Rating: 
Summary: YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE IT!
Review: This was my second book by Ms. Woodiwiss, the first being Flame and the Flower. While I loved Flame and the Flower, I feel The Elusive Flame is better. I couldn't put it down! I loved it, loved it, loved it! Buy it. You won't be sorry. Kathleen Woodiwiss has such an incredible gift for storytelling. Lastly, I wish I could find a man like Beau Birmingham! Only in romance novels!
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointed Woodwiss fan
Review: I ran out and bought this book after reading "The Flame and the Flower." While I've always enjoyed Woodiwiss, and have generally re-read her novels several times (My copy of Shanna is falling apart), this one is heading straight for the circular file. I really loved the Birmingham story in "Flame and the Flower" - so much so that I started rereading it almost immediately upon finishing it. You know how they say sequels are never as good as the original - DEFINITELY the case here. The plot was weak. The antagonists (Winthrop and his lawyer) were too stupid to be threatening. In the past, Woodiwiss's "bad guys" always seemed ruthlessly determined, and at times, downright scary. Alistar Winthrop is just a greedy knucklehead, through and through. Even before the "climatic ending" (and I use that phrase loosely), I had a picture in my head that these two buffoons looked like Joe Peschi and Daniel Stern of "Home Alone" fame. When Cerynise was doing the bad guys in, I kept waiting for her to grab her cheeks and scream ala Macauley Culkin. In fact, I wanted to do that myself! I think Ms. Woodiwiss is spending too much time watching kids movies' with her grandchildren if this is the type of ending she is coming up with now. Bitten by the bug of political correctness, the rape or forcing of the heroine by the hero isn't present in this novel, either - which has always been part of the Woodiwiss formula. While that isn't necessarily a bad thing, in this case, it made for a weaker story. There wasn't this huge emotional obstacle for them to overcome, just their own bumbling lack of communication. The emotional tension between Beau and Cerynise just isn't there, and that tension has always been one of the fun parts of the Woodiwiss novel. There were editting problems, too. I could never figure out if Beau's eyes were blue or green. Because sometimes Cerynise is reminded of Heather's blue eyes, and at other times, she is looking into eyes of deep green. It makes me wonder if Woodiwiss even wrote this novel. That's something that should be decided upfront. Eyecolor is a no-brainer. While I'm still planning on reading the newest Birmingham novel, I'm not rushing out to get it. I hope it's better than this one!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book!
Review: I'm really amazed at the number of reviewers who thought this book was not very good. I thought it was wonderful. Classic Woodiwiss. I am anxiously awaiting the sequel A Season Beyond a Kiss. Kathleen Woodiwiss is the author who first got me interested in historical romance and I have been reading her books and loving them ever since. She is my favorite romance author without a doubt. I hope she never stops writing!
Rating:
Summary: The Elusive Flame
Review: This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It's just the first of a great family saga.
Rating:
Summary: The characters were described beautifully
Review: I really liked how she described the characters. It was a real page turner. I also liked the glimps into Heather Brighams life. That was an extra special treat.
Rating:
Summary: Elusive Flame
Review: Kathlene Woodwiss takes the reader on a tantalizing journey of a young woman, Cerynise Kendall, thrown from her home after losing the one stabilizing force in her life, Lydia Winthrop. But, much to Cerynise's dismay, Lady Winthrop has a nephew, Alistair Winthrop, bent on stealing the new found inheritance. The only thing for Cerynise to do is find a way to get back to Carolina and a new life. So where does Cerynise run to but the arms of Captain Beauregard Birmingham. As his head tells him to turn down the beauty's pleas for help, he can't help but admire the gorgeous woman before him, that he never noticed growing up. The young dashing captain finds himself falling in love with his childhood friend even as she spurns him to save her heart from Beau's solution to Alistair's harassment--marriage to himself. Marry him, only to have the marriage annulled as soon as Beau gets her home? How can she bare to see her fondest dreams come true and then dashed as soon as he desposits her in America? But what Captain Beauregard does not expect, is have his own plan snare him. Can Cerynise trust her friend to remain true? Will life ever be the same for her? Can Beau leave his siren now that she has his heart? What secret is Cerynise holding from him that could tie them together forever? Read this enchanting tale of love and its ability to conquer the odds.
Rating:
Summary: Could'nt put it down.
Review: The Flame and The Flower was my first Woodiwiss novel. I waited 16 years for the sequel, and it was well worth the wait! Heather and Brandon are exactly as I had hoped they'd be, still happy and in love! The story is fluent, entertaining. I laughed alot. Ms. Woodiwiss blends a kind of humor with romance in this book that captivated me! She creates real characters and a vivid plot. I can't wait to see what she has in store for the Birminghams next time!
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful sequal to Flame and the Flower
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. I liked the way Woodiwiss includes Brandon and Heather in this book. Her details were right on. I can not wait until the third sequal A Season Beyond a Kiss comes to see what exciting tactics she uses in this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: A good story, but wished it had a bit more depth.
Review: I enjoyed The Flame and the Flower but hadn't read a book by Woodiwiss in about 10 years. When I heard this story was the sequel, I got interested and read it. I wished Woodiwiss had written more about Heather and Brandon and his brother Jeff and perhaps the childhoods of Beau and Cerynise. I can't help but notice details, and felt it was a big error in how the author went back and forth with Beau's eye color! I am planning to purchase A Season Beyond a Kiss and hope that it doesn't begin with baby Marcus being 26 years old. With several references being made to adventures Beau had in Spain, I would like to see the new story take up with their planned sea voyage with Brandon and Heather. These characters are interesting and I think Woodiwiss should take advantage of that fact and not "lose" so many years in between sequels.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible
Review: I am usually very generous with my reviews, BUT enough is enough. Why is it that these romance writers get a little bigger and then start throwing out reissues of stuff that was horrible in the first place? If you are going to put it back out there again because you are now a bigger name, you could at least take a moment to fix it up! Too many POV switches and characters describing their own physical attributes. This book broke every rule of writing. I'm sorry, but it is a disaster from line one.
| 
