Dark Fire

McCalls #2

by Elizabeth Lowell

Romantic suspense set in exotic surroundings - The Andean Cloud Forest in Ecuador is mysterious and beautiful. Trace Rawlings is a man who lives by his own rules. Ruthless and domineering, he takes what he wants. But Cynthia is used to someone trying to manipulate her, having dealt with her father all her life. She feels sure she can handle Trace. After all, he's just there to guide her through the treacherous forest, right?

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Adult, Audiobook, Romantic Suspense

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1988

About the author

Individually and with co-author/husband Evan, Ann Maxwell has written over 60 novels and one work of non-fiction. There are 30 million copies of these books in print, as well as reprints in 30 foreign languages. Her novels range from science fiction to historical fiction, from romance to mystery. After working in contemporary and historical romance, she became an innovator in the genre of romantic suspense.

In 1982, Ann began publishing as Elizabeth Lowell. Under that name she has received numerous professional awards in the romance field, including a Lifetime Achievement award from the Romance Writers of America (1994).

Since July of 1992, she has had over 30 novels on the New York Times bestseller list. In 1998 she began writing suspense with a passionate twist, capturing a new audience and generation of readers. Her new romance novel Perfect Touch will be available in July of 2015.

To get a full list of titles as well as read excerpts from her novels, visit www.elizabethlowell.com.

Reviews

[Wendy, Lady Evelyn Quince · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Fire by Elizabeth Lowell, a 1988 Silhouette Desire, takes the reader on a trek through the jungles of Peru.

Our hero is Trace Rawlings--the 'stache. Elizabeth Lowell really loved men with flavor savers, didn't she? I'm not judging; we all have our kinks. 😉

Trace is pictured on the cover as the apex of hirsute handsomeness: a full head of dark locks, a thick mustache, and a chest covered with more hair than a bar of soap at a YMCA.

Cynthia McCall, our heroine, is going by the name Cindy Ryan, and she needs Trace's help.

The Plot

Cindy's father is Big Eddy McCall, a well-connected, super-powerful multi-millionaire (it's the 1980s, and the rise of the billionaire era was a decade away). He controls politicians and businessmen but can't control what he desires most. Big Eddy wants plenty of grandchildren to ensure his dynasty lives on.

His daughter has no interest in marriage. Cindy isn't willing to settle down yet, focusing more on her business. That's okay. Big Eddy's a modern kind of patriarch, and he'll take any biological grandchildren he can get--on whatever side of the blanket.

Cindy is a co-owner of a boutique clothing company that purchases textiles from a Peruvian connection in Quito. But their contact was associated with a shady emerald dealer and disappeared. Then Cindy's business partner Susan went missing looking for said textile contact.

Word has it that a powerful cartel boss named Raul has Cindy's friend in his clutches. Cin hires Trace Rawlings to help guide her on her trip through the jungles so she can search for her friend.

The only catch is that Big Eddy McCall has gotten to Trace first and is paying him a whopping ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS A DAY (picture Dr. Evil with a finger curled at his lip) to keep an eye on Cin to ensure her safety.

Trace views Cindy as pampered, spoiled "princess" and repeatedly calls her this throughout the book to mock her. He is a macho man and doesn't cotton to dainty city gals gallivanting through dangerous territory for specious reasons. Especially a gal with a wealthy daddy paying him to babysit her.

There are many adventures along the way in Dark Fire which bring Cindy and Trace together--even if initially they get along like... well, like these critters:

https://youtu.be/0DMynqihHlE

Trace doesn't help Cindy as she struggles through the rugged jungle environment because he perversely prefers to watch her struggle for his entertainment.

Still, Trace isn't an absolute caveman; he has his charms. And on their trek, Trace and Cin start to bond over their pasts.

Cindy soon falls for her bodyguard and guide. Well, Trace does have that virile body and facial hair, which has a powerful allure. I've only read a few Elizabeth Lowell romances, but she does have a type and isn't shy about it!

