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Passion's Web
Despite her conservative, proper background, innocent Natalie Palmer finds herself falling in love with Bryce Fowler, a handsome pirate who prowls the perilous waters around the Florida Keys. Reissue.
462 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1984
139 people want to read
About the author
Cassie Edwards
165 books421 followersEdwards began writing romances in 1982 and released her 100th novel, Savage Skies, on August 28, 2007. Although her earlier books were classic historical romances, the vast majority of her novels involve Native American tribes. Edwards's grandmother was a full-blooded Cheyenne. Her first 99 books sold a combined 10 million copies as of August 2007, with her more recent novels averaging sales of 250,000–350,000 copies.
Edwards has won the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, as well as being named one of Affaire de Coeur's top ten favorite romance writers. Edwards has a reputation for meticulously researching the proper anthropological backgrounds of each tribe she writes about.
Edwards and her husband Charles, a retired high school biology teacher, have been married for over 50 years. They have two sons, Charles and Brian, and three grandchildren. The family lived in St. Louis, Missouri for over thirty years, but now reside in Mattoon, Illinois.
Edwards has won the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, as well as being named one of Affaire de Coeur's top ten favorite romance writers. Edwards has a reputation for meticulously researching the proper anthropological backgrounds of each tribe she writes about.
Edwards and her husband Charles, a retired high school biology teacher, have been married for over 50 years. They have two sons, Charles and Brian, and three grandchildren. The family lived in St. Louis, Missouri for over thirty years, but now reside in Mattoon, Illinois.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 1, 2021
This review is of “Passion’s Web” by Cassie Edwards.
The book begins in Key West, Florida, with the heroine of the book, Natalie Palmer, and the hero, Bryce Fowler, meeting in a carriage. Shortly after they meet, Natalie and Bryce become lovers.
Backstory #1: Natalie lives with her father, Saul, a wealthy tobacconist. She also has an older brother, Adam. (Natalie’s mother, Kathryn, passed when Natalie was younger. The circumstances of her passing is one of many secrets-the word of the book-that Saul is trying to keep from Natalie).
Backstory #2: Bryce-who has multiple aspects to his persona-has come to Key West at the request of his dying father, Tom, whom Bryce has been estranged from. Bryce also has to deal with his younger brother, Hugh, whom he has bad blood with.
Bryce is hired by a businessman in New Orleans, Clarence Seymour, to find three things. An opium shipment, and Seymour’s wife and daughter, who were taken in separate incidents years apart. Bryce won’t be able to bring back Seymour’s wife-she, Kathryn, is dead-but he can bring back his daughter...Natalie.
Bryce kidnaps Natalie and takes her to New Orleans to meet Clarence. He’s happy to see her, but one person who most definitely isn’t is Brenda Seymour, Clarence’s other daughter, Natalie’s sister...and Adam’s lover. When Natalie decides to go back to Key West, Brenda helps her; this effort ends up with Natalie being forced to marry a man, Albert Burns, who is a former pirate. Bryce saves her from this forced marriage and they return to New Orleans, to discover sadly that Clarence has been shot. He is later shot again.
In the end, the secrets Saul and Adam wanted to hide from Natalie are revealed, and she and Bryce have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: I got through it.
Downside: “Passion’s Web” contains many of the same literary weaknesses which mark the rest of Mrs. Edwards’ work: shallow, undeveloped characters and storylines; unsatisfactory endings; and way too many exclamation points! At unnecessary times! It’s annoying!
Sex: There are a lot of love scenes. None are as hot as what Mrs. Edward’s would come up with for her Native American romances.
Violence: Assault, battery, shootings and killings. None of the violence is graphic.
Bottom Line: There are books I’m glad I got through because I paid for them and can now resign them to the dustbin of history-literally and figuratively. “Passion’s Web” is one such book.
The book begins in Key West, Florida, with the heroine of the book, Natalie Palmer, and the hero, Bryce Fowler, meeting in a carriage. Shortly after they meet, Natalie and Bryce become lovers.
Backstory #1: Natalie lives with her father, Saul, a wealthy tobacconist. She also has an older brother, Adam. (Natalie’s mother, Kathryn, passed when Natalie was younger. The circumstances of her passing is one of many secrets-the word of the book-that Saul is trying to keep from Natalie).
Backstory #2: Bryce-who has multiple aspects to his persona-has come to Key West at the request of his dying father, Tom, whom Bryce has been estranged from. Bryce also has to deal with his younger brother, Hugh, whom he has bad blood with.
