Rating: 
Summary: GREAT!!!!
Review: I loved this book very much and thought it was better than any of Mercedes Lackey's other books.
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL!
Review: The Fire Rose is definately one of my favorite books ever. And, of course, it's predictable! It's supposed to be the classic Beauty And The Beast story, but with a "Misty twist". A must-read for anyone who likes fairy tales.
Rating:
Summary: An incredible Beauty and the Beast story!!
Review: I absolutely adored this book. I could not put it down through the whole thing. I jumped and screamed and really got into it. It filled my heart with feelings. It was exciting. It was everything!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Kind of overdone
Review: I thought this book was cool the first time I read it, and even the second and the third...but it really doesn't hold up after that. The villains really are very one-dimensional, and even the two protagonists are sometimes shallow and artificial. I think the dialogue between them is often stilted and could have flowed a little better. An interesting retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but go to Robin McKinley for more depth.
Rating: 
Summary: Dissapointing
Review: It went very quickly from potentially interesting to very predictable. I have been reading Lackys books for years and I suppose I came to expect more.
Rating: 
Summary: extremely readable, though predictable
Review: Misty's descriptions and details of life in the 1900s, as well as her vivid portrayal of the protagonists, are extremely detailed and makes this book an enjoyable read. This is a typical "beauty and the beast" type of book, mixed with Gothic romance and a touch of fantasy. Rosalind Hawkins charms us with her incredible strength of character and spunk - a sterotypical Misty female protagonist. However, the villians, Du Mond and Beltaire, are a bit too blantantly portrayed. I would prefer a bit more subtlety, and maybe endow them with a few redeeming qualities so they would not be just some other "cardboard" villians. The ideas of magicks, the salamanders and the elements were rather innovative and original. This book, despite its smooth plot and well-defined characters, does not make you think, and thus is rather shallow. It's readability, the moving tribute it is to the qualities of love, and the characters whom you can sympathize with, though, make it well worth your read.
Rating:
Summary: Mind-candy that wasted its potential.
Review: At the two-thirds point: This book is somewhat reminiscent of Stephen Brust and Emma Bull's _Freedom_And_Necessity_ in that it is what I'd call a contemporary fantasy/period piece. I was curious, however, in that it seems to come across as 'mind-candy' rather than more serious. It just feels like the story itself (as well as the characters) has the potential for being something more. Perhaps it will grow as I approach the end of the tale, though my impression so far is that it will continue, as is, until its conclusion. Is this typical of Mercedes Lackey's 'style' of storytelling? I *am* enjoying the story, but I keep getting this nagging feeling that there is so much more that was either missed by the author, or just went completely past me - something so much darker and richer than actually came out in what I've read so far.At the conclusion: Well, as it happens, I completed this book and it was pretty much as I'd guessed ... mind candy and lots of fun, though a bit of a disappointment in that the potential for a really detailed and intricate novel was left to waste. I did, in fact, still enjoy the novel as a whole 'cept for the 'rush to conclusion' in the final few chapters that crammed alot into a short space to wrap it all up.
Rating:
Summary: Just a lot of fun
Review: What does a woman in love with a werewolf do? It is certainly an odd question and one answered in Mercedes Lackey's 'The Fire Rose.' Fortunately, the reader will find themselves caring about the answering in this highly readable novel about an extraordinary woman of the 1900's and her equally inscrutable employer. Ms. Lackey weaves a fine text of fantasy and magick so fun to pursue that upon its completion you may find yourself wondering and looking out of the corner of your eye to see if salamanders are spying on you. Anyone family with the 'Beauty and the Beast' theme will recognize the overtones, yet this telling has a few unique twists for a delightful conclusion that won't easily be guessed.
Rating:
Summary: Read it again...and again...and again...
Review: I can't even count the number of times I have read this book. I'm a big fan of Beauty and the Beast and have read lots of retellings, including both of Robin McKinley's. Though I prefer McKinley's Beauty to Fire Rose, Fire Rose is still up there on my list of favorite books ever. In fact, reading McKinley's Rose Daughter almost felt like rereading this book. Though it's not a book to make you think too much, it's certainly enjoyable and a great diversion when you need a quick pick-me-up.
Rating:
Summary: An a-typical Lackey work.
Review: Being a die-hard Valdemar fan, I wasn't sure quite how to approach The Fire Rose. Once I started reading it, I was hooked. It is rather predictable, but it *says* it's a re-telling. Definitely worth the read, but not Lackey at her best.
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