"A Perfect Paranormal Historical!"
NIGHT FIRE is an excellent vampire tale woven through the
historic period of the French Revolution. It delivers a
fabulous story of intrigue, passion, tragedy, and rebirth
all in the guise of a female vampire seeking penance for
her dark ways and avenging the loss of her family. The book opens up, it is night time and mist covers the
way to the gate of Simone de la Fer's family home where
she discovers her old nursemaid who tells her that the
family that once rejected her is now slaughtered in the
name of the Revolution. Anger consumes her and she exacts
her revenge upon the men that remain behind as the
creature she has become... a vampire. Simone de la Fer, a vampire, not of her own choosing, but
as such finds she has great strength, speed, and night
vision. Her heart still yearns to be free of this curse as
she can shed no tears nor expose herself to the blessed
light of day. Determined to save her soul and others she
risks walking into a church and bearing her sins to Pere
Dumont. It is he that gives her the idea to go out and try
to save those innocents, which evil men wish to kill. And
if she is lucky, in the process find the one responsible
for issuing the order for her aristocratic family's death. Meanwhile, back in England Michael Corday, renowned and
lethal spy is being given orders to go to France and
determine who is killing their agents. No sooner does he
arrive on shore under cover of night than he witnesses
people being smuggled out of the country by a small dark
covered figure of remarkable strength and speed. Curious
he helps out the unknown person when they come under
attack by officers of the Republic. Corday figures he
might benefit from one so cunning and possibly of fair
knowledge of Paris, his final destination. An unusual partnership is formed on a very fine line of
trust, as each has become masters of deceiving people on
their own terms. It is through their relationship where
Simone and Corday learn of the pros and cons their
arrogance can bring when used to complete their mission.
For it has been in this state of feeling indestructible
that both have lead very lonely lives. Slowly the walls are torn down between Simone and Corday.
He discovers her true identity under the dark charade as
La Flemme; as does she start to find who the real Michael
Corday is. And in their discovery of each other a glimmer
of hope takes seed. But will it be enough to survive the
Revolution and their mission? Or will it only make them
too vulnerable and ultimately lead to their own death? The enemy is not so blind or far behind, as Karen Harbaugh
cleverly creates two men who are officers of the Committee
of Public Safety. Du Maurier is a proud man of the
Republic determined to see France succeed and his cohort
Herve' who is quiet but in a suspicious sort of way.
Whereas du Maurier is an open book about his enthusiasm to
catch the agent and La Flemme, the person behind all the
escaping prisoners, Herve's silence and steady
observations make you wonder if you shouldn't be watching
him more closely. I found these secondary characters
really facilitated the intrigue of this book. I truly enjoyed reading about a female vampire with such
great character and strength in such a difficult era; that
her equal would be a man who dealt in death and held many
secrets as a spy for England. The fact that she stood up
to him and visa versa... that neither shriveled away in
self-
pity when the other was right... was refreshing. These two
were definitely compatible characters. And of course, what paranormal romance review would be
complete without mentioning the very sensual and very
exciting loves scenes that Karen Harbaugh put together.
You will not be left unsatisfied. As a matter of fact I
found they left me quite breathless. : ) This is an excellent historical vampire novel. I believe
that people who love the paranormal genre will definitely
enjoy Karen Harbaugh's Night Fires! And those of you that
tend to lean toward historical romances might want to give
this a try, too, as she has mastered a perfect blend of
the history, romance, intrigue and of course, the
paranormal. Mindy Lobaugh
Reviewed by Mindy Lobaugh
Posted June 24, 2003
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