Bryce is hired by a businessman in New Orleans, Clarence Seymour, to find three things. An opium shipment, and Seymour’s wife and daughter, who were taken in separate incidents years apart. Bryce won’t be able to bring back Seymour’s wife-she, Kathryn, is dead-but he can bring back his daughter...Natalie.
Bryce kidnaps Natalie and takes her to New Orleans to meet Clarence. He’s happy to see her, but one person who most definitely isn’t is Brenda Seymour, Clarence’s other daughter, Natalie’s sister...and Adam’s lover. When Natalie decides to go back to Key West, Brenda helps her; this effort ends up with Natalie being forced to marry a man, Albert Burns, who is a former pirate. Bryce saves her from this forced marriage and they return to New Orleans, to discover sadly that Clarence has been shot. He is later shot again.
In the end, the secrets Saul and Adam wanted to hide from Natalie are revealed, and she and Bryce have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: I got through it.
Downside: “Passion’s Web” contains many of the same literary weaknesses which mark the rest of Mrs. Edwards’ work: shallow, undeveloped characters and storylines; unsatisfactory endings; and way too many exclamation points! At unnecessary times! It’s annoying!
Sex: There are a lot of love scenes. None are as hot as what Mrs. Edward’s would come up with for her Native American romances.
Violence: Assault, battery, shootings and killings. None of the violence is graphic.
Bottom Line: There are books I’m glad I got through because I paid for them and can now resign them to the dustbin of history-literally and figuratively. “Passion’s Web” is one such book.
January 29, 2022
This novel kind of felt like a rough draft of a finished product, with edges that needed to be smoothed over, something I've encountered before. There were plot twists and then more twists, false identities, family secrets, hidden relationships, illegitimacy, lies, half truths, jealousies, resentments, abductions, rape, shootings, murder, as well as colorful names: Orchid Island, Sea Snake, Golden Isis, Parrot Inn, a horse named Adora, as well as travel, to and from Key West, New Orleans and Orchid Island, trips back and forth that might leave you a bit dizzy (not to mention seasick). Some family relationships unravel, while others dissolve before they can be formed. And to add to all this, there's a missing opium shipment, as well as a hidden treasure!
Sound like a bit much? It sure was! There was a lot going on, but not enough time devoted to everything, sort of like one of those long classic literature novels condensed into a two hour movie. There were certain stories that should have been gone into more, like the marriage of the h's (Natalie) parents, as well as her mother's relationship with her pirate lover, which needed more clarity. The H's (Bryce) troubled relationship with his half brother and also the man he grew up thinking was his father got more attention, but still not enough. Instead, some unnecessary scenes got more attention, like when Bryce thinks back to when he was 15, and was heartbroken by his mother's rejection of him, while on her deathbed. (This is explained in the story.) He wanders alone on the beach, then meets Rose, the local madam, and she comforts him, which leads to his "becoming a man". Since Rose was around 40, the lengthy description of their sexual encounter could leave readers feeling creepy, as these days she'd be arrested for statutory rape, despite her profession. If she had been a younger prostitute, say early 20's, it would have been better. (Rose was brought into the story, because, for a time, Bryce lived at her brothel, and when she died, the money she left him enabled him to finance his two careers: banker and salver (which was different from pirate).
What I liked about this book, which made me overlook its flaws, was the relationship between Bryce and Natalie. They sensed from their first encounter in the carriage on the way to the Parrot Inn that there was something more between them than attraction, and soon they realized they were very much in love. There were some of the usual bumpy roads to the HEA, but they didn't go overboard. There were separations (first Bryce left Natalie while in Key West, then she left him while in New Orleans) but they didn't last long. There was both an unwanted suitor and a villain, but the former kept his hands to himself, and the latter's attempt at rape was (thankfully) unsuccessful. The couple had a few tense moments, like when Bryce - with a warped sense of humor - pretended their passionate encounter was a "business transaction", which earned him a well deserved slap on the face. (Natalie had been afraid her making love with him so soon would make him think her a whore, so he thought he'd have fun with that: big mistake.) And I'm happy to say there was no infidelity, unless you count Bryce's drunken hookup with Cora, a girl from his past, but this was because, at the time, he thought Natalie was his half sister! (I won't explain further, but will say the mistake was cleared up soon, though he never told Natalie about Cora.) Another plus was that there were none of those long periods of misunderstandings keeping them apart, and no prolonged pretending they hate when they really love.
I'll have to say, though, that Bryce can be a tad insensitive. For instance, while on Orchid Island, Natalie was forced to kill a man in self defense, was naturally upset about it, and Bryce goodm humoredly complimented her on her survival skills, when what she really needed was comfort. I guess it was his way of trying to lighten the situation, but still, he should have had better sense.
