The Flame and the Flower

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Summary: I want to read this book agian and agian.
Review: I loved Heather in this book she is quiet,calm, and reserved, but at the same time she has an inner strength. Thank goodness I found a book with a woman who was mild and not a woman who kicks down the door to her husbands room and says her I am honey, take me now. I think most romances these days are full of woman who want to run the world and then when they get there, they get tripped up by a man and decided to fall in love get married have tons of kids and then rule the world. That is stupid. NOT ALL WOMAN ARE LIKE SCARLETT O'HARA! Some woman are quiet and meek, but that doesn't mean they don't have a spine. I liked the way Heather was portrayed in this book. it just goes to show you that not all woman are b*****s in a romance novel.

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Summary: This book is extremely disturbing...
Review: I agree totally with the reader from Portland Oregon. The book was very disturbing throughout the entire beginning and again at the end with rapes,abuse and murder. It isn't much of a romance unless you just read the middle, which was boring.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully romantic with a little thrill involved.
Review: I have read every one of K.W.'s books, some 3 or 4 times. The Flame and the Flower is a classic tale of the fears of all women, but also reveals the hidden strength of women, when it comes to the men they love. It transports you to another time and place and makes you believe in love again.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: The Flame and the Flower was the first K. Woodiwiss's book I read (last year in March). I liked it so much, that I did not want it to end. After finishing it, I read it many times. I fell in love with Brandon and Heather's story and I started to buy every Ms. Woodiwiss's romance, that was published in our country. And I think it is the best love story of all times. I am very glad, that it continues and I hope one day I could read another sequels too. Thak you Ms. Woodiwiss for being my life just for a moment so beautiful!

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Summary: This was what I used my amazon.com gift certificate for?
Review: Now I know someone is going to read this review and say "she doesn't read romance." Well, I do--and I've read too many to be enchanted with this book. I read all the customer comments and I figured, this must be an awesome book (despite the fact that I've previously bought 2 Kathleen Woodiwiss books and been unable to finish them because of boredom). I should have gone with my gut feeling. The rape scenes really didn't bother me, nor did the fact that the hero callously disregarded Heather's feelings many times (that's not uncommon in a romance novel) but what got on my last nerve was Heather. She was a ninny. I got so sick of this phrase "Oh, Brandon!" This is the romance novel that men make fun of--a sappy, silly, would-be bodice ripper. The character descriptions were unforgiveably vague and the villain was needlessly troll-like. Not all villains have hunchbacks and are too ugly to look at for long, Ms. Woodiwiss.

I felt that the book would have been much better if the heroine had been someone like Scarlett O'Hara. Basically someone with a spine. So this being my feelings, I think Brandon should have stayed with his current mistress and kicked Heather to the curb.

Now, if you've previously read this authors books, and found that you like her writing style then you might enjoy this. If not, save your money and go for Linda Howard or Judith McNaught (not her latest, though).

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Summary: SIMPLY THE BEST!!!!!
Review: BREATHTAKING! I read this book many years ago and it is as fresh in my mind now as it was then. You walk away feeling like you know the characters and don't want to leave them.("The Elusive Flame" reunites them with their many fans.) When I first read "The Flame.." it was a library book and I was so deeply moved that I didn't want to return it. I couldn't find a copy in the stores with the same cover, so I bought one with the plain cover and donated it to the library. I kept the original copy and have read it a few more times over the years. I loved the hero so much that I named my son Brandon after the book. Some readers have a problem with the book because Brandon forces himself on Heather, but if they took the time to read on, they would fall in love with him too. He is gentle and protective with her when she is pregnant. This is fiction after all. I don't want the authors walking around on eggshells worrying that they may offend a touchy reader. This book is so wonderful that it is a shame for someone to pick one scene and blow it out of proportion! It will put a smile in your heart and leave you with the feeling that it would be wonderful to be loved in the way that they eventually come to love each other. Fall in love with The Flame and the Flower!!!

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Summary: Passion, Romance, Jealousy, Murder.. A Perfect Romance novel
Review: This book had all that a Romance should have. As soon as I laid the book down ( which I read in one night) I wish I could read it all over and not know what would happen. So far, it was the best romance novel I have ever read. This is the book for all hopless romantics out there!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I ever read -- interesting characters
Review: I accidently came across this author after trying for so long to "get into" other books besides Danielle Steel's. I would start and then put them down -- nothing interested me. I was always curious about the romance authors and couldn't understand why everyone was so crazy about them and bookstores are packed with their books -- then I picked up this one! Well, I never had such a good time reading a book -- the characters are terrific, especially Heather and Brandon. She is strong, but yet loving and gentle. He is absolutely gorgeous. I love the way men were so protective in those days! He sounds like the perfect husband, doesn't he, ladies? I hope you all out there enjoy all her books; I do too, since I recently bought all of them!

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Summary: I'm really grateful that romances are no longer like this!
Review: First of all, let me say that I love historical romance novels, and I don't stereotype them as bountiful-bosom, bare-chested heaving bodice rippers. However, this unfortunate novel lives up to this stereotype--at least the sections I managed to plough through.

The first problem is the purple prose. I'm no grammarian, but the constant abuse of the comma and the liberal use of adjectives started to irritate me about 10 pages in. However, the story was still passable, so I forged on. Then I discovered that the villains are so ugly, they are practically deformed--a cliche I could have done without. I mean, an obese, abusive aunt I can buy, but please, an overweight, lecherous, DROOLING uncle (brother to the aunt)? And the uncle's shop assistant (another villain) is actually hunchbacked, filthy and has a facial deformity. Puh-leeze!

The bit that takes the cake, however, is the fact that the hero has raped the heroine twice--and this is barely fifty pages into the book. What disturbs me the most, however, is the hero's apparent lack of feeling over this act of brutality. The first time I could almost understand, given the fact that he thought the heroine was a prostitute and that her struggles were love-play. But the second time around, he KNOWS she was a virgin and terrified of him, and he does it anyway! Later, when the heroine explains her awful situation, the hero makes light of it and offers to set the poor girl up as his mistress.

At this point, I couldn't read any longer. I had lost all respect for the hero--in fact, I hated him. I mean, I know about the sexual double standards of the time period the book is set in, but really, not even an apology? I think forcing yourself twice in a row on a 17-year old girl merits at least that... But I can even understand not apologizing for reasons of masculine pride or sheer pigheadedness or whatever. It's the lack of internal remorse that finally forced me to chuck this book aside. Fine, the hero is a tall, dark piece of hunka-hunka burnin' love, but the implication that it's OK for him to do what he did because he's good looking and not an overweight, ugly lech disturbs me even more.

Thank God I only borrowed this book from the library. I'm also really glad that rape scenarios have largely disappeared from modern romances. However, it frightens me that this book is held up as a classic of modern romance writing and a must-read for all romance lovers. I think it's books like The Flame and The Flower that create and perpetuate the unfair stereotype of romance novels as mindless bodice rippers that demean women.

Rating:
Summary: An all nighter!
Review: This book touched all emotions possible. I felt angry, frustrated, tickled, very touched and left with an anxiety attack waiting for morning to come so I could start "Elusive Flame". This book is well worth the buy.