Kinsale, Laura - Seize the Fire
Sun, Oct. 9th, 2005 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterWow, I didn't even know this Kinsale existed until I saw it in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rachelmanija's bag.
It's also very interesting, because I can see bits and pieces of later Kinsale books in this one. The heroine is Olympia St. Leger, the princess of the very small, fictional European country Oriens; she has just found this out and her country wants her back. Of course, there are evil uncles and plotters in the works, and so, she tries to get naval hero Sheridan Drake to protect her. Sheridan is, of course, much more a rogue than a hero, and accepts her proposal with intent of stealing her jewelry. He's also extremely tortured underneath as well (of course), but luckily, he has a sense of humor. Well, at least more than most romance heroes.
From then on, we get Kinsale's trademark absolutely on crack plotting: several ocean voyages, one shipwreck on a desert island (actually technically not a desert island, but still an abandoned island) complete with survival story, encounters with sultans (almost like a sheik, but not), potential mutinies, and a revolution. One would think being stranded on a desert island would be enough plot for a romance novel, but I feel I am not really spoiling anything, as it's only half the book!
So if you're a plot person, you should probably avoid this, unless you want to see just how much stuff Kinsale can pile on.
However, I really liked the characters. I read a few reviews on Amazon, and of course I'm in the minority, since I actually liked Olympia from the start. She's described as plump and really very mousy; she's quiet and is never quite sure when people are joking or not, and she is in no way spunky or spirited, which is why I like her. She says she doesn't have much courage, but I think she is a nice person, and she's one of the rare romance heroines who I would actually want to be friends with. Also, I like that she is described as plump and that Sheridan likes this as well.
Everyone probably likes Sheridan because of the angst; I, however, like Sheridan because of his rogue-ish-ness and his sense of humor, and for the way he falls rather quickly for Olympia.
Another startling bit for a romance is that Sheridan and Olympia genuinely seem to like each other. One would think that this wouldn't be rare in a romance, but it really is. I don't feel like they're only getting together because of the incredible lust between the two, unlike most romances, and even when there are stupid misunderstandings, they aren't actually the main mechanism for keeping the characters apart, which is why I suspect Kinsale had to throw in all the crazy plot. And the one time Olympia decides for sure that she does hate Sheridan, I feel she has a pretty good reason to. And, thank heavens, neither characeter clings to the one shred of whatnot that feeds resentment or who knows what else just so that there is angst and conflict galore.
And I very much like that they fall in love early on. I'm getting rather sick of romances in which the realization of being in love is at the very end of the book, even though I realize that that's probably the definition of a romance. I like watching the relationship develop after people have declared that they're in love with each other, I like seeing them have to work through obstacles Granted, Olympia and Sheridan's obstacles are about a thousand times more insane than other people's, but the principle is still there.
I shall repeat my liking of Olympia here; she isn't stupid. She's a little naive, and she knows this, but she's not one of those heroines who is constantly sure of herself and goes in to right the world of all wrongs while also being beautiful and loved by everyone. Or hated by everyone. Olympia feels more like a wallflower character, and I like her for it. And I think under all her fright, she's very determined about certain things.
Oh, also, I like that there's actually sex ed so that while Olympia starts out as your standard virginal heroine, Sheridan teaches her (and not with stupid things like the Kama Sutra... nothing against the Kama Sutra, just how it's used in romances, ugh) about sex and body parts and etc. so she is educated.
Anyhow, most of all, I just liked the characters a great deal, so I was willing to stick with them through the desert islands and sultans and whatnot. Will be hunting for this in used bookstores now.
Links:
-gwyneira's review
rachelmanija's bag. It's also very interesting, because I can see bits and pieces of later Kinsale books in this one. The heroine is Olympia St. Leger, the princess of the very small, fictional European country Oriens; she has just found this out and her country wants her back. Of course, there are evil uncles and plotters in the works, and so, she tries to get naval hero Sheridan Drake to protect her. Sheridan is, of course, much more a rogue than a hero, and accepts her proposal with intent of stealing her jewelry. He's also extremely tortured underneath as well (of course), but luckily, he has a sense of humor. Well, at least more than most romance heroes.
From then on, we get Kinsale's trademark absolutely on crack plotting: several ocean voyages, one shipwreck on a desert island (actually technically not a desert island, but still an abandoned island) complete with survival story, encounters with sultans (almost like a sheik, but not), potential mutinies, and a revolution. One would think being stranded on a desert island would be enough plot for a romance novel, but I feel I am not really spoiling anything, as it's only half the book!
So if you're a plot person, you should probably avoid this, unless you want to see just how much stuff Kinsale can pile on.
However, I really liked the characters. I read a few reviews on Amazon, and of course I'm in the minority, since I actually liked Olympia from the start. She's described as plump and really very mousy; she's quiet and is never quite sure when people are joking or not, and she is in no way spunky or spirited, which is why I like her. She says she doesn't have much courage, but I think she is a nice person, and she's one of the rare romance heroines who I would actually want to be friends with. Also, I like that she is described as plump and that Sheridan likes this as well.
Everyone probably likes Sheridan because of the angst; I, however, like Sheridan because of his rogue-ish-ness and his sense of humor, and for the way he falls rather quickly for Olympia.
Another startling bit for a romance is that Sheridan and Olympia genuinely seem to like each other. One would think that this wouldn't be rare in a romance, but it really is. I don't feel like they're only getting together because of the incredible lust between the two, unlike most romances, and even when there are stupid misunderstandings, they aren't actually the main mechanism for keeping the characters apart, which is why I suspect Kinsale had to throw in all the crazy plot. And the one time Olympia decides for sure that she does hate Sheridan, I feel she has a pretty good reason to. And, thank heavens, neither characeter clings to the one shred of whatnot that feeds resentment or who knows what else just so that there is angst and conflict galore.
And I very much like that they fall in love early on. I'm getting rather sick of romances in which the realization of being in love is at the very end of the book, even though I realize that that's probably the definition of a romance. I like watching the relationship develop after people have declared that they're in love with each other, I like seeing them have to work through obstacles Granted, Olympia and Sheridan's obstacles are about a thousand times more insane than other people's, but the principle is still there.
I shall repeat my liking of Olympia here; she isn't stupid. She's a little naive, and she knows this, but she's not one of those heroines who is constantly sure of herself and goes in to right the world of all wrongs while also being beautiful and loved by everyone. Or hated by everyone. Olympia feels more like a wallflower character, and I like her for it. And I think under all her fright, she's very determined about certain things.
Oh, also, I like that there's actually sex ed so that while Olympia starts out as your standard virginal heroine, Sheridan teaches her (and not with stupid things like the Kama Sutra... nothing against the Kama Sutra, just how it's used in romances, ugh) about sex and body parts and etc. so she is educated.
Anyhow, most of all, I just liked the characters a great deal, so I was willing to stick with them through the desert islands and sultans and whatnot. Will be hunting for this in used bookstores now.
Links:
-
gwyneira's review
(no subject)
Mon, Oct. 10th, 2005 02:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Oct. 10th, 2005 04:16 pm (UTC)