Both Natalie and Bryce had to accept the death of old relationships, the birth of new ones, losses and gains, and different ways of looking at their lives, but through it all, there was no doubt they'd face everything together.
There were other characters that add to the story, all related in one way or another to either Bryce or Natalie, as well as a devoted servant who deserved a better fate.
Okay, I've said enough. It's a good story, that could have been better.
Sound like a bit much? It sure was! There was a lot going on, but not enough time devoted to everything, sort of like one of those long classic literature novels condensed into a two hour movie. There were certain stories that should have been gone into more, like the marriage of the h's (Natalie) parents, as well as her mother's relationship with her pirate lover, which needed more clarity. The H's (Bryce) troubled relationship with his half brother and also the man he grew up thinking was his father got more attention, but still not enough. Instead, some unnecessary scenes got more attention, like when Bryce thinks back to when he was 15, and was heartbroken by his mother's rejection of him, while on her deathbed. (This is explained in the story.) He wanders alone on the beach, then meets Rose, the local madam, and she comforts him, which leads to his "becoming a man". Since Rose was around 40, the lengthy description of their sexual encounter could leave readers feeling creepy, as these days she'd be arrested for statutory rape, despite her profession. If she had been a younger prostitute, say early 20's, it would have been better. (Rose was brought into the story, because, for a time, Bryce lived at her brothel, and when she died, the money she left him enabled him to finance his two careers: banker and salver (which was different from pirate).
What I liked about this book, which made me overlook its flaws, was the relationship between Bryce and Natalie. They sensed from their first encounter in the carriage on the way to the Parrot Inn that there was something more between them than attraction, and soon they realized they were very much in love. There were some of the usual bumpy roads to the HEA, but they didn't go overboard. There were separations (first Bryce left Natalie while in Key West, then she left him while in New Orleans) but they didn't last long. There was both an unwanted suitor and a villain, but the former kept his hands to himself, and the latter's attempt at rape was (thankfully) unsuccessful. The couple had a few tense moments, like when Bryce - with a warped sense of humor - pretended their passionate encounter was a "business transaction", which earned him a well deserved slap on the face. (Natalie had been afraid her making love with him so soon would make him think her a whore, so he thought he'd have fun with that: big mistake.) And I'm happy to say there was no infidelity, unless you count Bryce's drunken hookup with Cora, a girl from his past, but this was because, at the time, he thought Natalie was his half sister! (I won't explain further, but will say the mistake was cleared up soon, though he never told Natalie about Cora.) Another plus was that there were none of those long periods of misunderstandings keeping them apart, and no prolonged pretending they hate when they really love.
I'll have to say, though, that Bryce can be a tad insensitive. For instance, while on Orchid Island, Natalie was forced to kill a man in self defense, was naturally upset about it, and Bryce goodm humoredly complimented her on her survival skills, when what she really needed was comfort. I guess it was his way of trying to lighten the situation, but still, he should have had better sense.
Both Natalie and Bryce had to accept the death of old relationships, the birth of new ones, losses and gains, and different ways of looking at their lives, but through it all, there was no doubt they'd face everything together.
There were other characters that add to the story, all related in one way or another to either Bryce or Natalie, as well as a devoted servant who deserved a better fate.
Okay, I've said enough. It's a good story, that could have been better.
January 25, 2009
Usually, I am enthralled by Cassie's writing, especially when she keeps it within the "wild-western historical romance" genre. So, I picked up this book and read it. Boy, was I ever disappointed.
It was cheesy...well, cheesier than any other bodice-ripper I've read. The dialogue was absolutely terrible, not believable in the least. The story line made no sense. There were too many twists and turns, none of which were even interesting.
Thoroughly disappointed in Ms. Edwards with this book. Hated it. Will give it away to an enemy because I wouldn't wish this boring read on anyone else. I had to force myself to even finish the book.
Hopefully, she hasn't written such a slaughter on this wonderful genre since....I'll be hard pressed to want to read another of hers again.
It was cheesy...well, cheesier than any other bodice-ripper I've read. The dialogue was absolutely terrible, not believable in the least. The story line made no sense. There were too many twists and turns, none of which were even interesting.
Thoroughly disappointed in Ms. Edwards with this book. Hated it. Will give it away to an enemy because I wouldn't wish this boring read on anyone else. I had to force myself to even finish the book.
Hopefully, she hasn't written such a slaughter on this wonderful genre since....I'll be hard pressed to want to read another of hers again.
September 20, 2018
What a great escape from the real world.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews