The Window Seat on a Rainy Day

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Of all the brothers, the seventh one, Koranen, has the biggest problem. He, literally, burns anyone her touches with passion. Needless to say, that means he has one heck of a boring social life. But he feels his time has finally come. His six older brothers are married. His younger brother already knows who his mate will be. It is now just a matter of time before his destined bride shows up in this, the seventh book of the Sons of Destiny Series, The Flame.

Koranen has assumed that it will be someone who can control water that will be his destined bride. Therefore, when he meets the icy Danau, it never occurs to him that water and ice are one and the same. Instead, he tries to romance the other three Aquamancers that have come to the island to repair and study the island's desalinator. He is just relieved he doesn't need to waste his time with such a stick in the mud as Danau.

But soon, he starts to realize that there is more beneath the surface than just ice. He starts to see a kindred soul who has had to shun physical contact as much as he has. He can't touch because he will burn; she can touch because she will freeze. Now, what would happen if they touched each other? Will it balance out?

There are problems with this book. For one, you get a WAY too brief look at a very disturbing step in Kelly's quest to become queen. Rydan would have to put all his trust in Kelly and her schemes and put his beloved wife in danger. But do we ever see anyone saying, "Wow, I feel for you. That would be hard to do." Nope. Never once. Instead, everyone acts like he is being a selfish jerk for not wanting to kill his own beloved wife. Wait, and we are supposed to believe these are romance novels? Killings of beloved wives and no sympathy or concern is romantic? Sorry, not in my book.

The other major problem is that the author never seems to be able to balance Koranen's virginity (forced by his powers) with immaturity. You can be a virgin and still be mature. I imagine that it may be hard for a romance author to keep a character's masculinity intact and make the character a virgin, but I have seen author's do it quite successfully. Two that come to mind are Gabaldon and Kurland. If you can't do it, don't try to. Unfortunately, the author tries to and the results are that Koranen comes off as a horny 16 year old rather than a mature man dealing with a legitimate concern. For me, this took a lot away from my enjoyment of the story.

Finally, the whole Kelly quest to be Queen bit is just downright annoying. I think it is almost made worse by the fact that when reading the books in order, you get a break from it in the sixth book because Rydan and Rora are rarely interacting with Kelly. But this book, she is back in full force and as obnoxious as ever as she tries to claim the right of queen to an island she has no right to. I could deal with her trying to claim her title and all that; I could even deal with the fact that she really has no right to it but is doing it anyway. What throws it over the edge is her feeling of entitlement and the belief that everyone should share it with her just because she wants to be the queen. She doesn't even want to share the throne with her husband. What is up with that? It is as though the author wants it both ways. She wants strong Alpha male heroes who are totally submissive to Queen Kelly. Sorry, one or the other, but the attempt at both ways stretches the believabilty to unparalleled heights. At this point, you have read the best of the books and I wouldn't blame you for throwing in the towel! :)