Princess of Fire

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I am an avid fan and collector of Shannon Drake books and thought that this book was wonderful and exciting! Yes, people may be disturbed by some of the content, but that was what happened back then! I find the way the men conquer the women to be exciting and interesting. In fact I found this book so wonderful that I named my newborn son Alaric after the hero. I think if people don't agree with the content of violence in romance, then they should read Harlequin or books that don't contain explicit sexual situations. But, if you don't mind that kind of stuff and like a little bit of the erotic themes than these books are for you!

Rating:
Summary: Not That Great
Review: I have read a few Shannon Drake romances, and I have come to the conclusion that she is an ok writer. She has written some novels that I love like Branded Hearts, No Other Love, and Seize The Dawn.

Unfortunately she has written some very disturbing stories with this tame and conquer theme that I do not like at all like The Kings Pleasure, Conquer the Night, and Lie Down In Roses. The hero and heroine are on opposite sides of a nationwide battle. The heroine ends up either imprisoned by the hero or forced to marry him, while she is still true to her cause. The hero uses rape as one of his methods of discipline, and he always ruthlessly imposes his will on the heroine for the duration of the story. The heroine ends up falling in love with the hero despite his treatment of her.

Unfortunately, Princess of Fire falls into this category. I simply do not like reading about the hero ripping the heroines clothes off and tieing her to his bed, or locking her up. I understand that the heroine was in danger from the new king if she caused trouble, but the hero was pretty brutal and degrading to the heroine for me to stand. I gave this story three stars because it is well written and the historical details are well researched.

Rating:
Summary: It Was Okay
Review: I usually tend to shy away from the Norman/Saxon love stories because they usually include rape or enforced slavery. Princess of Fire was a pleasant surprise. It has an engaging storyline that sucks you right into it in the beginning.

The story begins with a fierce battle where the king of England (Harold) is killed and his daughter, Fallon, is taken prisoner by the hero. William The Conqueror has won the battle for England. The hero was cruel to the heroine but had good reason. The new king of england was perfectly willing to make an example of Fallon by having her executed should she try to start a Saxon uprising.

I started losing interest towards the middle of the story. The hero, Alaric, is King William's right hand man and, although he sympathises with the saxon people wants to stop any uprisings with a firm hand to prevent the deaths of innocent people. Fallon hates all Normans because they have killed her father and are tearing apart her homeland. They are on opposite sides of the battle and fight and screech at each other for nearly the whole story. Suddenly the heroine realizes that she loves the hero and wants to be with him. I don't know where that came from since all they have done is fight and have sex. It does not make it quite believeable.

I would have given this three stars, but the fighting became repetitive and started to annoy me. The author should have either cut this shorter or lengthened it so their "I Love You" moment was more believeable.

Rating:
Summary: Historically exciting, intriguing and romantic!
Review: I've read reviews regarding the follow-up to 'Princess of Fire', 'Knight of Fire' and was disappointed to find that many readers considered 'Knight of Fire' 'boring' and 'unexciting'. However, 'Princess of Fire' opens with a fierce battle later called the Battle of Hastings and the inevitable capture of the king's daughter, Princess Fallon. Hence begins the attempt to bend or break the strong willed courageous princess, however, sparks flew between the then Lady Fallon and Count Alaric long before the Battle of Hastings. Shannon Drake/Heather Graham remains true to her nature in capturing your attention with an exciting and gut wrenching opening and then later leads you through a someone mediocre history of the hero and heroine's entwined lives that eventually catapults at the Battle of Hastings. The heroine is considered to be so courageous and determined to avenge her father's death, rid her beloved country of the invading Normans and restore the crown to an English head, that she is actually considered a serious threat to William the Conqueror. But alas, in the end, England is ruled by the Norman conqueror and the princess is ruled by the conqueror of her heart. In all, I've rated this particular Shannon Drake novel a 'four star'. Particularly since this is one Shannon Drake novel that I would actually purchase, especially after being disppointed with other Drake novels.

Rating:
Summary: The one that got me hooked!!!
Review: The first of S. Drake's books that I have read, a story of forbidden love and extreme passion. A must read. I could not put it down. Fallon and Alaric have an undeniable chemistry that won't let you go until the end. Even then it isn't over! Check out the next in the series, Knight of Fire, which deals with their son Bret. Also a must read!!

Rating:
Summary: The first Shannon Drake I ever read. And definatly a winner!
Review: This book had every thing you could ask for. The persinlities of the 2 leed carictors were very well writen. You will fall in love with Alaric and fallon. The book will keep you turning the pages and gasping as Fallon findes her self tempeted by her father's followers. And when you meet Eric you know he will be back and when he comes back you will gasp with horor for the shocking turn the book takes. This story will keep you guessing to the last pages! A must read for any one who loves historical romance!

Rating:
Summary: Best book ever!
Review: This was absolutely the best book I have ever read!! I love the story line and the characters. I loved this book so much, after my sister accidentally sold it(along with many other favorites of mine) to a used book store, I searched through book store after book store until I found it again, and bought it back! Definitely a book I will keep with me always and read over and over again!

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely a MUST read!
Review: This was my first romance book that I've read. The hero, Alaric is such a wonderful character! He may be cruel at Fallon (the heroine) at first, but boy ..what a sweet, caring and gentle man he became to be! As any heroine character is describe in a romance novel, Fallon is very strong, proud and unwilling to bend to this man who has held her captive. They must face obstacles to truly understand one another and when they finally do ...*sigh. I had no sleep the night I read the whole book! I read the book in less than a day! It's that good!