Born In Fire: Number 1 in series (Irish Born Trilogy, #1)

by Nora Roberts

Passions are about to flare for the Concannon sisters . . .

Maggie and Brianna Concannon are two very different sisters. The calm and gentle Bri seems able to weather any storm, even the constant criticism that rains down on them both from their mother, but Maggie is a passionate and fiery artist whose temper is as bold as her art. Their mother's bitterness is a mystery to Bri and Maggie, until secrets from the past challenge everything they've come to believe.

It's Maggie's skill as a glass blower that brings Rogan Sweeney, the international gallery owner, to her small cottage in County Clare. His interest in her is purely professional, until their personalities clash and sparks begin to fly . . . As her career takes off, how will Maggie cope with the heat of the spotlight and feelings for Rogan that she would rather ignore?

• ISBN10: 0748111174
• ISBN13: 9780748111176
• Publish Date: 15 January 2009 (first published 1 October 1994)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Piatkus Books
• Edition: Digital original
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

"Born in fire you were like one of your finest and boldest statues." (Tom Concannon)

It was my sister who indirectly encouraged me to give Nora Roberts a try. She's a Nora Roberts fan and would probably sell her soul to read Nora Roberts grocery list. I decided to start with the first Nora Roberts book that I remembered my sister reading and that's the Born In Trilogy. After finishing this book, I'm astounded to realise that my sister has good reading taste!

Born In Fire centers around Margaret Mary Concannon or Maggie. She's feisty, rude, moody, independant, compassionate, loyal and has an 'artist's personality'. Maggie isn't a perfect character. she's flawed and human in the most perfect of ways and I love her so much! Most of her flaws stem from the fact that there was no love between her parents, the emotional and physical abuse that she received from her mother and ultimately the loss of her father. Her flaws are believable and part of her personality and they make her character development extremely satisfying.

Maggie is a glass artist and a really amazing one at that. I enjoyed learning more about glass blowing and the glass-making process through Maggie's career. It's woven seamlessly into the story and I definitely have a new appreciation for it.

Maggie's abilities at transforming glass into amazing artwork is noticed by the president of the international Worldwide Gallery, the wealthy Rogan Sweeney who wants to become Maggie's manager in the art world. Rogan is a businessman through and through. He's organised, calculating, punctual and sophisticated.

Naturally when Maggie and Rogan meet, they annoy each other and don't see eye to eye, but the chemistry between them is sizzling! Maggie and Rogan are such different people. Maggie's feisty and passionate and Rogan's calm and calculating, but they are both independent, ambitious and love art. It was amazing to read about two polar opposites who are definitely meant for each other. I was rooting so hard for Maggie and Rogan!

Born In Fire is also a refreshing romance book. Rogan might have alpha male tendencies, but he doesn't hesitate to admit his feelings for Maggie. Maggie's extremely passionate, but she's the one who is hesitant, unsure and afraid of her relationship with Rogan. Their romantic relationship is realistic. It isn't perfect and there are a lot of issues that need to be sorted out, but it's their issues that develop Maggie and Rogan as characters. I was cheering for Maggie and Rogan not only for the reasons mentioned above, but also because Maggie and Rogan are extremely likable characters and Rogan is extremely swoonworthy.

Born In Fire isn't just a romance. It's a book about family, the past, the future and dreams and ambitions. It's a book with great main characters and secondary characters and a swoony romance that hit me in the feels and put a smile on my face. I can't wait to read Brianna's story, Born In Ice, but before I do that, I want to hug Born in Fire close to my chest and never let it go!

[Baroness Book Trove]

CAUTION! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK YET. CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK! THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

For this book I have tried to read it several times but I was finally able to read this book and I loved it. I read this book and the other two that goes along with this one sometime in the first few months of this year. I tried reading it last year for my last book count of only 50 books but I decided not to and instead read a book that I haven't read in a while for it.

Anyways back to the main reason this review. This book was so good from beginning to end in my opinion. I loved how Maggie, for the oldest character, is not the one that her mother likes and is the one that felt closest to the father before he passed away the year before the book takes place. Margaret Mary is just so headstrong about not having any help whatsoever that whenever Rogan tries he gets told off by Maggie. I love how Rogan is like the complete opposite of the headstrong Maggie that it seems all so good.

This book for me is just sooooo good and soooo heartwarming that you don't ever want to put it down until the very end. Even if you have those pesky things to do like chores, eating, sleeping, and other things like that. I give it a five thumbs up.

To read my other reviews or even to comment on this one on my blog here is the link: http://baronessbooktrove.blogspot.com/

[ibeforem]

This started out a little slow for me… (slight spoiler).. Maggie’s father dies right at the beginning, and the foreshadowing is as noticeable as a neon sign. That turned me off a bit. But once you get into it, you get what you’re looking for in a Nora Roberts tale: strong characters in a beautiful setting. Rogan comes off as the more likeable character, but you do warm up to Maggie over time, especially when you realize what her childhood must have been like. The details about the glass blowing are interesting at first, but do get a little repetitive. Regardless, I’m looking forward to continuing the trilogy with Briana’s story.