Rating: 
Summary: Yikes! What happened to the Woodiwiss I've always admired?
Review: I am an avid romance reader, and since reading The Flame and The Flower so many years ago, I have admired the work of Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, but The Elusive Flame just doesn't measure up to her other novels. If this hadn't been a sequel, I would have wondered if she perhaps had written this much earlier, say in the 70s, and dug it out of the closet. The style seemed dated to me for many reasons. Cerynise came across as irritatingly naive and wimpy. If she really loved Beau as much as Woodiwiss wanted us to believe, I would liked to have seen her DO something about it. In addition, she constantly needed to be rescued due to bad judgement on her part, which I found tedious. Beau was painted as a man who could do no wrong, unless you ignore the fact that he frequented the beds of harlots. If he so much as picked a fingernail, he did it dashingly and with aplomb. I like my heroes on a pedestal as much as the next gal, but I've come to expect a little inner conflict in my main characters--some emotional problem that they must overcome in order to finally be able to fully love their soul mate. I saw nothing in neither Cerynise or Beau that made me feel they had made any deep emotional journey at all. The antagonists were cartoonish and ridiculously inept. Beau and Cerynise, despite being born and raised in S. Carolina, sounded like Brits. Also, Alistair's speech and that of his sidekick sounded coarse, which rang slightly off for their assumed levels in English society. I also found it odd that, despite the Deep Southern setting, with some of the story actually taking place on a plantation, that the aspect of slavery was neatly avoided, except for one character mentioning that Beau would never own any slaves. I hope the Ms. Woodiwiss looks long and hard at her plot and characters before sending the final draft of her next novel to the publisher. We all know she is capable of much more than The Elusive Flame delivered.
Rating:
Summary: How very "novel" this novel was.
Review: I was very disappointed in this novel. I feel I waisted my money. Shame on Kathleen E. Woodiwiss for slapping this together. I am not a writer, but I feel sure I could have thrown this book together. Cerynise makes me ill. She is so one dimensional. The author tried too hard to convince us that all were awed by her beauty. Enough with the idiots that could not function normally in her company. Beau was an unbelievable hero for this novel. He was to candy apple perfect. His anger was non-believable as well. There was no chemistry between the main characters in their love scenes. Beau was supposed to come from a very uprights decent set of parents. What was he doing hanging out with all those harlots. I was also dissappointed with the accents. Beau and Cerynise were supposed to come from the Carolinas. They sounded more like English sailors. All in all if I could have given this book no stars I would have. I find it hard to believe Kathleen E. Woodiwiss is a best selling author. I have never found any other of her novels to be all that great either. This one really takes the cake for lousy though.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely a Sequel
Review: After reading The Flame and the FLower a few weeks before buying this book, I almost exploded when I realized there was a sequel. I rushed to the nearest bookstore and bought it. It was rather a disappointment. The plot line was terribly confusing and Cerynise's constant backing away got really old, really fast. Another thing, how come Beau has two different eye colors? First blue and then green. Hopefully they're green. The plot was also confusing. Everything was so sudden, like the marriage and love. I think it needed a little more time. But anyway, I really enjoyed reading more about the Birminghams and Kathleene Woodiwiss is definitely my favorite author. I hope she'll write another book soon, but perferably one-uh-less confusing and with more excitement.
Rating: 
Summary: Wished story-line was different
Review: The Flame & the Flower is my favorite romance novel of all time, having read it at least 15 times, and I always hoped the author would write a sequel about this fascinating family. Twenty-five years later I got my wish with The Elusive Flame. I didn't care that it focused on Beau as an adult. I knew that Woodiwiss, with her great writing style, would do something with this character and create a great storyline. But, disappointingly, something fell short. After reading it through, all I could think of was that I wished she had done things differently. The beginning of the book starts out good, with the usual evil relative leaving Cerynise destitute. You have to feel sympathy for the heroine, and you do with her, but I just couldn't believe that she always loved Beau, and I couldn't believe that Beau would be so quick to marry her just to help her in a bind and then fall just as quickly in love with her. Perhaps if the author had written a prologue of when Cerynise and Beau were younger, writing in more detail about the times when she teased him in class, when he rescued her from bullies and others that picked on her, and the moments when she would ride with him on his horse, then we could believe that these two people were meant for each other. Once they admit their true feelings to each other, the story goes flat. How many times can you read about their tremendous devotion and their acts of lovemaking that reach incredible heights without getting bored? The best thing about a romance novel is the tension, the separation and the range of feelings leading up to the realization of love, and Woodiwiss gets them together too fast, leaving the reader nowhere to go. I wish that Beau had another woman in his life. If he's so kind and charming as the writer says, surely there must have been a woman with whom he was intimate other than harlots. Why is it that these good-looking men are only intimate with harlots? If there was another woman waiting for him in Charleston, it would've created that tension and confusion for Beau and Cerynise and the other woman. I have to admit that when I finished it, I read it again, only because I enjoyed reading about Heather and Brandon, and somehow I kept hoping that I would read things differently the second time around. Woodiwiss missed the mark on this one, but I still love her work.... And I look forward to the next Birmingham book called "A Season Beyond A Kiss." Does anyone have any info on what this book's about? P.S. I'm glad to see that others were just as confused as me about his EYE color, because she mentions in the book that his eyes are emerald in one sentence and sapphire in another. And we all know that Beau had Brandon's eyes!
