"the ultimate sacrifice for the man she loves and the child she bore him"

EMERALD HEAT is the story of Liliana Phillips Wolfe, who makes the ultimate sacrifice for the man she loves and the child she bore him. Four years earlier, Lily and her husband Jim Wolfe were in a plane crash; each was told the other had died in the crash. In reality, Liliana's psychotic grandfather, the ruler of the small South American Country of San Torreon, had arranged for the plane to crash in the hopes that Jim would be killed -- never really taking into account that Lily might have died too. Duh! Then Lily and Jim meet accidentally. In order to protect Jim from her grandfather's hatred of him and his common bloodline, she accuses Jim of almost killing her and abandoning her. Jim is confused to say the least and Lily's attitude is disheartening. Lily's grandfather, Don Gregory Phillips, feels that in order to perpetuate the perfect future he will marry his granddaughter to the man of his choosing. The man he picks is just as psychotic and sadistic as he is. He holds Lily and Jim's three-year-old son Arlen as a hostage to keep her in line.

The book is the story in how Lily plots to free her son and send him to Jim. Knowing that she will pay the ultimate price, she feels no sacrifice is too great. I personally couldn't get past a South American dictator named Gregory Phillips. I know it is a minor point but it set the tone for the rest of the book for me. It is a book of great angst and tribulations and I finished the book out of curiosity to see how much one person could endure. It reminded me of a soap opera where the beloved female lead gets everything but the kitchen sink thrown at her. Actually I think the sink was thrown but I might have missed it with all the other stuff going on.

There are some love scenes and they are hot but not kinky. There were some other very interesting characters that alluded to situations, like we should know what they meant. There may have been some previous books that I don't know about, it still flowed without knowing the history. I liked the characters but the story was a little too heavy for my taste. The book was too intense for me but I know some people who would really enjoy following this type of life and death drama so don't let me discourage anyone from reading it. It may be right up your alley. It did come through with a HEA.

Reviewed by Toni Bagala for Sensual Romance.

Reviewed by Sensual Romance
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted October 28, 2002

Summary

A Brazilian rainforest and lush passion both contribute to the relationship of Lily and Jim . . . but will they be able to survive the horrors, the intrigue, the terror of this chaotic adventure in a steamy foreign land and still retain their unstoppable passion. Rated R.