Dark Fires
Brenda Joyce
ISBN# 0-440-20610-3
Dell, 1991 389 Pages
England, Circa 1874
Out of Print

Reviewed by Dorie
February 2005

We first meet the hero, Nicholas Bragg as a child in INNOCENT FIRE, the story of his parents, Derek and Miranda Bragg. Dark Fires is the fourth book in the Bragg Series with FIRESTORM and VIOLET FIRE in-between.

They called him the Lord Of Darkness, and for good reason. It was rumoured that he murdered his wife. Nicholas never wanted the title or any of the prestige that he gained when he became the Earl Of Dragmore. He grew up in Texas and was used to the wild frontier, but being the firstborn son, he had to live up to the expectations that were awaiting him in England. For years Nicholas has lived with the gossip and the secrets of his past that haunt him. He is used to being shunned by his peers and cares nothing about it and treats everyone around him, and his house, disdainfully.

Jane Barclay is an innocent 17 year old girl, who's mother dies and is sent to Nicholas as his ward. She is a beautiful vivacious girl who is full of life, when she meets Nick she is appalled at his lack of manners and surly attitude. What she cannot fight is the growing attraction she feels for him. His dark looks and the loneliness she senses in him makes her want to get to know him better, change the coldness in him and make him smile. She sets about on a dangerous path, trying to seduce him.

Nick can recognise Jane's attraction to him and he is attracted to her as well. He tries his hardest to resist her and he succeeds for the most part until one fateful night, when he gives into passion and makes her his. Nick then decides he should marry her, but Jane knows he doesn't love her and turns him down. Heartbroken Jane leaves him and returns back to the stage, where her mother, Sandra Barclay, was famous and she was known as "Sandra's Angel". Where she grew up and has friends to help her and make her feel secure and provide comfort. However she cannot put Nick out of her mind, nor can he of her.

Nick is an Alpha male, my favorite kind of hero and Brenda is great at writing strong tortured hero's, who may frustrate you at times, but you also love them. There is just something about her hero’s that attracts you to them, making them hard to resist flaws and all. Nick and Jane have a battle of wills throughout the book, and you can't help but be swept up into it reading to see whose will breaks first. Brenda Joyce is a master storyteller, especially in her earlier historicals, making them hard to put down. Her books are either driven by the characters or the time period in which they are set. In this case, it is the characters and their passion, anger and ultimately the story that keeps you reading.

If I had a complaint it was that no one ever confesses their feelings soon enough. If they had done so, it would have been solved so much quicker. Which is probably bad for this story since we need the drama or else it would have been a boring read. But I wouldn't have minded if Nick and Jane could have acknowledged their feelings and resolved things sooner. Nevertheless, I was swept away into this book, the characters and their lives. All in all, this book is a keeper.