TEST
Despite promising sparks early in the book, The Brightest Flame fails to live up to its name, ending with more fizzle and smoke than fire. Lively but shallow characters with questionable ethics, writing that glows lavender, and an implausible plot filled with invented conflicts left me burned out long before the end. 
The year is 1883 and Molly Kilmartin from Ballyshannon is on her way to America to work in her aunt’s boarding house in New York City. The price of Molly’s passage has left her mother only enough money to last three months after which she will be thrown out of her cottage, so Molly has to raise enough money to bring her mother to America before then. Sick of the horrible conditions in steerage, Molly sneaks upstairs to take a little air on the forbidden upper deck. She is discovered by newspaper publisher Burke Lassiter, who is immediately intrigued with this naive Irish girl, and he finagles a second meeting with her by borrowing her journal (which she whips out in order to take notes in the middle of their conversation, in the dark, at the rail of the ship). Two days later they meet again and enjoy a passionate moment followed by a stormy parting. When the ship docks in New York City, Molly catches one last glimpse of Lassiter leaving, and watches him climb into a carriage with a beautiful blond who is his fiance, although Molly does not find that out until the predictable worst moment.
A studious boarder introduces Molly to the public library and to newspaper articles on the subject of women’s suffrage. At the same time Lassiter writes a tongue-in-cheek editorial on women’s suffrage and invites replies in an attempt to create controversy and pump up his flagging newspaper subscriptions. Molly is outraged by the editorial and writes a scathing reply which Lassiter publishes. It is such a hit that Lassiter invites her to write more letters, and offers to pay her for them. So begins a new career for Molly. She quickly becomes an overnight star, and her relationship with Lassiter progresses despite continual silly outbursts on her part. Early on Molly asks who the blond was that she saw Lassiter with at the ship and he lies, telling her she’s his cousin. Of course he only wants to protect her feelings. Someone else tells her the truth (surprise), and she leaves Lassiter in a huff and lands a job with Lassiter’s competition. And so it goes – on, and on, and on.
The plot is unbelievable. A barely literate Irish girl, fresh from the auld country, skyrockets to the top of New York newspaper publishing in an era when women had little credibility in journalism. After a few letters, she demands a spot as an investigative reporter and immediately begins turning out hot exposes in such areas as immigrant sweatshops and crooked carnie games at Coney Island, all done by posing as an employee and working for a week or less, with no ugly reprisal from disgruntled clothing manufacturers or gamesters, and plenty of time to help her aunt with the dishes or go out to dinner with a gentleman. Six months after arriving in America she is a national sensation. She still can’t spell but her editors don’t mind. She treats Lassiter like dirt whenever she isn’t melting at his slightest touch, but it’s okay because she is a such a spitfire.
Lassiter is another story. No matter what nasty thing Molly says or does to him, he just laughs and thinks, what a fiery spitfire! Of course, he’s a bit of a cad himself. He is engaged to another woman because she is an heiress and he needs her money to prop up his ailing newspaper. He treats her in a most rude and callous manner, but it’s okay because she is obnoxious and irritating. He comes up with ridiculous excuses to not follow through and break off his engagement, and then more excuses to not tell Molly he has broken it off until it has caused more trouble than it’s worth. He does sweet, generous things for people, then follows it up with something like the following, occurring as he relieves Molly of her virginity:
Even now his troubling relationship with Daisy Fellows flickered through his mind, but he mentally shrugged the problem aside, knowing he didn’t love Daisy and never would. He’d make no commitments to Molly tonight, for he hadn’t completely sorted out his feelings for her, but he’d dedicate himself to making sure that her first taste of real passion was pure and sweet and filled with memorable tenderness.
Wow, what a guy!
Details bothered me. It was the late 1800s, and Lassiter had his hands all over her from the moment they met despite the fact he is supposed to be a gentleman and she respectable. References were made to her hair being worn “loose” in public, and she thought nothing of taking off alone with men anytime. She went home with Lassiter after work one evening and spent it with him in his apartment with only a slight uneasy thought that this was probably not really proper. Then there are the interesting things they do with their faces, like He jerked his eyebrows together and She narrowed her eyes at him. And then there were all the gazes continually flying around the room!
There may be something to be said for the entertainment value of an unbelievable book, but all things considered, a reader’s time and money would be better spent almost anywhere else.
Grade: F
Book Type: American Historical Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 26/08/99
Publication Date: 1999
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.