Rating: 
Summary: Kathleen Woodwiss Is The Best
Review: Kathleen Woodwiss is just my favorite Historical Romance Author. She never lets me down and has again proven that she's a force to be reckoned with in the world of romance!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Woodiwiss has struck out for the second time.
Review: This book was only slightly better than its predecessor--The Flame and the Flower. I did not buy that Cerynise had been in love with Beau since childhood. Perhaps, she should have began the book with a prologue of when they were little. It would have been cute to see a much younger Cerynise vow that she would someday marry Beau. Somehow I felt that if she was in love with him as much as she believed to be back then, she would have moved heaven and earth to see him again. To me it appears like she bumps into Beau again, and it rekindles this undying love. Although the book is not too long, I felt that the last 50 pages were unnessecary. Basically we have the protagonists getting together and then then the two characters wrap up some unfinished business. To me it seemed that these unresolved issues (I don't want to spoil the book if you haven't read it) dealing with her life in England could have been fixed at the same time as she was getting back with Beau. Although the scene in which Beau and Cerynise discover their love is touching, it's anticlimatic. After reading their union, I basically felt like why continue reading. I was expecting more, and it was disappointing reading two bad Woodiwiss novels in a row. It should be interesting to see what the sequel to this novel will contain. Hopefully it won't be her third strike.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting, I loved it!
Review: Since I haven't read anything in six years, I was selective on the author I choose. Although I was dissappointed in Ashes in the wind, and that was the last chance I really got to read anything since going back to work, you are still my favorite Romance Author. Now that I'm off for the summer, I plan on reading all of your books I've missed. I can tell you I'm really excited because I've just finished The Elusive Flame and I loved it! It kept my interest from begining to end! I just can't believe anyone could say anything negative about it. I will be starting Petals on the River After the 4th of July. I'll let you know if I injoyed it as much. I should add that the only thing I didn't like about Ashes in the Wind was the ending. It just ended to quickly. I had to read the last chapter twice and still thought I missed something. Please keep writing, I'll never work full time again! Kathy Browning
Rating:
Summary: Great book, I'm now a fan of Woodiwiss
Review: My mother has always been a fan of Kathleen Woodiwiss and has tried, unsuccessfully, my whole life to get me to read and enjoy her books. I've tried, "Shanna," "The Wolf and the Dove," and all the others, but never could get into them. However, when my mom bought her copy of "The Elusive Flame" I figured I'd try to again read "The Flame and The Flower" because I tend to like series. I wasn't dissapointed. "The Flame and The Flower" was excellent and by the time I finished "The Elusive Flame" I found myself digging all the other Woodiwiss novels out and planning to read them. I've read some of the other bland reviews of "The Elusive Flame" and wonder, did you all read the same book I did? The characters were *not* one demensional, they were very much like Brandon and Heather. You'd expect Beau to be like his father, which he is and you'd expect him to fall for someone like his mother -- which he did. Cerynise is a lot like Heather in so many ways, the only difference being that Cerynise is a little more outspoken. All in all, it was a great read and one I'll visit many times in the future. I anxiously await the next book in the sage that began with Heather and Bradon. Thank you, Ms. Woodiwiss for an excellent book and a great group of characters!
Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother - Read Ashes in the Wind & A Rose in Winter
Review: How disappointing. This novel does not represent the Kathleen Woodiwiss I have loved for 15 years. I kept waiting for a story to unfold, with the rich character building and story lines that I'm used to from this author. But this book was slow, plotless, and BORING, BORING, BORING. It seemed that Ms. Woodiwiss borrowed scenes and different plot lines from many of her prior novels, then stuck them all together in this story. Read Ashes in the Wind (my copy is also quite worn) and A Rose in Winter to really appreciate what a wonderful author Ms. Woodiwiss is (was?). Petals on the River was different than her prior books, but it was a sweet, if short, story. I like that her characters are now waiting until love and marriage to have sex, rather than the typical rape scenes in these period romances. However, because of the lack of storyline in this book, I'll be hard pressed to purchase any future Woodiwiss novels.
Rating:
Summary: Overwrought!
Review: Absolutely agree with reviewer: "A reader from Levittown, Penna. USA , June 8, 1999" The heros were larger than life and the villians reminded me of Cruella Deville's side-kicks. Excellent potential; poorly written. What's happened, Kathleen?
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