Jeanne Barrack Reviews

Added March 11, 2005

Hearthhome Book 1: Silver Fire

Author: Jeanne Barrack
Publisher: Loose-Id, LLC
Available At: www.loose-id.net
Publishing Date: Available Now
Genre: Fantasy: Erotic
Format: Ebook download in PDF/HTML/LIT
Price: $5.99
ISBN: 1-59632-056-7
Author Email/Website: www.jeannebarrack.com
Reviewer: Jeanine Berry
Rating: 8.5 Gargoyles

Silver Fire is a book that truly lives up to its name, a book that shimmers with the magical fires of fantasy and romance. Author Jeanne Barrack has created a believable alternate world where magic really exists and love can literally become visible as silver fire.

Although Mirelle is really from a parallel world called Hearthome, she doesn't know it. Kidnapped as a child and taken to Earth, she has no idea why a mysterious stranger is suddenly appearing in her dreams at night. Yet each night the dream grows stronger and the stranger calls for her to come to him.

At last, they touch in the dream and Mirelle discovers that the handsome, golden-haired man who has called her into his world is Jareth set Morath, a wizard and her soul mate. Still believing that this is a dream, Mirelle allows Jareth to make love to her and is astounded when a magical fire forms in the air as a result of their lovemaking. As they climax, the fire falls to earth, coating them in a glowing dust.

Jareth explains that this dust is called lanbeth and it is the source of the energy that the wizards of Hearthome use to create their magic. As usual in fantasy novels, there's a catch-lanbeth can only be created by the lovemaking of a princess and a royal mage. Mirelle is the long lost daughter of a murdered king and queen and Jareth is a royal mage.

Jareth's first and most urgent task is to convince Mirelle to stay on Hearthome once she realizes this isn't a dream. He needs to make love to his soul mate to create the energy that fuels his magic, and without her, he will die. But while Mirelle is powerfully attracted to this charming mage, she has no intention of staying on Hearthome. However, before she knows what's happening, she is swept up into the tumultuous events surrounding Jareth and she soon becomes determined to solve the mystery of who is attempting to gain control of all of the magic of Hearthome.

As Jareth and Mirelle work together to unravel the web of evil that threatens to engulf their world, they fall ever more deeply in love. Mirelle discovers that Jareth is indeed her soul mate. Their love making produces more and more highly refined lanbeth until a silver fire falls from the sky when they unite. Together they must harness the power of their love to expose the evil eating at the heart of their world.

The combination of royal mage and modern-day woman turned princess made for an interesting match. Jareth is a gorgeous alpha male, but Mirelle manages to hold her own and come up with some sharp insights into the workings of her new world. The sex scenes between them sizzle, and not just with the lanbeth. Silver Fire delivers the goods as an erotica, but it also upholds its promise as a fantasy novel. The hero and heroine are plunged into the middle of a convoluted intrigue and must embark on a quest to find the answers, with the aid of some enchanting creatures. Several unexpected plot twists keep the reader glued to the page.

Silver Fire is the first book of a series, and it turns out that the villain has more than one trick up his sleeve. If you like your stories to come to a neat and final conclusion, you may be disappointed in the ending. How Jareth and Mirelle finally triumph is left for the second novel, yet to come. Yet, given the promise of this first novel, few readers will be able to resist the second.

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