The two leads form a bond that turns from merely carnal to spiritual. Lowell isn't just writing an ordinary love story, but one that's truly worth telling.

In the end, some shocking revelations about Cindy's father come to light. But they aren't really so shocking and don't prevent our mains from getting together.

Final Analysis of Dark Fire

The lovemaking in Dark Fire was as deep purple as the song Smoke on the Water and reached fervently religious heights.

At first, that irritated me, as Silhouette Desires are supposed to be reliably steamy. Then I realized Elizabeth Lowell goes all out. If she is going to write a romance, it might as well be a romance that transcends mere humanity, not just be a humdrum story of two strangers passing in the night.

This book was over-the-top in its overwroughtness. I liked it enough to rate it a 3 to 3.5-star read, but I had to give it 4 stars. For the 'stache, natch.

To read more retro-romance reviews please visit the web's #1 site for old-school romances: Sweet Savage Flame

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

H/h meet when hero is compelled by the US embassy in Ecuador to be a guide for the heroine, who is looking for her missing business partner. Hero is resentful of guiding a rich princess and decides he's going to get even with her by making her obey him.

Heroine was under the thumb of her controlling father, was betrayed by a man her father paid to date her, and has vowed never to beg or ask for help - especially from a man she is attracted to.

The author shows this conflict with the hero issuing ultimatums and the heroine cutting her nose to spite her face. For instance: there are pages describing the heroine's jeep stuck in the mud and the hero watching as she extricates it, only to be stuck yet again. Heroine has to physically collapse for the hero to help her.

It's a bit tedious and the abrupt end to the bickerfest when the H/h reach safety really isn't all that convincing. It's only when the heroine realizes her father paid the hero to guide her and escapes to her brother (from another book) that the genuine angst kicks in.

The travelogue and old-timey cruel hero is fun for me, but I'm not sure if this would appeal outside the circle of vintage romance readers.

[Paraphrodite · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars.

Another oldie from Elizabeth Lowell. This book is full of cliches. You've got this sassy stubborn city girl as the heroine and this "jungle guide" hero with his big knife and they run around in the jungle for awhile.....

The premise of the story has the heroine trying to find her fashionista best friend and partner who disappeared on a buying trip in the Ecuador jungle and hired the hero to guide her.

The hero doesn't like little rich girls and wants to take her down a peg or two (even though he's been secretly hired by her rich daddy to look after her!). Then, we've got the heroine who is paranoid about falling for another fortune hunter that she changes her surname for the trip.

What we end up with is a week long trek through the jungle with some very predictable situations and set(x)-scenes. I've always thought it takes a lot of imagination to even think getting naked in a jungle a safe thing to do!!

The ending was anti-climatic and with not a single big bad villain in sight. An ok read.

[Diana Nagy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great novel. When I was in my late teens (17-19) and a year or two into my 20's all I could read was romance. I think the reason for that was because the relationship I was in I wasn't happy with and couldn't get the happiness in a relationship I longed for that I read in books. Boy did that change when I turned 23. I quit reading romance books because I had more than enough romance with me and my now husband. Plus, I began to feel that after I had read so many romance books, they all seemed like they were the same. Now, the romance in my relationship has not changed but one thing did: I have found out that my oldest daughter is getting into romance novels. Since I sell books online, I want to share my love for romance with her so (rekindled as of this book! L) I read this book. (I say I have to read them to make sure they are okay for her to read...I think its just an excuse to read another book)
This book is like all typical romance stories you read about but enjoyable as all generally are. While I didn't think I was going to like the story about the two in another country searching for Cindy's friend, I found myself enjoying it very much. Their relationship was so complicated...and then so simple...then back to really complicated...but of course I cant tell you, (don't want to add a spoiler)you must read to find out the truth! What will it do to them? Are they going to get together or go their separate ways? This was a fantastic book and I think you will enjoy it as much as I have.

[Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Fire is a reprint of a 1988 mass market paperback. I loved Lowell's medieval trilogy and this is the first contemporary of hers that I've read.

The premise sounded great. Pampered rich girl Cynthia (Cindy) hires hard-assed bad boy Trace to guide her through the treacherous Equadorian rainforest in search of her missing friend.

I was really disappointed with the first half of the book. I felt the writing was average at best with none of the magic of her previous books.

BUT...

The second half of the book rocked! Trace was an awesome hero - tough but tender. The love scenes were beautiful, and the ending brought tears to my eyes.

If the whole book was as good as the second half, this would have been a five star read.

[Maddux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad story. This second book in the series centered around Rye McCall's sister. What I did take issue with is that his sister, Cindy, traipses off to a dangerous South American country on a fool's errand, doesn't know the language, doesn't really know anything about the landscape, as she tries to locate her best friend who hasn't been in contact with her for a few days.

Just being real here, but I doubt I'd follow my "jet-setting" friend to Ecuador because she hasn't called me back.

The hero of the story, Trace, a true man of the land, is conveniently hired by Cindy's daddy - who's a foolish boor by the way - and Trace actually doesn't know the real reason why he was hired by Big Daddy McCall. Cindy doesn't know that Trace has been hired for her, but finds out later in the book what takes place behind the scenes, and that's the reason for the communication breakdown.

Other than another heroine being stupid and going to a stupid place for a stupid reason, the story was all right.

4 stars.

[Narnies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually I like Lowell, but this time time her book annoyed me. Her characters seemed to contradict themselves emotionally, one minute snapping at each other and the next sprouting flowery romantic sentences. There didn't quite seem to be any middle ground, and although the hero sounded delish, the overuse of the word "peon" only hammered into me the idea that the man had serious baggage.

[Farah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected things to be a little more exciting than that with the setting and the atmosphere I thought it was going to turn into something a little suspenseful maybe adventurous but it simply stuck to romance.


Cindy and Trace's relationship was a lot of fun .. the snapping .. the battle of wills .. it was entertaining .. Trace was a major A hole most of the time but knowing his feelings made me more forgiving towards him as for Cindy I loved her !! she was strong willed .. proud .. sassy and stubborn. I enjoyed the romance between Trace and Cindy .. especially in the second half of the book .. things between them were emotional and intense .. the ending was too abrupt though .. I wanted things to end in a slower pace .. with a few things said but the scene was still very heart tugging.


I was hoping there was a book for Susan and Raul .. they seemed really interesting .. unfortunately they don't have one. Overall I liked this book but I expected more from it .. oh and the Dad was disgusting !! I can't believe he got away with what he did .. I hated his guts.

[obsessedwithbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought Dark Fire because its one of the last few books I have yet to collect by Elizabeth Lowell. I have loved and collected her books for years and was anticipating another good read. Unfortunately this is not what Dark Fire is and not Elizabeth Lowell’s best effort. The plot sounds like it has potential, basically Cindy Ryan’s best friend is missing in the cloud forest, so she hires the best guide available in Quito, Trace Rawlings, to help her find her friend, but it falls short of a satisfying read.

There are too many metaphors, too many clichés and an abundance of cringe worthy moments. That said I am glad I added another book to my collection, it is interesting as a basis of comparison for all the others novels but I wish I hadn’t paid so much. This book was not in stock with bookstores so I had to buy a used copy online.

http://myobsessionwithbooks.blogspot....

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cindy goes into the cloud forest to find her friend and Trace is her reluctant guide. I have this ridiculous idea about the good old days of romance that, similar to the good old days of America, are primarily made up. But every once in a while, when I stumble across a library that hasn't updated its collection in the last 20 years or so, I do find a good old romance. And this is one. It's just really no frills - the beta plot is so small as to be nonexistent, there's no murder, there's no filler, there's a very small and very reasonable number of barriers keeping the hero and heroine apart, and it's really just a story about these two interesting if completely unbelievable (but then, why do we read romance, no?) people.

