom she got stranded with on an island. She was like a physical release for him. But still he was unfaithful even knowing fully well that he had a wife and two children at home. No excuse! While the heroine, believing herself a widow, was moving on with her husband’s best friend. She even fell in love with him and agreed to marry him. But the instant her dead husband reappeared after being accidentally rescued, she then went on declaring how much she loves him just days after she said “I love you and I will marry you” to another man. Make up your mind, girl! I hated how both the hero and the heroine were not honest with each other when they reunited. As what I said earlier, they did not have a sit down and talk things over. I think the heroine played a part in her husband’s cruelty after he resurfaced from the dead. She was not honest with him. She would not even answer him when he would ask her about her and his best friend. She’s feeding him doubts as a result. In the end, I don’t think the hero would overcome his hatred and doubt towards the heroine’s third baby’s paternity. Even if he claimed to love the baby as his own (we will never know who the father was for the heroine slept with both the hero and OM), the baby would still serve as a reminder. The doubt and hatred would linger.
Ashes to ecstasy by Catherine Hart Genre: romance Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
This book started out good two people in love and owned a boat they were pirates with two young kids. She was in opening looking for her friend her husband says that he will help her find the friend and hide her and they do the friend was running away from police because she murdered her husband he was raping her.
The hero (Reed) goes on a journey to Spain to complete some mission and he ends up never coming back leaving his wife (Kathleen) to be by herself with the kids. Government notified her that Reed dies with his ship while doing some mission. And boat is gone as well. She basically mourns him through half the book and wishes he came back, he had a friend named Jean who basically was so kind to her as she was mourning her dead husband that she had her friend Isabel, Jean go with her and some friends to look for where his ship would of been as she slowly fell in love with Jean. As she is hugging jean he shows up out of nowhere reed after a year of being presumed dead and he yells at her because she’s with Jean she tells him how rude he is because they told her he was dead but then the biggest betrayal was he made all that up to make it look like he died so he can be stranded on a island for a year and he found a new wife to marry named Sally.
Kathleen ends up pregnant some months later and pissed that he is marrying his mistress he tells her he won’t be with her an throws Kathleen’s ring out the window to be with Jean saying he owns her an she can’t be with anyone while he screws around.
End of the story he ends up refalling in love with Kathleen again and they end up together while he treated her like absolute shit. He should of died at the island instead and she should of ended up with Jean.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is book book two, the sequel to Fire and Ice. I found this to be better than book one. Their married life is about to be ripped apart by the onset of the War of 1812. He enlists as a privateer offering his ships and services while she remains behind to care for their two children. She eventually receives news that his ship has been lost and all crew assumed dead. She is devastated and in denial and after a while accepts that he is gone. She becomes the infamous lady pirate and soon finds herself with a new lover. When her husband reappears his jealousy gets the better of him. A miracle brings back the love that once was.
Excellent novel and another classic bodice ripper. It is great to follow Kathleen and Reed once again. Reed is a great big jerk once again and Kathleen starts off great and then becomes a doormat for awhile before actually re-growing a spine. The one thing I hated was Jean having his heart broken.
Gross, gross and gross....negative stars...he is shipwrecked for a year banging someone else, while his wife mourns him. She sleeps with someone 1 time almost full year after his "death" and he is furious, yet he brings his shipwrecked ho back and even said he was going to marry her...Revolting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
All idiots with "hypocrisy" nonsense. She gave birth to a child who could be her lover's. He would never know if he's father or not. Women can't never understand that, because it never happens to them. "Double-standards", my ass.
I loved this book even tho it was bittersweet after Kathleen found out Reed was alive cuz of how bad Reed treated her which I hated.the sex scenes were hot and passionate before Reed was thought to be dead and then came back and he started being forceful and just disgusting.
But overall I loved the book.i loved how determined Kat was to find Reed and she never gave up on him even when she was with Jean,she still didnt fail to remember Reed.
I loved the ending when Reed realized that Kat really did miss and care for him and when he finally accepted Erin in his life with Kat,also. :)) 5 STARS :)
Mixed reviews. I read this book series when I was 17 and I LOVED it. When I found it again I couldn't wait to read it. At 30, the book is not nearly as good. The writing style is immature and doesn't flow properly and the main characters are almost impossible to like. I wish I had not reread this one.