4-1/2 stars rounded up. This was a tense action filled story that still managed to focus pretty closely on the main couple. As usual with AS the hero was pretty Gamma. He was not nice to the heroine much of the time. Although of course he was trying to protect her. She was naïve when she first met him but 5 years later when they meet again she has toughened up. She tried to fight back at least. Still if you're looking for a heroine who wins over the hero look elsewhere. ( )

While working on a research project in Italy, Evangeline Morrissey is swept off of her feet by James Bishop. She knows nothing about him except that they are very good in bed, but she agrees to marry him anyway. Before their first night as a married couple is over, he disappears with her diamond stud earrings worth several thousand dollars. Believing that the wedding wasn't real and that she fell victim of a con artist, Evangeline stumbles back home to Wisconsin to try and get over her misadventures in Italy. Five years later, James pops into her life again as she is returning to the United States from Canada where she was continuing her research. When he tells her that their wedding was real and that her life is in danger, she doesn't believe him until they are attacked by the same border crossing guard who gave her trouble as she reentered the US. From that point on, she reluctantly trusts him to protect her as they make their way to what he claims is his headquarters in New Orleans.
Consumed by Fire continues Stuart's highly acclaimed "Ice" series. James is a member of the group called the "Committee," which is the basis for that series. This story is pure romantic suspense with all of the elements that fans of that genre look for. My only complaint is that Evangeline seems a little too willing to overlook James' criminal tendencies through much of the story. Overall, however, this is a very quick and enjoyable read. ( )

3.3 stars

No one and I mean no one, writes assholes better than Anne Stuart. I hate myself for loving them and turning me into a damn cliche but they "ultimately have heart!", I say. No excuse, but there it is.

The hero..anti-hero...asshole from this story crosses over the line so many times I lost count and in the beginning-ish, he says a comment about rape that would normally have me putting the book down and not finishing if Stuart didn't already have my trust as a reader, I know how her assholes work and knew what was truly going on.....or maybe Stuart has me brainwashed and scared to leave her. I don't know. I just know I loved to hate James Bishop, asshole extraordinaire.
*Reading other books by other authors and what others consider assholes, let me clarify something, this asshole is literate, not physically abusive (does kick the heroine at one point), and not gorilla in his possessiveness. I guess I just want to say he is a grown-up asshole. There is no doubt, he's an asshole and you're going to have find these type of men redeemable in order to like this story, assholes aren't for everyone, as it should be.

The story itself started off incredible, then started to slow down with repetitiveness of running from danger and the asshole wanting our heroine only to push her away again and again.

I don't know what to tell you all, I'm a Stuart addict and this story's asshole was so damn easy to hate/love. Also, their first sex scene in the shower is getting stored in the ol' memory banks for future considerations.

(Yes, I realize this isn't even a review but me trying to justify or talk through hate/loving the lead male character. But, you guys, I buried the lead,
he gave her a guard dog
I never had a chance) ( )

*Preface: allow me to say that I usually DO NOT like to read this type of romance with so much emphasis on sex however, this was such a great plot with two unlikely characters that I could not put the book down. *

SENSUALITY RATING: YES, Profanity; YES, very DESCRIPTIVE sexual encounters

GENRE: Contemporary Romance; Suspense, Steamy

SETTING: Italy, Canada, road to New Orleans.

CENTRAL FEMALE CHARACTER: Evangeline Morrissey – PhD; researcher; oblivious; average looks but beautiful long legs.

CENTRAL MALE CHARACTER: James Bishop – Goes by many names with many passports; secretive and dangerous; looks and built like a Grecian god.

SYNOPSIS: He is an Agent of the most dangerous kind. She is a researcher in Medieval Religious Architecture. She is suspected of being a witness to a murder and he takes a most unusual way to find out what she might know. A five-year separation leads to danger, murder and a road trip.

WHAT I LIKED: Her obsession with him was one of a few obsessions in the plot.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE: Using the words God and Jesus should never ever appear in any romance novel.

OVERALL RATING: (5) stars because two totally and completely “unlikely” characters get together and a protective dog is included in the mix. Suspenseful to the max. ( )