[Alix · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic, somewhat cheese romance novel a la Romancing the Stone. The cheese factor is possibly one of the things that make it so endearing to me, and I pull it out for a reread every few years.

Stubborn and out-of-her-depth heroine, strong and silent and sexy hero, lots of tension and adventure and intrigue? It's a solid formula, and damn near impossible to screw up. And it works.

An old favourite, despite the outdated writing...

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of Lowell's better efforts. Although it started off with some promise it quickly degenerated into a snarky, insult-ridden battle between the two main characters. I didn't find much to like about either of them, and didn't really care if they ever made it out of the rain forest.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a pretty ridiculous book. The dialogue was so unrealistic that it really yanked me out of the narrative. Absolutely nothing about this story was believable.



To begin we find the hero, Trace Rawlings, having a conversation with a buddy of his in Ecuador. The buddy tells Trace that a rich and important businessman known as Big Eddie is going to pay Trace $1000 per day to look after his daughter, Cindy. Trace's buddy chooses not to mention the second half of the deal. Big Eddie wants Trace to impregnate his daughter and will pay Trace a whopping "pregnancy bonus" if he gets the job done.

This is the first major issue with this book. Lowell wants us to believe that Big Eddie is so desperate for little grand babies that he'll hire a complete stranger to have sex with his daughter. That's disgusting and unbelievable. Big Eddie has never even met Trace and yet on the word of a business acquaintance he's going to welcome Trace's bloodline into the family? I don't believe it. Not to mention Big Eddie has no idea if Trace is the kind of man who'd just flat out rape Cindy for the money....and it doesn't seem like he cares that much since she is apparently nothing more to him than a vessel that will bring his grandkids into the world.

Moving on, Cindy is searching for her business partner, Susan, who went on a fabric-buying trip and hasn't been heard from since. Cindy arrives in Ecuador and Trace's buddy tells her that Trace is the best man to act as her guide. She approaches Trace at the local bar and he is irrationally rude to her. Right from the get-go he refers to her as "princess" even though he's supposed to be pretending that he doesn't know she's Big Eddie's daughter.....and Cindy never notices. All throughout the book Trace calls her "princess" and says that she views him as just a "peon". And she never calls him on it. Seriously? He assigns her a derogatory nickname and she never questions it? Come on! It would be like her calling him Douchebag or Jerkwad instead of his actual name. No grown woman who allegedly could "teach stubborn to a Missouri mule" would stand for that kind of treatment without comment.

Cindy asks him to be her guide and he basically tells her to get lost and treats her with complete disrespect. Here again, any woman who is as strong as we're told Cindy is, would have turned on her heel and walked out of the bar to find someone else to be her guide. Why on earth would she want to go off into the wilderness with a man who's being irrationally hostile and rude to her? I'd be worried that he'd rape and kill me the minute we got outside of town. Or take my money and then abandon me in the forest. And yet our purportedly tough heroine just keeps offering to pay him more and more money to take her. Trace's behavior in this scene didn't make any sense. He's already accepted the job from Big Eddie so he doesn't have a choice about acting as Cindy's guide. So why when she approaches him does he do everything he can to scare her away? I was seriously hoping she'd eventually just tell him to forget about it and walk away, which would then force him to chase after her lest he anger Big Eddie. It would have served him right for acting like such a jerk to her for literally no reason.

