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Authors: Shannon Farrell

The Fire's Center

BOOK: The Fire's Center
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The Fire's Center
The Fire of Love [1]
Shannon Farrell
HerStory Books, http://HerStoryBooks.com (2009)

The Fire’s Center
Book 1 of The Fire of Love series
Shannon Farrell

Unemployed governess Riona Connolly is willing to do anything to save her family from starvation during the Irish Potato Famine. When she meets the handsome Dr. Lucien Woulfe, who offers her post at his clinic, it seems a dream come true.

No man has ever stimulated Riona so completely, in mind and body. Yet she knows her burning attraction to her sensual employer is forbidden in the straight-laced, class-conscious society of Victorian Dublin.

Lucien never imagined he would ever meet a woman who could share his life so perfectly. A dedicated doctor who has been wounded by love in the past, he has no time for relationships. Yet one look at Riona, and he burns with a passion which soon grows all-consuming for them both.

But as the Famine rages, and brings a deadly series of fevers with it. Riona and Lucien must walk through the fire’s center to secure their happiness before it is destroyed by the enemies aligning themselves against the unsuspecting couple, and by the vagaries of Fate.

Can their fiery love win through to a bright future, or will it too become yet another casualty of the Great Blight?

AN EXCERPT:
After an hour of quizzing her verbally, Lucien pronounced himself more than satisfied with her medical knowledge, and decided to give her a slide test.

“Here, you keep looking down the microscope, and I’ll hand you the slides one by one, so you can’t peek at the labels,” he suggested.

“All right,” Riona agreed, and soon began rattling off the names of the samples he handed her.

Lucien stood close bedside Riona, as if drawn there by some magnetic force. Try as he might, he couldn’t take his eyes off the tempting flesh of her arms and the shadowy curve of her breasts as they worked side by side.

Though surrounded by flowers in the study, which the maid had put there to brighten up the otherwise rather dull room, Lucien could also smell her own distinctive perfume, fresh, wholesome, and infinitely more alluring that the Parisian concoctions his female acquaintances practically bathed themselves in for formal functions.

Suddenly she held out her hand and asked, “Next one, please?”

Lucien jumped out of his reverie for a moment to hand her the glass slide, but all of a sudden he found himself grasping her fingers tightly instead.

As Riona looked up from the microscope in surprise, Lucien took a step closer to her and pulled her into his warm embrace.

Riona’s lips parted with a gasp, so that Lucien had free access to the tempting delights of her mouth, and the hungry kiss they shared soon left them wanting more.

Lucien ran his hands up and down the length of Riona’s spine, and he thanked God silently that she wore no corsets as he caressed her feminine fullness above and below.

Riona for her own part tried to remain stiff and unyielding in his torrid embrace, but the heat of his passion melted her reserve. She soon found her arms creeping around his neck, while her lips slanted across his mouth to deepen the kiss even further.

Lucien laced his fingers through Riona’s hair, scattering pins and her silk ribbon all about the room as her auburn locks tumbled down around her shoulders. He began to kiss her face and neck then, nuzzling her hair, before whispering, “Lovely, so lovely,” in her shell-like ear.

Lucien knew he ought to stop. Had to stop. But the vibrant woman he held in his arms worked on him like some powerful drug. The more he took liberties with Riona, the bolder he became. The more she matched his caresses, and the more inflamed he grew…

The Fire’s Center
Book 1 of The Fire of Love series
Shannon Farrell
Setting= Victorian Ireland, Irish Potato Famine
Rating: Very sensual
Words=78,300

ALSO BY THE AUTHOR
The Unquenchable Fire
Call Home The Heart
The Hunger of the Heart Series:
Hunger for Love
The Hungry Heart
The Hungry Heart

The Fire's Center
 
Book 1 of
The Fire of Love
Series
 
Shannon Farrell
 

 

Unemployed governess Riona Connolly is willing to do anything to save her family from starvation during the Irish Potato Famine. When she meets the handsome Dr. Lucien Woulfe, who offers her post at his clinic, it seems a dream come true.

 

No man has ever stimulated Riona so completely, in mind and body. Yet she knows her burning attraction to her sensual employer is forbidden in the straight-laced, class-conscious society of Victorian Dublin.

 

Lucien never imagined he would ever meet a woman who could share his life so perfectly. A dedicated doctor who has been wounded by love in the past, he has no time for relationships.
 
Yet one look at Riona, and he burns with a passion which soon grows all-consuming for them both.

