Fever: Amazon.ca: Katherine Sutcliffe: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Sutcliffe (Notorious) provides plenty of plot twists but little chemistry in this predictable romance, set in antebellum Louisiana. Juliette Brussard is an orphaned heiress who returns home after years in France only to discover that she's at the mercy of her godfather, Max Hollinsworth, and his lascivious son Tylor. Although Max hopes to make Juliette his daughter-in-law, and thus gain control of her long-abandoned plantation, Belle Jarod, she has eyes only for his handsome overseer, Chantz Boudreaux. Chantz is respected for his farming skills, but he is socially shunned because of his history as a "mud dauber," one of the poor whites who eke out a living in the bayou. Despite Juliette and Chantz's protestations of desire for one another, they are repeatedly torn apart; when societal strictures don't intervene, a gator attack does. Chantz and Juliette eventually unite, but as if poverty and alligators aren't enough, they must also overcome an assault by Tylor and the spread of yellow fever. Sutcliffe loads her story with period detail, but the novel's depiction of slavery complete with mammies, clichd dialect and a miscegenation subplot will disconcert the modern reader. Ultimately, despite the numerous obstacles tossed at Chantz and Juliette, it's their essential blandness that is insurmountable.

Romantic Times Magazine

****1/2 Top Pick! "The searing power of the love story and the sheer intensity of emotion in Ms. Sutcliffe's writing are awe inspiring...A "keeper"...."

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars WoW! Fever is HOT!, May 24 2004

By	Damaris Cotto (tampa, fl United States) - See all my reviews

This has been one of the few books I have read and read until it was over. KS has created an awesome story, and the settings throughout the book are spectacular. I literally felt as though I was there in the bayou. Plus, I always love a romance novel that gives great sexual tension between the principal characters, and this one has plenty of it, even towards the end of the book. I recommend this to anyone with a free day and night because you will finish it in one day. I did it in a day and a half because I fell asleep with the book. Oh well...

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1.0 out of 5 stars Fever will leave readers lukewarm, Jan 12 2003

By A Customer

I was so disappointed in this novel that I couldn't even finish it. I'm disappointed because I usually like Sutcliffe's work. Fever is simply too cliche and ridiculous. Sutcliffe doesn't present any reason why Juliette should fall in love with Chantz. They have a handful of conversations and all the sudden she'll do anything for him. This is the least of the novel's problems, however. Are readers really supposed to believe that Juliette would have such an open-minded, 21st century, politically correct viewpoint of slaves? Come-on! I can accept that she would be against slavery, but not to the extent that she berates her wealthy, white neighbor for not marrying his quadroon, slave mistress. Is she daft? Interracial marraige was against the law! Also, why in the world would Chantz refuse to marry Juliette because he feels he's being used? Hello? How is he being used when he would be getting exactly what he wants (Juliette and a nice piece of property)? What is SHE getting out of it? A good overseer? If she was really into using she would have done something smarter like marry a wealthy man to restore her plantation. However, realism is about as present in this novel as a science fiction book. It was just too stupid to finish.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Reminiscent of Gone With the Wind, Feb 16 2002

By	B. S. Andrews "barbiesa" (Toledo, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The vivid descriptions and character details of this book kept me glued to the pages for three hours...when I reached the end with real tears in my eyes. Ms. Sutcliffe took the time to develop this book as few other historical authors do. I could actually feel the frustration of living in a time when it was forbidden for slaves to learn to read and people could be hung for doing it. I liked the heroine's resilience and determination to rebuild her plantation no matter what it took, even if her beloved rejected her along with everyone else. Kind of a like a nice Scarlett O'Hara.

Unfortunately, there are several inconsistencies and holes in the plot. For example, the plantation--Belle Jarod--had come from her father, Jack Broussard, yet bore the name of Juliette's mother, Maureen Jarod. One is led to believe in the beginning that Maureen was nothing but a prostitute who destroyed her husband's life with her affairs with other men. Then we find that she befriended slaves and worked side by side with them to make the plantation successful. We know for certain that she had one affair--with her husband's best friend--but that is supposedly because her husband neglected her because of his responsibilities on the plantation. So I'm confused. DID she have a lot of affairs? WAS she a prostitute? Or was that all blown out of proportion?

Maybe I read the book too quickly, but I am really fuzzy on how the house burned down the same day Jack found Maureen with his best friend. Jack must have done it, but since Maureen died in the fire, wouldn't that be murder? Such a thing is never suggested. And there are other fuzzy parts. Like how did Juliette end up in the river that day when Chance saved her? It didn't appear to be suicide. And when the five hooded monsters came to Belle Jarod and the black woman died trying to protect Juliette, what exactly did they do? Was it so horrible the author is trying to protect our sensibilities? More fuzzy parts and questions. And Tylor was a caricature of a villain. He didn't have one speck of good in him, so it was too easy to hate him. Ms. Sutcliffe could have given him a bit more depth.

But both Juliette and Chantz are well-drawn characters who are not easily forgotten. Some of the details may be unclear, but it IS clear that I was hooked from the first page, and by the middle of the story, even the thought of eating lunch could not draw me away from it. "Fever" is a much deeper, darker story than I am used to reading, and it left me reeling with strong emotions. I recommend it with these words of warning: don't ask too many questions and don't start reading it if you have a big project to finish.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars HOT & STEAMY TALE
I read this right after finishing "Darkling I Listen", a 5 star triumph. I couldn't put "Fever" down, so intense and vivid it is. Read more

Published on Nov 13 2001 by lethe2

5.0 out of 5 stars FEVER LEFT ME HOT
This was my second Sutcliffe novel (Notorious being the first)and I have to say that this book blew me away! From the first page til the last I was simply captivated. Read more

Published on Sep 20 2001

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, old-fashioned plantation tale.
Juliette Broussard grew up in a French convent. Her father sent her away when her resemblance to her wild mother became too acute. Read more

Published on Jul 28 2001 by Affaire de Coeur

2.0 out of 5 stars Say it isn't so!
Will somebody please reassure me that Katherine Sutcliffe, writer of "Notorious" and "Jezebel" did not write this steamy, schlockey, silly southern soap opera?

Published on Jul 22 2001 by D. E Anne mc Kenna