When Trace finally does accept her terms, he again acts like a jerk for absolutely no reason by telling her that he won't set out for two days because he just got back into town and wants to spend time "soaking up civilization." He could have explained to her that the roads are impassible because of the recent rain, or told her that he already knows where Susan is and that she's fine and perfectly happy shacked up with a guy named Raul. But no, he deliberately makes out like the only reason he won't leave immediately is because he just plain doesn't feel like it, just so he can show her who's boss. He justifies this to himself by saying that he needs to teach Cindy a lesson; that she's to follow his orders without question, because in the bush he won't have time to explain things. Never mind that if he built a rapport with her now by being reasonable and forthcoming, then she would automatically trust him later when and if the situation came up. Never mind that he knows she's worried sick about her friend and thinks the poor woman is lost in the jungle, or worse, and that's why Cindy is in such a hurry to leave. Nope, Trace decides she's just being a stuck-up princess and that she needs to be brought to heel.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Cindy did not meekly sit around for two days while Trace basked in civilization, but what DID surprise me is that she didn't try to find another guide...she just set off on her own. Again, this makes no sense. Surely Trace isn't the only man in the whole town who could act as a guide! I understand why she didn't want to wait around for Trace, but venturing out on her own is just irrational when she'd already recognized that she needed a guide. I also couldn't believe that she drove out into the wilderness with almost no supplies. One canteen of water and a couple of packs of crackers and that was it.

I did like that Cindy did fairly well on her own. She was woefully out of her depth when it came to driving in the poor conditions, but she figured things out and never gave up. Two days later, Trace arrogantly waltzes over to Cindy's hotel, fully expecting her to be there waiting for him, and when he realizes she's been gone all this time, he has to tear after her. As he follows her trail on the road, he can see the places she stopped to change flat tires and starts to grudgingly gain some respect for her....for about 30 seconds. When he catches up to her, her jeep is stuck in the mud and it's clear she's been working for hours to get it out. He gets out of his car with a big smirk on his face and tauntingly says that he'll pull her Jeep out, but only if she asks him very nicely. Again, there really wasn't any reason for him to be such an a-hole about the situation and of course it's guaranteed to piss her off so that the last thing she'd do would be to ask for his help. He then proceeds to sit there nice and dry in his vehicle for another hour while Cindy works herself to the point of exhaustion, all the while telling himself that the situation is entirely her fault. That the reason she won't ask for his help is because she's a princess and he a lowly peon. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with him being such a jerk to her ever since they met. His thought process is really irrational. It never occurs to him, for example, to consider how he'd behave if their situations were reversed. That if it was him who needed help and she swaggered in and said that she'd only lend a hand if he said pretty, pretty please, that he'd react by telling her where she could stick it. Nope, he's too shallow and arrogant for that. It's gotta be the princess/peon thing.

Eventually Cindy comes close to getting bitten by a poisonous snake and Trace comes to her rescue and finally pulls her jeep out of the mud. Basically the situation got resolved without either one of them having to give in. In the next town, Trace again acts like a jerk for no reason, barging in on Cindy while she's trying to wash the mud off of herself and forcing a kiss on her, then mocking her for it. Then he picks a fight with her over the fact that there's only one bed, automatically accusing her of not wanting to share with a lowly peon before she even says a word. This results in Cindy choosing to sleep in the Jeep for the night rather than be a "princess" and take the bed. When it starts to rain Trace begins to feel a tiny bit guilty about Cindy sleeping in the leaky Jeep so he goes out to get her, but still feels the whole situation is her fault because she ought to have been able to ask him nicely for the bed after he'd been such a jerk about it. While she's in his arms she says "Rye?" and Trace immediately gets jealous that she knows some man named Rye well enough to relax into his arms. I thought this was pretty funny because my first thought was that she was dreaming about eating a sandwich. Hearing the word "Rye" wouldn't automatically make me think she was saying a short form of Ryerson...

Unfortunately Cindy pretty much abandons her spine at this town. From this point on in the story her inner monologue is full of thoughts about how useless she is in their current situation. How she's such a burden to Trace and he's so strong and magnificent for, you know, doing the job she hired him for...It's really lame that she completely transforms into this self-doubting weakling who desperately craves the big strong man's approval. For the rest of the book she never asks for anything. She keeps quiet while Trace works her into the ground bushwhacking and after all his snide comments because she doesn't want to be any more of a burden on him than she is already. He, of course, sees this as more evidence that she's a spoiled princess (does he even know what that means??) who won't deign to ask a peon for anything.