 

But as the Famine rages, and brings a deadly series of fevers with it. Riona and Lucien must walk through the fire’s center to secure their happiness before it is destroyed by the enemies aligning themselves against the unsuspecting couple, and by the vagaries of Fate.

 

Can their fiery love win through to a bright future, or will it too become yet another casualty of the Great Blight?

 

 

 

After an hour of quizzing her verbally, Lucien pronounced himself more than satisfied with her medical knowledge, and decided to give her a slide test.

 

"Here, you keep looking down the microscope, and I'll hand you the slides one by one, so you can’t peek at the labels," he suggested.

 

"All right," Riona agreed, and soon began rattling off the names of the samples he handed her.

 

Lucien stood close bedside Riona, as if drawn there by some magnetic force. Try as he might, he couldn’t take his eyes off the tempting flesh of her arms and the shadowy curve of her breasts as they worked side by side.

 

Though surrounded by flowers in the study, which the maid had put there to brighten up the otherwise rather dull room, Lucien could also smell her own distinctive perfume, fresh, wholesome, and infinitely more alluring that the Parisian concoctions his female acquaintances practically bathed themselves in for formal functions.

 

Suddenly she held out her hand and asked, "Next one, please?"

 

Lucien jumped out of his reverie for a moment to hand her the glass slide, but all of a sudden he found himself grasping her fingers tightly instead.

 

As Riona looked up from the microscope in surprise, Lucien took a step closer to her and pulled her into his warm embrace.

 

Riona’s lips parted with a gasp, so that Lucien had free access to the tempting delights of her mouth, and the hungry kiss they shared soon left them wanting more.

 

Lucien ran his hands up and down the length of Riona’s spine, and he thanked God silently that she wore no corsets as he caressed her feminine fullness above and below.

 

Riona for her own part tried to remain stiff and unyielding in his torrid embrace, but the heat of his passion melted her reserve. She soon found her arms creeping around his neck, while her lips slanted across his mouth to deepen the kiss even further.

 

Lucien laced his fingers through Riona’s hair, scattering pins and her silk ribbon all about the room as her auburn locks tumbled down around her shoulders. He began to kiss her face and neck then, nuzzling her hair, before whispering, "Lovely, so lovely," in her shell-like ear.

 

Lucien knew he ought to stop.
Had to
stop. But the vibrant woman he held in his arms worked on him like some powerful drug. The more he took liberties with Riona, the bolder he became. The more she matched his caresses, and the more inflamed he grew…

 

 

 

Reviews:

 

"This is another beautifully sensual historical novel by the remarkably talented Ms. MacMurrough." -- Carolyn Stone,
Under the Covers Book Reviews

 

 

 

Ms. MacMurrough’s ability to depict people, settings and events is remarkable, making every word of this novel a pleasure. -- Evelyn Trimborn,
Harlequin Hearts

 

 

 

Passionately intense, this a book you will savor every word of, and remember long after you have finished it. -- Jacinta Carey,
The Starbuck Series

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REVIEWS:

 

The Fire's Centre

 
Top 50 ebook at Amazon
 

Reviews from bn.com and Amazon

 

 

 
Captivating
 

During the time of the Irish Potato Famine, young Riona Connolly
 
takes a post at the clinic of handsome doctor Lucien Woulfe. She is overwhelmed by his kindness to her; he is awed by her intelligence and beauty.
 

 

But their growing friendship and attraction to each other is frowned upon in the straight-laced society of Victorian Dublin, where social status is everything, and the plight of the poor of little concern to the upper classes.

 

Riona shakes the very foundations of Lucien’s world as one by one she exposes his sister-in-law Antoinette, (Lucien’s former fiancee), and many of his colleagues, as the selfish and deceitful frauds they really are.

 

Even more cataclysmic, though, is the fiery passion the two of them share. Appalled at his lack of control around Riona, Lucien tries to resist her charms. But the fire between them and within Riona’s heart refuses to be quenched.
 

 

From the moment the couple meet amid a huge storm, we know they are made for one another, but will have a tempestuous road ahead of them.
 
The author takes us with the couple every step of the way, drawing a fascinating portrait of one of the darkest times in Irish history, and the brightest love between two captivating characters.

 

The author's ability to depict people, settings and events is remarkable, making every word of this novel a pleasure to read.

 

 

 
A mesmerizing romance
 

Riona Connolly is determined to help her impoverished family by going to Dublin to look for her missing father and find work. A chance meeting with Dr. Lucien Woulfe changes the course of her life forever.
 

BOOK: The Fire's Center
3.13Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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