Monday, May 14, 2007
Born in Fire
**** Born in Fire by Nora Roberts. Contemporary romance. Re-read.
I'd always thought this was my favorite of the trilogy, but it's been years since I'd read it.
Maggie Concannon is an Irish glass artist--reclusive, a bit temperamental, independent. Rogan Sweeney is a businessman, art connoisseur, and owner of a gallery. He's been trying to sign Maggie for his gallery, but she ignores his letters and won't answer her phone, so he decides to visit her personally.
Sparks fly, of course, between Maggie's artistic passion and Rogan's implacable determination.
That's the romance part of the story. Then there's the family story. In the prologue, Maggie's with her father as he dies. Her mother is a bitter, nasty woman, and Maggie butts heads with her constantly. Maggie's sister Brianna, on the other hand, bends over backwards to accommodate the unsatisfiable Maeve.
Which is the source of my dissatisfaction with this story. In the same way that Maeve spoiled every family gathering in the book, she also spoiled the story. I absolutely could not sympathize with her at all, and it seemed that part of the message of Born in Fire was that Maggie should try to be more understanding toward Maeve, which left me feeling vaguely as if I'd been chastised for not being sympathetic toward her myself.
Heh. Sometimes I take these things a bit too seriously.
I also, when I'd put the book down for a while, questioned Rogan's persistence. The business persistence was fine, but the romantic persistence felt just a little squicky. That was only when I was thinking about the book, though, not while I was reading it.
...more
Categories: Books, 4stars, ContemporaryRomance
Labels: 4 stars, books, ContemporaryRomance