Eventually they get to Raul's compound where they find Susan safe and sound and looking like a million bucks. This is where the dialogue really gets unbelievable. At their very first meeting Susan blurts out two of Cindy's most personal secrets right in front of Trace and Raul like it's no big deal. She tells everyone that Big Eddie has been buying boyfriends for Cindy for years. She also reveals Big Eddie's recently hatched plan of trying to pay someone to impregnate Cindy. What best friend just blurts out those kinds of ultra-personal shames in front of virtual strangers??

Trace and Cindy are put up in a secluded cabin on Raul's compound and they finally sleep together. As some of the other reviewers have mentioned, this was an extremely long sex scene. Two scenes actually, back to back. I listened to this in audiobook format and almost the entire 4th CD was the sex. Trace turns on the purple prose in these scenes, going on about how Cindy's got "dark fire" inside her and she's just like an orchid and yada yada yada. It was pretty ridiculous. After a few days together having sex over and over, Susan and Raul come knocking because Cindy's brother is on the phone. Cindy announces in front of everyone that she loves and trusts Trace and wants to come clean about being Big Eddie's daughter. Trace could have taken this opportunity to admit he's known all along, but he doesn't. He just assures her that it doesn't matter that she's rich. Then she takes Ryerson's phone call and he clues her in to Big Eddie's scheme to hire Trace as a brood stallion for her. She's heartbroken at his betrayal but makes sure to get Trace to bring her back to civilization before yelling at him about it because she still realizes how helpless she is out in the bush.

She leaves and Trace, for once in his life, doesn't blame her. He feels like she's justified in believing that he'd only slept with her because of Big Eddie's pregnancy bonus. For my part, I felt like this would have been the one place in the whole book where Trace had a legitimate reason to be angry with Cindy. That he had a right to feel like she should have trusted their special connection enough not to think he'd been in on the stud deal. But, whatever. She runs to Ryerson's place to lick her wounds and refuse to take her father's calls. Big Eddie is completely flabbergasted that Cindy is upset with him, which is ridiculous. No sane person could possibly think Cindy would be alright with what he's done. Trace flies in to give Big Eddie his money back and tell him that he cost Trace "the love of a good woman". He did not, apparently, have any plans to try to win Cindy back. He just brought her an orchid and was planning to leave without even trying to convince her that he was innocent. Ryerson tells Cindy that Trace is a good guy and Cindy is basically just like "okay then" and they get back together. It was a pretty lame ending, honestly.

[Olivia (romancebooks101) · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book has a crazy bananas plot point I was not expecting and it hit me in the gut because OF COURSE it would have a crazy bananas plot point. It’s not like traveling through the jungle is already crazy!

The beginning was a little rough for me but once it got going, it more than made up for it. Trace is an ass who’s emotionally constipated and Cynthia is a stubborn heroine with a chip on her shoulder. Combine the two and we get the signature Lowell angst. This is only my second Lowell so I don’t know how Trace ranks compared to her other hero’s, but he’s less of an ass than Ethan from “Too Hot To Handle” if that’s any help (it probably doesn’t help at all though because I think every hero is less of an ass than Ethan, still love him though because I’m a sucker for assholes).

I honestly don’t think I’m ever going to read a book she’s written that I don’t love to bits and pieces. Pick this one up if your a fan of assholes who fall head over heels for heroines who are swoon worthy!

[bunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

1988

listen. it’s an 80s romance. it’s good enough. i can even see myself reading it again for some reason.

trace & cindy. stubborn freaking mules. they learn from each other and they figure it out.

i think what works about it is the deep emotion conveyed, even though the emotions are conveyed in unrealistic dialogue and bizarre circumstances. the emotions are still there.

simple, satisfying. bizarre pacing. 150 pages with just two kisses, then 24 pages of one sex encounter, then 6 pages of masculine soul searching, then 12 more pages of sex, then we arrive at the climax— which was promised to be a party that we never got to attend. bummer, but in the end, everyone learns.

themes: princess & peony, self worth, family influence/interference, babies, loss, control.

we brushed on a nonconsensual moment, but in the end, they belong to each other.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought I read and enjoyed Elizabeth Lowell in college . . . but either I'm remembering incorrectly, or her style has not aged well for me. I only kept reading because I kept hoping I was wrong. Also deducted points for multiple references to his "swirling" chest hair, and a reference to the "nest" of hair under his arms. Ew.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this a few years ago and couldn't remember it when I started the second time, but it was naggingly, familiar... finally remembered about chapter 4. Enjoyed it the second time through though. Historical romance. Antiquated views of chivalry and duty, but fitting for the time and lens. I enjoy Lowell's work.

[Sarah H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too cliche. I didn't finish it.

[JL Salty]

2010 DNF

[Nicoleta Corocea · Rating 1 out of 5]

🚩🚩🚩

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Direct, old-fashioned romance. "Erotic fiction" in places.

[Ashleigh Soto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little old school read. Super typical but a good time and the verbiage is really tasteful.

[NatalyaVqs · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the novel had great promise, fun, humorous, adventurous, great H/Heroine chemistry against the exotic backdrop of Ecuadorian jungle. Different and spunky plot, a la King's Solomon's Mines, determined Heroine. Based on that, Lowell could easily be a unisex writer Sydney Sheldon style. Second part does a complete turnaround into some suitably steamy but unexpectedly sudden lurid erotica, with the lengthiest sex scene (27 pages long!) I have ever encountered including 2.5 pages of him taking his boots off (an unlikely element for a sexual saga, given what would have been smelly jungle boots!). Gratifyingly sexually charged; however, it was initially shaping up to be a much better book than simply a bodice ripper, so I was disappointed in overall product. Plus the step by step intercourse gets into some humorous in-consequences/ impossibilities if you pay attention...

[The Book Junkie Reads . . . · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course it would take a man like Trace Rawlings---a man who lives by his own rules to reign in the likes of Cynthia. Cynthia is anything but the pampered spoiled little rich girl that Trace is expecting. Not knowing the truth of things he treats her like crap and feels justified in doing so. For the life of it Cynthia cannot understand why on earth she would feel the way so do for Trace. But in the midst of the mountains things change and on one warm wet rainy night it all comes to a head. Then one phone call brings it all to an end.

[Sarah (is clearing her shelves) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, as I do almost every one of Elizabeth Lowell's books. I liked the heroine but found the hero's persistence in calling her "princess" derisively a little wearing as he seemed to use it in every other sentence. Although it is a re-released title from the early years of Elizabeth Lowell's career the passage of nearly 30 years hasn't aged the book at all. I highly recommend it to all romance readers.

[Thenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Cynthia and Trace, a couple who meet when Cynthia hires Trace to lead her through the Andean Cloud Forest and to the last known location of her best friend.

The two rub each other the wrong way and start off as adversaries, but soon their respect for one another grew, and their intense sexual attraction combined to their shared adventure, help bring them together.

Engaging story with some very interesting scenes in the tropical forest, where most of the story takes place.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Elizabeth Lowell's older stories; the newer mysteries not so much. This is a great addition to my collection of older stories.

You could tell it was an early work for her, but it's not bad. I wouldn't rate it with the medieval trilogy, but I really liked it.

I guess I need to read the first now since I didn't realize it was a series.

[C K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Companion to Fever! This is an author that I have read a lot of and have added her books to my 'keeper' book shelf. Most I have read at least twice and some even more than that. Always in depth characters that anyone can identify with on some level.

[Andria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book-much more than I was expecting too, if I was honest. It was exactly what I wanted-romance, adventuring through the jungle, and steamy smut scenes. The main characters were interesting, and very real. I'm looking forward to reading more of the author's novels.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!!