Embrace the Flame

by Diana Haviland

Alone and penniless after the Great Plague of London, young Desire Guildford turned pickpocket rather than sell lher body on the streets. But she picked the wrong pocket when she stole from highwayman Morgan Trechard. Morgan returned for his valuables..and for the greeneyed beauty who had dared to best him.

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance

383 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1991

About the author

Florence Hershman
aka
Diana Haviland & Diana Browning

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was nearly everything I could have hoped for in a historical romance novel. Set in Restoration England, the action starts up shortly after the Black Plague of 1665 has disipated and ends in the aftermath of the 1666 Great London Fire. Usually I'm not too worried about the historical details in historical romances, but Haviland weaves love and facts together in a very readable (although slightly obtrusive) way. At first I worried that all the attention to historical detail would get in the way of the story, but eventually it just faded into the background and helped me paint a clearer picture of the setting.

The story hits on all the major conventions of the genre. Our heroine is named Desire. She's a beautiful young virgin with raven hair, milky white skin and eyes a unique shade of green, from a respectable family, but she's fallen on hard times every since her parents died in the plague, and is now reduced to thievery.

Our hero is first man whose pocket she attempts to pick. He happens to be a highwayman, but is secretly the rightful heir to a country estate that was given to someone else in the early days of the Restoration while he was still hiding overseas. And while he may be a criminal he's still a decent man who takes care of the important people in his life, including a family servant who's been with him since he was a boy.

Plot Summary mostly for my own benefit. Nothing but spoilers fo all kinds behind this cut: The plot takes is pure melodrama. First Morgan comes after Desire when he realizes that she's stolen from him, only to rescue her from a potential gang rage (and of course, this is only the first of many times that Desire is nearly raped). In order to save her he takes her off to his hideaway where he gets her too drunk to run away and nearly has his way with her. In order to prevent Desire informing on him, Morgan forces her to join his band on a robbery, but things don't go smoothly and Desire is unmasked and seen by the nobles they rob. Eventually Desire and Morgan stop their posturing and get to the lovemaking, but now that they've started to admit their feelings, Morgan realizes he has to keep her safe, so he sends Desire off to his great-aunt in Cornwall. Unfortunately the authorities stake out the route. Thanks to some quick thinking Desire is able to avoid the authorities by posing as the sister of a nobleman who's been injured by his horse. In gratitude for nursing him back to health the man invites her back to London to stay with his family. He turns out to be super rich and powerful and takes Desire to meet the King, whom she gets to promise her a private audience where she plans to beg for a pardon for Morgan. In the meantime, scheming by the nobleman's shrewish sister leads to Morgan and Desire being captured and sent to Newgate. In the process of being sent to jail they get separated, so when they rediscover each other in prison, the prison sex is pretty hot. Eventually Morgan is tried and sentenced to hang, but before the sentence is carried out, the Great Fire occurs and in the chaos, Desire and Morgan are able to escape prison. As they try to escape the fire, they're separated yet again, and Desire manages to find herself at the royal palace, finally granted her private audience with the King. The fact that her plan to free Morgan all along is to get a private audience with the King, it's not surprising that everyone thinks she's crazy. The King obviously pardons them and, since he can't take Morgan's estate away from the current tenants, sets them up with some land in America.

All in all, it's been awhile since I've read a long historical romance like this, and if they were all this good, I think I would read more of them. If you like your historicals full of drama and sex scenes, and don't mind a little extra attention to historical details, then this one is right up your alley.

[Alexandra Smirnova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Интересный, исторический роман с лёгкой долей эротики. Язык изложения достаточно прост для событий той эпохи.