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Category: Romance
Description: Alyssa Charlton works at the art gallery and is busy writing the catalogue and bio of the artist, Marco Alvaréz, when Marco comes in. They are thunderstruck with each other. Tom, the gallery owner and an inveterate matchmaker, invites them for Saturday brunch and a swim. Marco invites Alyssa to have dinner with him. Very soon, passion flares between them, and he spends a night of love with her. When she wakes, he is gone. Hurt and upset, she hears from Tom that Marco left a note saying he had to return to Phoenix to deal with something. He'll be back the next day. But Marco does not come back. What Tom and Alyssa couldn't possibly know is that Marco, on his way back from breaking with a casual girlfriend, has been the victim of a drunk driver, who caused a serious accident. Marco has amnesia--obliterating his time with Alyssa.
eBook Publisher: DCL Publications LLC, 2008 Australia
eBookwise Release Date: September 2008

6 Reader Ratings:

Great	Good	OK	Poor

Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [261 KB]
Words: 57013
Reading time: 162-228 min.

"This book was such a sweet story of two young people who were cheated out of five years of their lives by his mother. Unfortunately, the lies she told her son, Brent Houghton, were just minor actions she would attempt. However, when she told Brent that his long-time girlfriend, Lara Cameron, was having an affair with her best friend, Ted Westwood, Brent was livid and cancelled the wedding. Nothing Lara tried would change his mind. She didn't even get to tell him she was pregnant.

After he had time to get over his madness, he wanted to talk to her. However, his mother told him that she had married Ted and moved away. Brent's personal assistant was also determined to keep Brent for her and refused to pass personal mail to him when Lara's attorney wrote to tell him he had a son. Four years and eight months later, when he had a conversation with her best friend and attorney, he found out that she was still living in Ocean Breeze, Florida and had not married Ted.

The chemistry between Lara and Brent was instantaneous and explosive. Ms. Kate Hofman has written sensual scenarios which should come with high-powered fans. The couple was still in love after all this time. Even though they agreed to marry for the sake of their son, Chris, the two were, obviously seriously attracted to each other. Ms. Hofman has created her main characters to be so polite that it bordered on unbelievable. Even the son's manner of talking to them was super sticky sweet. The manner of referring to each other and their family was always ?my darling,? ?my love,? and such. That was definitely not bad, but unique.

The couple's continued stressful problems were well-developed by the author. The problems surfaced often and quickly. However, no matter how difficult the crisis, they were all polite at all times. And I was certainly not expecting the ending to be as it was. It was quite unencumbered with problems at the end. It's a great book to make you feel good about life. I recommend it to all who love happily ever after."--Brenda Talley, The Romance Studio

"Brent and Lara's relationship and upcoming marriage seem assured, until by a confluence of circumstances compounded by misunderstanding Brent returns from an out-of-town business trip to discover Lara's childhood friend sleeping in their bed. He immediately assumes that Lara had been intimate with the man. Refusing to listen to her protestations of innocence, Brent walks out on her, unaware that she is pregnant with his child. Brent's mother has always despised Lara and orchestrated doubts in Brent's mind to which he fell prey. Years later he comes to his senses, and upon locating Lara discovers his son Christopher, now 4.

Author Kate Hofman specializes in the romance of misunderstandings, writing characters whose emotions and vulnerability run deep. The path of true love never runs smooth for her hero and heroine. They must always struggle through numerous tribulations to discover each other and to maintain a relationship. Ms. Hofman is skillful at keeping readers believing in the lives of her protagonists and even events that may seem far-fetched in the hands of other writers are believable and realistic in her novels. This prolific writer is a joy to read, and Brent and Lara's story continues in the next novel, HIDDEN DESIRE. A FIRE BURNS DEEP is another gem in the necklace of wonderful Kate Hofman stories and a fine introduction to her writing for those who are new to her stories.

Rating: 5 Pixies"--Frost, www.darkangelreviews.com

His velvet tongue caressed the inside of her mouth as he deepened the kiss, doing a little dance with her tongue before delving deeper to find her sweetness. At that moment she began to feel the raw sexual energy he exuded, and she wanted more, so much more. Tightening her arms about his neck, she sighed into his mouth as her body began to flower for him with the passionate abandon he could make her feel with just a kiss.

