Fire Song

by Catherine Archer

Fire Song by Catherine Archer released on Jun 24, 1998 is available now for purchase.

Genres: Historical, Historical Romance, Romance, Medieval, Harlequin

298 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1997

About the author

Catherine J. Archibald was born on 17 August, and grew up in Oregon, USA. She has always loved books and reading. Even as little girl, she enjoyed making up further adventures about the characters in the books she read as well as writing stories about her own characters. But it wasn’t until she read Jane Eyre at around the age of 12 that she realized she wanted to write... romance novels. Completing a novel, however, turned out to be much more difficult than making up stories in her head!

In the years between deciding to become an author, marrying her Canadian husband, Steve, having three children, enrolling in nursing school twice, she began but never finished many novels. It wasn’t until her youngest child was two that she sat down and told herself that she would complete her book or go to her grave trying. That novel, written on an old typewriter that a friend gave her after finding out that she was working on a book, took two years to finish. Her husband, Steve, seeing how determined she was to become a published author, sold his 1965 Mustang to buy her first computer. He remained a constant and devoted supporter through the seven years of rejections. It was her third completed historical romance, Rose Among Thorns, that Catherine sold to Harlequin Historicals in 1992. It was the culmination of her all her dreams and hard work. She still approaches each book with the same excitement of that first one. Bringing the characters and their story to life are some of her greatest challenges and joys. Each time she helps the hero and heroine discover that being able to truly love and trust in another person only makes you stronger, she renews her own belief in the power of love. With the 2003 release of her thirteenth and last book for Harlequin, Dragon's Daughter, Catherine has lost none of her sense of awe at seeing the names of her characters in print.

After a rich and unforgettable stay of 15 years in Alberta, Catherine now lives with her husband of more than 25 years and her three children in Troutdale, Oregon, near her family again. She loves meeting and hearing from readers and may be reached at the following address: Catherine Archer, P.O. Box 1216, Fairview, OR 97024-1216.

Reviews

[Serena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Classico polpettone romance.
Matrimonio combinato ma la sposa non ne vuole sapere . Così la sorella prende il suo posto e, onestamente, già qui basterebbe chiudere il tutto.
Mai vista un personaggio femminile con così poca dignità personale che, improvvisamente, diventa la persona più incredibilmente forte e risoluta. Quando si dice che il matrimonio fa miracoli.

Finisce tutto a tarallucci e vino comunque. Insomma sono quei libri dove giocoforza deve essere l'happyending.

Che poi io che ho sempre sognato vivere in epoche del genere (ogni tanto mi ubriaco e desidero cose folli) ... cioè ma ci pensate che quella va a fare i bisognini nel bosco con lui che la sorveglia e poi finiscono a fare cose ancora più zozze senza un minimo di pulizia? Cioè ma cospargetevi di arbremagique belli miei O.o...

[Kelsey Goldstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Catherine Archer was a new author for me (another book pulled from my overflowing collection of unread books), so I was looking forward to trying something new after working my way through several Amanda Quick novels. I have often struggled with period romances set so far back in time (1200s, to be exact), probably because I know for a fact how damn hard life was for them. Knights in shining armor and castles and Crusades all sound glamorous, but life was horrible for most; even many of the better-off lived in questionable conditions (to say nothing of the hygiene). I know I'm reading far too much into this time period, but I can't help it. Coupled with all of this, the mentalities were so vastly different from what we know. The men in these types of books are often rough and a bit too domineering for my tastes. They lack a sense of respect for the female leads and, in turn, the female leads have to be overwhelmingly headstrong and outspoken in order to make dent in the mentalities of the times. This can sometimes be a bit too much for me. Archer managed to dance along this line fairly well and better than some other authors I've read with books set in this time and place. Roland was intriguing and attractive. I found his personality to be strong, but not abusive toward Meredyth, despite his distaste for women after what his mother had put his family through. He knew his role in the world and his marriage; he wasn't afraid to exercise his power, but he stopped just short of becoming an overbearing brute a time or two. Had he stepped over that line, however, I probably wouldn't have cared for him. Meredyth went back and forth from being the selfless, soft woman born to help others, to a sharp-tongued shrew who was far too headstrong for her own good. She had quite a few redeeming qualities and I found a great amount of sympathy for her because of her backstory, but she frustrated me on many occasions. I found her to be a tad too strong willed for a woman of her position. She had been raised to care for her family's household and to put her sister first, caring for her above all others because Celeste was seen as more "delicate" by their father. A woman who was so used to being in her sister's shadow and working (unappreciated) on things behind the scenes would surely not have been so forward with Roland. Of course, this is all personal opinion and many may not agree with my assessment. I just found the duality of her personality to be a bit too contrary.

Overall, I really enjoyed the premise of the plot. Celeste is ordered by the king to wed Roland in an effort to stop the feuding of their families once and for all. In a desperate move, Meredyth disguises herself and is wed to Roland in Celeste's place. Upon realizing that he has ben tricked, of course, Roland is incensed and believes it to be a final trick played upon him by his old enemy, Meredyth and Celeste's father. He finds out that the women were the masterminds and he decides he has no choice to honor his marriage to Meredyth and they must begin their lives as man and wife. Poor Meredyth realizes she's gotten in far over her head with this latest attempt to help Celeste. No sooner does she realize the gravity of the situation then she's swept away from the only home she has ever known and thrust into Roland's own unruly household filled with staff and villagers who have nothing but animosity for her family. Not only this, but she must grapple with a new husband who did not choose her, who has a mighty distrust for women, and who butts heads with her attitude. I did like the chemistry between Roland and Meredyth. They had a nice spark and the tension between them seemed palpable. However. I found the "romance" to be a bit lacking in variation. I don't know if it's because this book is "older" (as in, I read the 10th Anniversary print and the copyright date is 1998...) or if it's a style choice, but it was all a bit more tame and each scene felt like a rewrite of the same thing over and over again. (Probably WAY too much TMI, but does Roland not know any other way to pleasure a woman than to touch her breasts and use his "member"?!? I feel like I need to refer him to Monica from "Friends" -- my apologies if you don't get the reference, but I promise it's a good one.)

I will say another area in which I struggled a bit was the inner dialogue. Almost the entire book seemed to take place in Roland's and Meredyth's minds! There was a remarkable lack of actual dialogue. I think this made it feel like the story dragged on far longer than it needed to. Since so much took place within their minds, there was very little action for a majority of the story. I think this is part of the reason that the last few chapters felt a bit rushed. There was so much build up with their respective inner musings and indecision that everything moved so very quickly once actual action occurred. The conclusion of the book was a bit too "Brady Bunch" for me. I like a satisfying ending; and this doesn't mean it has to be all happiness and rainbows. It was tied up a bit too neatly for my tastes and it felt a bit sudden. There wasn't even an epilogue where we were given a taste of what life was like after the conflict resolution. I think the addition of an epilogue might have made me a bit happier in this particular instance just because it all ended up feeling so rushed.

I will say that this was an easy, quick read. I liked reading a new author and I liked this one better than others set in 1200s England. There were some imperfections and some things fell a bit short, but I didn't dislike the book. I'm tempted to read more by Catherine Archer in the future.

[Live2Read · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the heroine was a bit too uncomplicated, too simple & easygoing. She tends to go with the flow, first giving in to her sister’s whim & then to the marriage bed as followed. Not that we need a shrew of a heroine either but first should come logic. Under the circumstances she could have momentarily show some wise thoughts or imagined calculative moves for she was not the assumed bride. But instead of worrying or cooking ideas how to escape or approached the crisis in dire time, for sooner or later she will be discovered no doubt. The heroine then only decided to sleep off her tiredness. Marking their consummation that night which she obviously have no mind to reject in the first place. She didn’t even care she wasn’t the right sister, not wasting another moment. She wanted it meanwhile hero thought about the sister the whole time. It was sensual but far from sentimental… although that is to be expected given when strangers get together but what was so unromantic was that the hero, none the wiser to who he was actually bedding, was apparently attracted to the sister. Rather heavily lusting after Celeste. Simply, that killed the intimacy for me. The morning after didn’t help me feel less about the night’s ordeal, too. Perhaps if things were worded differently then or have we seen some greater sparks/tension between them despite all, then, there might be some kind of redemption. There was a slight of something between them but not enough to surpassed. He soon got over the switch & she certainly overlooked everything as known so now they are conveniently stuck with each other. Hero & heroine thinks of their wedding night a bit which gave me not exactly a good feeling of their reunion as it only pushed the idea even more that they are just lusting one another.

[Elisa Vangelisti · Rating 1 out of 5]

È vero che amo i libri semplici, ma questo è di una banalità imbarazzante. Diciamo che non ci vedo nulla di speciale, quindi non credo che proseguire la lettura mi darà niente di più.