Hearts Aflame [Paperback]

First, I've read 2 other books written by Ronica Black. Wild Abandon and Deeper. This book was just as well written, maybe better, and had a different setting than the previous books I have read.

Ronica Black's book Hearts Aflame is a wonderful, heartwarming Romance. Now a city girl, Krista Wyler is back at the ranch where she spent all of her summers until a traumatic event 15 years ago changed that. Rae Jarrett, the local vet who works with the large animals on the ranches, has her own reasons for not wanting to be involved with anyone. Of course - when the 2 of them meet sparks fly! They don't appear to want the same things, What's important to Rae doesn't seem important to a city-girl like Krista. Krista doesn't think that she needs any help and resents the help offered by Rae. Rae is sure that Krista hates her and doesn't understand why.

The ranch is in danger of financial ruin so Krista decides to turn the place into a dude ranch. Of course, that brings a whole lot of interesting characters into the mix, doesn't it?

This was a great book to curl up with. It's certainly seems like a great series could come from this too. Imagine the stories that could traspire with all of the characters that come to a dude ranch?

Go buy this book. Enjoy it. I did.

I've read one other Ronica Black book, and I liked it well enough that when I found myself in the picked-over selection at my local bookstore, I decided to give Hearts Aflame a chance. It had an intriguing premise. I like westerns. I really like books where the characters are *doing* something, whether it be river rafting, climbing a mountain, boat racing, etc. Also, the whole "we must save our home" motivator is always a sure thing for drama and character motivation to the extremes of their personalities. The description of the book talked about adventure in the desert. I wanted heat and excitement. And while the book wasn't wholly lacking in that, I spent a lot of it either being annoyed at the main characters for being some of the worst communicators I could ever hope to never know, or being disappointed that the cowboy adventure they were all on was bascially one big prop, like a back-drop in community theater. It never felt like I was there. My senses were only sporadically engaged.

Ultimately the author played too fast and loose with language to satisfy me, and I was left with unavoidable observations:
*It's no wonder Rae has such muscle tone with the amount of time she spends with her arms flexed
*I like oatmeal, but does it really "smell good enough to eat"?
*During the tender sharing of the hat scene, it would have been nice to have it explained that by "not prepared" Rae meant for the sun exposure, making her gesture make more sense from a care-taking perspective, rather than making it seem a random act with little meaning
*I don't buy Rae's "fear of abandonment" motivation, when guilt seems to be her central emotion
*After leaving Krista in a total lurch how surprised can Rae be when Krista doesn't hug her? Hello? Have some cheese with that whine.
*Is Sonja really like family? Is it a small town thing? Because her staying on with practically no discussion about her contract, etc. (this is her *profession*) seemed unrealistic.

The plot and characterizations weren't tight. The characters would allow incidents from their past to firmly dictate their current actions, usually in very unflattering ways (like Krista abandoning her beloved Aunt and Uncle for 15 years) but at the same time never expressed any of this motivation in their internal dialogue until it could be used as a plot device, thus not selling their foibles to this reader. The author seemed to think that in order to create dramatic tension leading to an exciting climax that she had to be miserly with the details of past traumas, to the point that the "big revelations" were actually anti-climactic, and instead what was built was frustration.

Along the same lines, there were too many oddities in structure to allow me to submerse myself in this story. In fact, this led me to experience one of the most bizarre moments I've ever had while reading a book: in a pivotal scene Rae, Krista, and I think Sonja are gathered around Aunt Judith's sick bed discussing what can be done to solve their problems, when suddenly at the end of the scene Clinton sits up in bed. What?! Apparently there was more than one bed in the room. And apparently Clinton was still asleep in his bed, or laying there for the entire conversation, or something. But that stage was never set. The characters never acted like someone else was in the room who they were leaving out of the conversation. I swear to you, if it had been a movie I'd have screamed in startlement at his sudden appearance, but reading it in reality made me burst out laughing at my shock. In addition, I was sure Sonja's age was much higher than it apparently is; something you have no evidence about except for her mannerisms and relationship with Judith and Clinton (which seem matronly) until the end of the book. It was just too odd for words to find out that she was nearer Krista's age than Judith's.

I barely finished this book, but it wasn't wholly without redeeming quality. The execution was what was lacking. Perhaps if the editing had been more disciplined this book could have reached another level.

Believe it or not, I think that many people will read this book and be delighted with it, quite possibly if you were delighted with prior Ronica Black books. There will likely be themes that speak strongly enough to some readers that they're able to fill in the gaps, and take leaps in logic along with the author. There were fun moments, gross-out moments, well-written scenes and emotional moments. But even though I generally read books for pure escapism, and thus reality would seem to not necessarily be a must, I still like a story or its characters to feel real, and in the end I didn't feel like I'd experienced anything with the characters. The coyness the author exercised with the details was unnecessary, and created a distance I could never successfully cross.

Thirty year old California Realtor Krista gets a sudden call from her relatives that she is desperately needed at their horse ranch in Arizona. She rushes to their side after not visiting for 15 years to find her beloved Aunt terminally ill and her uncle suffering the onset of dementia. The horse ranch is in ruins from years of neglect and it is up to Krista to decide how to salvage it for her relatives last days.

Into the desperate mix enters gorgeous Rae who has been burnt emotionally and is keeping romance at a distance. The attraction is palpable and when the two women come together it is intense.

The most interesting part for me was learning the large cast of characters that enter the picture as the solution to the financial problems experienced by the ranch.

Very entertaining read that is a page turner. A substantial book at almost 250 pages I did not put it down til the last issue was resolved.

Don't Miss the author's other novels including - Wild Abandon

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