When he lifted his mouth from hers so that they could both breathe, she said softly, "Please, Marco? I want--"

"So do I, mi amor." His voice was indistinct against her lips, as he began to kiss her again with an almost savage intensity that made stormy sensations flare through his entire body--and hers, he felt sure.

He could not have said how long he had been kissing her, when he felt an overwhelming need to lie on her bed with her held close. Quickly he toed off his loafers, leaving him barefoot. He rose with her in his arms, moving slowly to the rear of the studio, where a queen-size bed was hidden behind a delicate Japanese screen--probably one of the keepsakes she had brought back from her parents' house in Savannah.

He smiled at his thoughts, realizing he was trying to divert his attention from the woman in his arms in an attempt to slow him down a little. Por Dios, he needed slowing down. Bending forward with her in his arms, he placed her gently against the pillows, seating himself on the edge of the bed.

"You're wearing far too many clothes for someone lying in bed," he said gently, pulling her back into his arms to give him access to the back zipper of her dress. He slowly slid the zipper down, pulling the thin straps off her shoulders, down her arms, watching with rapt attention as the bodice came down, for the first time giving him an unimpeded view of her small, round breasts. Exquisite.

He leaned her back against her pillows, his strong, well-shaped hands caressing her breasts. He was deeply excited when he felt them fit his palms wonderfully. She was made for me.

"Alyssa," he moaned, leaning toward her for another hungry, mind-blowing kiss.

"Marco, you're wearing too many clothes. I can't even find a single area of bare skin," she complained gently.

He smiled. She was enchanting. And he was quite willing to curtail the preliminaries and get started on the main event. Ah, sí, mi mujer. He realized she wasn't technically his woman yet, but she soon would be. Sí.

He lifted her in one strong arm, stripping the dress off her, letting it fall beside the bed. All she was now wearing was a little string bikini in a soft blue. He began to hook his thumbs under the thin elastic bands on the sides, when Alyssa protested.

"Marco, please let me undress you a little bit?"

"Of course, mi amor. What did you have in mind?"

"Well--the turtleneck?"

He smiled, taking his hands from her little bikini, stripping the thin silk sweater off in one quick, fluid movement. It landed on top of her dress.

"Anything else you want removed?" he teased.

"Your ... t-trousers, Marco? Then we'll be even."

"Ah, I see. You want us to be equals in everything."

"Definitely when it comes to undressing." He was amused to hear her soft voice suddenly decisive. She was gentle, but she was no walk-over, and he was glad about that. He rose quickly, undoing his belt and the clasp at the top of his trousers, sliding the zipper down with agonizing slowness.

"Marco," she objected. "If you're planning to do a slow strip-tease, come here, and I'll help you get that zipper down."

He laughed. She was adorable. He hurriedly got his zipper down, stripping down his trousers, kicking them away.

She gasped at the sight of his tanned perfection: wide shoulders, deep chest with a sprinkling of black body-hair arrowing down in a narrow line, graceful rib-cage, superbly muscled midriff and flat abdomen.

Her mouth went dry when she saw he was wearing only a black silk bikini, a heavy bulge showing he was exceptionally well endowed, and deeply turned on.

He gestured to her. "Go on. Take it off. You know you want to." His voice was erotically husky. He knelt one knee on the bed, gesturing invitingly.

Alyssa reached up, putting her thumbs under the sides of the flimsy garment, beginning to move it down, only to realize that it was hung up on that quite astonishing bulge. Frowning with concentration, she gently slipped her hand inside the bikini, covering his penis--his hard, heavy penis that thickened even more the moment she touched him. Now she could safely remove the bikini without hurting him. This she did, and found it impossible to remove her hand from him.

Marco bent over her for a kiss, managing at the same time to remove her bikini without making her lose her grip on his erection. After some deeply satisfying moments, he gently removed Alyssa's hand from him, quickly climbing over her, lying down beside her. He was delighted when she hastened to take hold of his penis again, and raised himself on one elbow so that he could begin to kiss all of her. Bending low over her breasts, he teased one perfect dusky pink tip with his tongue, licking and laving before taking the nipple into his mouth and suckling with increasing passion. He felt her body arch up, melting into him. Delighted to find her so responsive, he began to tease the other breast with his fingers, then switching sides.

"I would ask you to touch me, but you're already doing that," Marco said softly. "Just do whatever you want, mi amor."

Alyssa's eyes were darker violet than he had ever seen them. Just as he had thought. The more emotion she felt, the darker her eyes. "You mean you want me to do ... more?"