"Fantastic suspenseful romantic fantasy"

Book critic Damien Ruthven is shocked with how accurate the eighteen hundred page manuscript written by author Brice Ashton is. However, he also feels that two points in the biography needs correcting as she is slightly in error on his affair with Lady Caroline Lamb and on a poem he wrote to her. Out of character and shocking his assistant Karen Anderson, he invites author Brice Ashton to America to discuss her first of three overpriced tomes on the life of Lord Byron. Excited, Brice accepts the invitation believing that her host has access to documents she has not seen.

The bad news is that Damien has no documents. The good news is that he knew Byron intimately because in 1816, Dr. Johann Dippel "cured" the aristocratic poet of epilepsy; Damien was Byron back in the early nineteenth century. As the critic and the writer feel a growing attraction to one another, his invitation inadvertently also brings danger to his guest as killers want Byron dead with collateral damage acceptable.

DIVINE FIRE is a fantastic suspenseful romantic fantasy starring two wonderful protagonists even if a book reviewer and an author make strange bedfellows. Especially interesting is Damien's look back to his past that comes alive in such a manner that the audience will believe that Dr. Dippel cured his patient. This in turn leads readers to expect Melanie Jackson to provide sequels starring other patients of Dr. Dippel.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted January 1, 2005

Summary

In 1816, Lord Byron stayed at the castle of Dr. Johann Dippel, the inspiration for Mary Shelley's Baron von Frankenstein. The doctor promised a cure for his epilepsy. That "cure" changed him forever.

In the 21st century, Brice Ashton wrote a book. Like all biographies of famous persons, hers on Lord Byron was sent to critics in advance. One Damien Ruthven responded. He suggested her work contained two errors—and that only he could give her the truth. His words held hints of long-lost knowledge; were fraught with danger, deception...and desire. And his eyes showed the experience of centuries. Damien promised to share his secrets. But first, Brice knew, she would have to share herself with him.