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The Elusive Flame
653 pages
A sweeping, old-school high-seas romance where a marriage of convenience gives way to tempestuous passion.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stepping back into the golden age of historical romance, where the emotions are as grand and turbulent as the ocean voyage it features. The narrative unfolds at a steady, deliberate pace, allowing the lush, slightly formal prose to paint a vivid picture of nineteenth-century London and the perilous Atlantic crossing. It wraps the reader in a tempestuous, swoony atmosphere, balancing the heroine's desperate vulnerability with the hero's rugged, protective charm. The emotional journey from childhood friends to a marriage of convenience, and finally to a deeply passionate love, is rendered with earnest melodrama. It is a perfect escape for readers who long for the sweeping, unabashedly romantic sagas of classic historical fiction, complete with dashing captains and resilient artists.
- Mood
- adventurous
- swoony
- tempestuous
- nostalgic
- Tone
- romantic
- earnest
- melodramatic
- sweeping
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- marriage of convenience · friends to lovers · perilous journeys · rekindled affection · overcoming destitution
- The writing
- Lush, descriptive, and slightly formal, leaning into the grand, sweeping language characteristic of classic historical romance.
- The arc
- Moves from desperate vulnerability and platonic reliance to a tempestuous, deeply felt romantic awakening.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave old-school, sweeping historical romances with dashing sea captains, damsels in distress, and slow-burn marriages of convenience.
Content notes
- financial ruin
- peril at sea
- attempted assault
About the book
The extraordinary Birmingham Family Saga continues in The Elusive Flame -- it commences in The Flame and the Flower and concludes in A Season Beyond a Kiss. (All Kathleen E. Woodiwiss titles are available from PerfectBound.)A sweeping tale of passion, romance and adventure, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss' groundbreaking classic The Flame and the Flower remains as beloved today as when it first appeared in print. Now, at long last, the story that has enchanted the world for decades continues.The Elusive FlameA woman in desperate straits... A fearless man...A marriage of convenience on turbulent waters...Cerynise Kendall has been left destitute and in dire need following the death of her doting patron and protectress.A brilliant young artist tossed from her home with only theclothes on her back, Cerynise must now turn to a childhoodcompanion for assistance-the dashing sea captain BeauregardBirmingham-and beg him to provide her with passage to theCarolinas. She seeks a new home and a new life across the waters,but all depends upon the kindness of a charming adventurerwho was once the object of her youthful infatuation.Beneath Birmingham's rugged exterior beats a heart as large and wild as the Atlantic, and Beau readily agrees to aid Cerynise--even offering her his name in marriage, albeit temporarily, to protect his longtime friend from scandal. But perilous secrets, determined enemies and tempests of the sea and soul threaten their future and safe passage even as bonds of camaraderie are miraculously reforged as bonds of desire... and affection becomes passion and love.The long-awaited sequel to one of the most cherished love stories of our time!
Description from Open Library.
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