Harlequin Presents #1735: Dark Fire

The story line is notorious. The groom's best friend tries to snatch the bride away from the groom days before the wedding. The bride and the groom, Aura and Luke, are really a very lovable couple. Flint, on the other hand, is brutal for his predatory nature. He is out to save Luke from a self serving woman. But what Flint really wants is Aura for himself. And finally, when Aura and Luke's relationship ends disastrously, Flint walks away from Aura without remorse. The story should end there. But following the high tradition of romance novels, Robyn Donald tries to patch things up between Flint and Aura which takes a plot of its own. The story was going very well until the unfortunate plot twist. The latter part of the story is not so convincing as the earlier one. I gave it four stars.

It is certainly a sit up and read story. The groom's close friend and the best man in the upcoming wedding steals the bride right from under his nose. I thought of Flint as an anti-hero for letting his friend Luke down, and then leaving beautiful Aura gaping after him, albeit in distress. Fuelled by unrelenting determination, Flint is remorseless for his actions. The seething sexual charge between Flint and Aura is supported by hard hitting dialogues. But as all good things come to an end, so does this most sauciest episode of the story. Henceforth, Robyn Donald launches another story, that of the reconciliation between Flint and Aura which takes place in another place at another time. And by the way, despite sexy interludes, this addendum to the earlier episode, is totally forgettable. To really see Robyn Donald excell at writing romance novels, I would recommend readers to get her book The Bride at Whangatapu. Dark Fire falls short of that elusive five star mark. I settled for four stars.