Heart mate (original 2001; edition 2001)

I like it, though I found the chapters to be too long for my taste. I loved the ending where they were finally happy. Looking forward to reading more of the series. ( )

I like it, though I found the chapters to be too long for my taste. I loved the ending where they were finally happy. Looking forward to reading more of the series. ( )

Rand T'Ash lost everything as a young boy, his home, his family, and had to learn to fend for himself most of his life until recently now that he is a nobleman and highly sought after artisan, he is now looking for his heartmate, and when he finds out who she is, he sets out to seduce her, only she doesn't seem to want to be seduced and keeps rejecting Him. Rand at first where Danith is coming from, because he once came from the kind of life that she is living currently, and he only desires to hold onto her, protect her and love her....he just has to convince her that sharing a life with him would bring her pure happiness, because the love they would share would be timeless.Heart Mate is the first installment in this series, and it was a very likable read, the beginning was a bit slower to get into, but once I did I had a fantastic time with these two characters. Rand is so Alpha Male type, very possessive and stubborn to the extreme, and more resilient than most, although he does have a soft side. Danith, is somewhat spitfire but does have a more gentle nature about her. Danith's situation is unique, because she thinks of herself as beneath Rand, however she is anything but, and the heat in this book was very sizzling at times, I just love this world that Robin D. Owens has created, its so fun to get into the scene and just enjoy the ride. It wasn't the type of book that would keep you from setting it down, but it was more relax before the fire type of read, and a very enjoyable and exciting at times novel, that was so fun and sexy, and I can hardly wait to read the rest of the series. ( )

I first read this book in 2002, and I loved it, and have loved the series, so when it was reissued, I took the opportunity to re-read. My copy of the original is back in San Antonio.

HeartMate introduces the world of Celta, with its Flair (magic) and Fams (pets--cats, who are telepathically bonded to their owners) and Great Houses. It's a rich world, even from the beginning, yet the worldbuilding is entirely natural and non-intrusive.

Rand Ash, or T'Ash (the T' denotes the male head of the family; a D' denotes the female head) has rebuilt his family fortunes after a fire killed his entire family, leaving him at age 6 the only survivor. He got his revenge on the killers, and now his next task is to rebuild his family, and a wife features prominently in those plans. Fortunately, he has a HeartMate--a soul mate, the existence of which is revealed in the ceremony/ordeal that releases a person's Flair.

Said HeartMate is Danith Mallow, an orphan with, as she thinks, no Flair, and firmly in the lower-middle class. And she doesn't believe in HeartMates. In addition, she thinks T'Ash is just toying with her.

T'Ash, having spent his life fighting for his life, mostly solitary, and definitely without the civilizing influences of family, much less females, has a hard time convincing Danith that he's serious, and thinks if he can just form a HeartMate bond with her before she finds out what a terrible guy he is, she'll be stuck, and he'll be fine. Silly, silly man.

Both T'Ash and Danith learn things about themselves, and grow and change in the course of the book. It's mostly about their romance--there are other things going on that provide obstacles, but there's not, for example, a suspense or mystery plot along with the romance.

What amazes me so much is that HeartMate is a first book. It's no surprise that it won the RITA. But neither is it a surprise that Berkley/Jove waited to see how it did before agreeing to publish the next in the series. It's definitely different from the other paranormal romances out there. The few that are set on different worlds (at least the ones I've read) don't have the depth of worldbuilding this series does. Part of what I like so much, I suspect, is that I've always read a lot of sf/f, and this reads very much like an sf/f romance, without the sf/f details dumbed-down or left out for the too-stupid-to-care romance readers (not my opinion--it just seems sometimes that that's the opinion of some writers/editors/publishers).

Robin D. Owens is definitely a master storyteller. There's just something about her style... it's polished, or professional, maybe. It's like the difference between cheap fake-leather boots and the real deal.

*sigh* Okay, enough gushing. ( )

Wow. As I think about the story afterward, it's a pretty standard romance - interesting SF/Fantasy setting, but nothing very new. But when I finished it, it was as if a large and gentle whirlwind had just set me down - I was totally caught up in the story. Just wow. I want the rest, and the Summoning books, too. A lot of standard tropes, well-handled - class differences, I-am-not-worthy (in both directions), misunderstandings (but not over-done). Interesting and well-drawn characters - no cardboard here, not even in the minor villains! And a very interesting setting - pretty much standard fantasy (with psi as magic) except for the constant references to the starship that brought them there (many generations ago). Love it. And a couple months later - I just discovered that this was her _first_ (published) novel. Wow all over again. More! ( )