Heart of Fire

Very exciting story about an archeological expedition in the Amazon. I was riveted along every step of trek never knowing when the bad guys or the environment was going to strike. The relationship between main characters was intense and steamy. Jillian tries to find a lost city in the Amazon jungle and hires Ben to guide the trip.

Heart of Fire
4 Stars

The daughter of a notorious "crackpot" archeologist, Jillian Sherwood is determined to restore her father's reputation, as well as her own, by locating the lost Stone City of the Anzar, the legendary home of the Amazon warriors. To attain her goal, Jillian must join forces with Ben Lewis, a womanizing ruffian and the best river guide Brazil has to offer. As Ben and Jillian clash wills and wits, danger lurks around every bend and they will have to work together to get out of the jungle in one piece.

An action-packed romp through the jungle with a strong willed and feisty heroine, and a gorgeous, if somewhat overly testosterone laden, hero.

The sparks between Jillian and Ben fly from the start and their snarky show more repartee, as he tries to get in her pants at every opportunity and she stops him in his tracks, is very amusing. Their romance develops slowly but surely toward the inevitable, and the eventual "I love yous" are sweet and believable.

The basic plot involving the expedition down the Rio Negro is captivating. Howard has certainly done her due diligence on the locale both in terms of the detailed descriptions of the journey, including information on the river itself, the wildlife and the various aspects of archeological research, as well as the specifics of the history and the legend of the Amazons.

The villains are apparent from the start, but this does not reduce the tension or suspense one iota.

In sun, a steamy hot romance with likable characters and an exciting storyline. show less

Now this is only my second Howard book, so I’m not sure, but so far it seems like the heroes are big walking sex machines. In "After the Night" pretty much all the hero could think about was when his naughty parts were going to get to play with the heroine’s naughty parts. And in "Heart of Fire", Ben isn’t much different. Well, okay so he isn’t always thinking about boinking the heroine, because if that was the case then they’d both be dead from multiple bullet wounds.

But other than Ben’s amazing libido we don’t get much info on him. Instead we get hints that something made him flee his Alabama ranch home at 20 to come to the Amazon, but we never find out why. Which kind of irked me. But we get enough info on Jillian’s show more past to satisfy me and I have to say that I really liked her character. I’m beginning to think that Howard just writes great heroines. Jillian was another strong heroine who managed to stay out of the stupid zone. She listened to Ben when he told her to stay out of the kill zone and didn’t go running around trying to find him when bullets started flying. Instead she did what she was told and dove for cover and I believe that even if Ben had kicked the bucket that Jillian would’ve been resourceful enough to make it out of the jungle on her own.

As for the bad guys, I liked Kates better as the main villain than Dutra. I thought Kates was better, because we got to know the reason for him funding this excursion and why he planned to off the Ben and Jillian. So I didn’t like the way Howard got rid of his character. I know Dutra was the more villainous of the two, but Kates had all the motives for wanting them all dead. Dutra was a bit too much of a horror movie killer stereotype, because the bastard wouldn’t die. You think he’s dead, but nope he comes back to try and off Jillian and Ben one more time. I probably wouldn’t have had a problem with him if he had better motives for running around killing people. show less

Wanting to remind herself of the man that was her father, Jillian Sherwood convinced her brother (Rick) to let her finally see some of their fathers notebooks. Being an archeologist, just like dad, Jillian had a special insight in decoding the notes and the maps that she had found. Finding the money and the people to help her to locate the lost Stone City in the middle of the Amazon jungle would eventually show the world that her father was not the crackpot that everyone thought he was. While Rick was the one that finally acquired the funds and got the expedition started, the animosity that he felt for her was always there leaving Jillian concerned about how things would end. Keeping several key pieces of information to herself made show more sure she would be useful till they found the city. As a guide in the Amazon, Ben Lewis took pride at being able to size up any situation quickly and finding out that a woman would be part of his next job, left a bad taste in his mouth. Knowing that there was something not right, Ben made Jillian’s protection his prime mission, second only to finding out what Rick and his low-life friends were up to.

I really enjoyed the combination of action, adventure, mystery, humor and romance. The sexual frustration and flirtation between Ben and Jillian is at times fun or even funny. The angst between Rick and Jillian was strong. As the characters progress through the story as well as through the jungle, they become better and better. While Ben is brash and blunt from the get go, the “moment” of realization is not just expected but also kind of fun. Definitely a different way to play out a “moment” like that. While I say it is fun and funny, it is sexual humor, some of it is on the graphic side (for lack of better wording). If you are at all offended by ’raunchy jokes’ this may not be funny to you. show less

Wonderful story. The kind of book you can't put down until it's finished. The characters were engaging, the action well paced. The only thing keeping it from being a full 5 star read was a silly bit of conflict thrown in at the very end that would have made more sense had it been an issue throughout the story.

Brief synopsis: Jillian Sherwood is an archeologist determined to clear her father's name and reputation by locating the lost city of the Amazon warriors using the map her father had created before he died. River guide and jungle survivalist Ben Lewis is hired to lead Jillian and her no-account brother deep into the jungles of the Amazon. Used to having any woman he desires, Ben finds it hard to comprehend when Jillian seems show more immune to his sex appeal. Jillian is one tough cookie, however, determined to beat Ben at his own game.

The romance is good, beginning with dislike, moving through lust and into respect and finally trust and love over the course of the entire story. The heat between the hero and heroine is well drawn, and when they finally give in to their raging hormones, the effect is sizzling.

Ben is an alpha male but with enough uncertainty over Jillian's apparent disinterest in him to keep him from being overbearing or arrogant. Rather, he comes across as confident yet very sweet.

Jillian is the kind of strong heroine I most enjoy. She isn't easily rattled, can hold her own with the men, and doesn't turn into a simpering pool every time Ben looks her way. She acknowledges her own reaction to Ben's animal magnetism but is able to control herself and keep him at arms length. Too, she isn't prone to whining when things don't go her way. She came to truly trust Ben rather than hanging on to her initial distrust once she'd gotten to know him. I really liked her.

Definitely a keeper. One of Howard's best. show less

When Jillian Sherwood came into Ben Lewis' life both of them would never be the same again. Ben is an adventurer and she's a practical archaeologist, trying to find a hidden city her father may have found out about, something that he died trying to find and left his reputation in tatters; a reputation that has haunted her as well.

The two main characters are great fun, interesting and quite down-to-earth, though there are depths unexplored occasionally. I enjoyed the read.

This is probably one of my favorite LH books. I absolutely adore Ben and Jillian. Ben is quite possibly my favorite male character ever. He's just so MALE!

Even after after all these years this book really held up well.