In Heat Lightning, Anne Stuart continues to prove why she is the resident genius of romance novels! Her books amaze me with their complex characters and unique plots. Caleb Spencer was imprisoned for a crime that he did not commit. He has come to seek vengeance on the man responsible for this injustice. The one thing that he does not count on is his enemy's sister. Jassy Turner comes into Caleb's life and turns it upside down. Whereas Caleb emits "badness", Jassy is able to see right through his facade. She believes in him, trusts him, and eventually falls in love with him. Caleb has had very little love in his life and needs it desperately. The problem is this....what happens when your need for REVENGE and your need for LOVE conflict with one another. What happens when these two competing values are waging war within? What wins out? Can there be a happy ending? These are all questions that Stuart makes you think about early and then slowly and skillfully leads you to the answer. Pure Brilliance.
a lot of book in just a few pages
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
Tortured bad boy heroes are Anne Stuart's specialty--she does them so well. The bad boy in Heat Lightning is Caleb Spenser, the mysterious man who showed up in Turner's Landing, bought the old bordello, charmed all the ladies, and frightened and angered Jassy Turner's brother. Rumor is he's been in prison for murder. Jassy, daughter of the town's founding family, and the one everyone turns to for help, the one who fixes things, is attracted and intrigued, but he's upset her brother, and she's going to find out why, and fix it. I'm pretty sure I've read this one before, but it must have been before we moved, because it's not on my shelf. That's fine, though, because it's definitely worth a re-read. The atmosphere is lush and steamy and sets a sort of film noir mood. Caleb and Jassy are on opposite sides of a life-and-death confict, and their emotions and actions are real and intense. It's a lot of book packed into a few pages, and I find myself really wishing I'd read this back in 1992 when it first came out instead of at least a decade later--no doubt I'd have all of Anne Stuart's books on my shelves by now if I had, instead of still having a bunch to look for.
What do they feed Anne Stuart? Genius at work!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
Oh my, what a keeper! I have a shelf with nothing but Anne Stuart novels. Small wonder since each and every book she gives a haunting powerful read, that slams into you like a tidal wave. The force of her prose awes you. She leaves you breathless. She's an addiction. Stuart does more with 100 pages than most writers could do with 300. She's a brilliant writer that dances with the devil in the fire, and demands her readers follow along on the dangerous waltz. Heat Lightning is Stuart at her very very best. If you are a Stuart fan and missed this one, snap up any copy you can. Quick! If you've never read Stuart - you poor thing - you can do no better than starting with this one.In the sticky, humid tradition of the Long Hot Summer - Jassy Turner is a Southern Belle in the old tradition. Used to loud mouthed, pushy men who pat their women on the head and expect them to say fiddlie-dee, Jassy has long ago learnt to get her way by flanking maneuvers. She is a pampered rich girl, whose whole life has been tea parties, gentle manners and observing the proprieties. Oh, she faces the harsher realities of running a shelter for abused women, but that sort of ugliness has never personally touched her life. Until he came striding across the lawn. Six foot of hunk, a come-hither gleam in his pale eyes that had all the ladies of Turner's Landing ready to swoon, Jassy knew he was going to be trouble, but she had no idea just how much.Caleb Spenser came across the Turner lawn - a wolf amongst pigeons - and he was heading straight at Jassy. At the last second, he confronts her brother. Caleb has bought the old bordello, the property next to the Turner's Belle Reve and claims he is going to fix it up. Only, Jassy sees there's bad blood between her brother and this stranger. Determined to find out what, and head off any problems, she finds herself in Caleb's company, desperate for answers, which neither man seems willing to give. And she does not like the ones she is getting. Caleb's come for vengeance, his plans including taking Jassy, but neither of them is prepared for the flames they create together.Stuart paints a claustrophobic sense of the old South, that slow, stifling, itchy Falkneresque sense of people on the edge, waiting for the rain to break the drought, waiting for someone to make the wrong move setting everyone on a course of destruction. Caleb is another of Stuart's dangerous bad boys with the devil's soul and a black heart. Once again, Caleb and Jassy will draw you with their complex characters, their flaws, leave breathless by the range of emotions and passion. It just does not get any better than this. I once had someone tell me if he could just once sing a song like Gary Puckett of the Union Gap or play Classical Gas on a guitar like Mason Williams he would feel he had been touched with greatness. Me - I would just like to write a book as good as Anne Stuart.
This book is for The Long Hot Summer movie fan
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
This is the book that started me on a path of Anne Stuart addiction. Once I read it in 1992 when it was first released, I went in search of all Anne's titles. When reading this book, I feel the sultry heat of the bayou, see Caleb's bad-boy face and become Jassy. What a wonderful read!
Great Book
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 27 years ago
When I first received this book in the mail, I was disappointed because it was a Harlequin Romance, but Anne Stuart proved once again that you can't tell a book by it's publisher. Excellent reading! Caleb Spencer has the perfect amount of bad boy in him to make him interesting. I only wish I knew when the tv movie was playing on Romance Classics so I could tune in.
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