Frontier Flame by Rochelle Wayne is a Zebra historical romance that tells the tale of two love stories, each filled with danger, conflict, and rescue.
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Frontier Flame by Rochelle Wayne
Rating: 
Published: 1987
Illustrator: Franco Accornero
Imprint or Line: Zebra Lovegram
Published by: Kensington
Genres: Bodice Ripper Lite, Historical Romance, Civil War Romance, Western Romance
Pages: 496
Format: Paperback
Buy on: Amazon, AbeBooks
Reviewed by: Blue Falcon
TOTAL SPOILER ALERT ⚠
The Book
This Blue Falcon review is of Frontier Flame by Rochelle Wayne, a 1987 Zebra Lovegram historical romance.
The Plot
Mississippi, 1848
The Donovan family lives on a plantation named Southmoor in Mississippi. The family consists of patriarch Thomas, matriarch Ellen, and their only child, a son, Patrick, 13. They will add a fourth member to their household as Suzanne Donovan, age 3, arrives.
The Backstory: Suzanne—who, as a 21-year-old adult, will become the book’s heroine—is Thomas’ niece, the daughter of Thomas’ brother, Kevin, and his wife, Gloria. The parents both passed away from yellow fever. As a result, little Suzanne lived in an orphanage in New Orleans before Thomas decided to bring her to Southmoor. This action wasn’t borne out of love but out of family duty.
When Suzanne arrives, Patrick is the only person who shows her any kindness. Over the years, Suzanne will develop a brother/hero worship for Patrick. Their relationship will play a significant role in the book.
The War Between the States
The Civil War breaks out, and Patrick goes to fight for the Confederacy. He is captured by Union soldiers and sent to prison. He is later released. However, soon, word arrives of Patrick being involved in actions that disgrace his family and are also illegal.
Not believing Patrick is guilty of what he is accused of, his friends and family assemble to help clear his name. Suzanne, Patrick’s fiancee, Molly O’Ryan, and a freed slave named Saul, Patrick’s best friend, head to Wyoming to discover what happened.
Heading Westward
When they arrive in Wyoming, Suzanne meets Army Major Blade Landon, our hero. They immediately clash, as both want to find Patrick, Suzanne to clear him, and Blade to kill him.
Despite this, they are also strongly attracted to each other. Later, they become lovers—and frequent antagonists.
Suzanne isn’t the only member of her party to find love; Molly does as well, with Blade’s friend, Army scout Justin Smith. Both relationships are troubled, however.
In addition to the looming specter of Patrick, Suzanne and Blade’s love is threatened by Almeda Johnson, the scheming daughter of Blade’s commanding officer.
Molly and Justin’s relationship is imperiled by Army Captain Gary Newcomb, who hates Justin with a passion. Newcombe breaks up Molly and Justin by lying about an incident from Justin’s past. Molly then decides to marry Gary.
Danger and Rescue
When Blade and Justin go on an Army mission, Suzanne decides to follow up on Patrick’s whereabouts. She finds herself in trouble, and Blade has to rescue her.
He takes her to a Lakota Indian village, where he tries to negotiate a peace treaty between the Lakota and the whites. They find peril, however, in the form of a vengeful brave, Two Moons, who wants to kill all white people.
Later, Suzanne again goes away following a lead about Patrick and finds herself in peril, with Blade again having to rescue her. More trouble follows when Newcomb leads an attack against a defenseless Lakota village. Many people die in the attack, including Newcomb.
After Gary’s death, Molly reunites with her true love, Justin. They, along with Blade and Suzanne, have a double wedding. Suzanne and Blade adopt a girl, Kara, who is the great-granddaughter of an Indian chief. The mystery of Patrick is revealed and resolved.
Finally, both couples have their happily ever after.
The Upside
I am a big Rochelle Wayne fan, and Frontier Flame shows why. She effectively uses flashbacks to tell the story of the relationship between Suzanne and Patrick.
Suzanne and Blade are strong characters, as are Justin and Molly.
The Downside
For much of Frontier Flame, Suzanne and Blade argue with each other. Some sparks flying is a good thing.
However, it can be taken too far, and that is the case here. Sadly, the hero and heroine frequently argue with each other, which is a trope Ms. Wayne uses in every book she writes.
Another trope I also strongly dislike is that, commonly in her novels, Ms. Wayne’s heroines—and often supporting female characters—make errors in judgment that place them in danger and require rescue by the hero.
Sex
There are many love scenes in Frontier Flame—first Suzanne and Blade and then Molly and Justin. The early love scenes are more graphic than the later ones, but none approach erotica. They are, however, reasonably hot for this type of book.
Heat Level
Is it getting hot in this review? The fiery heat of Frontier Flame is making the mercury rise! This book is on the sensual level of romance.
Violence
There are incidents of assault, battery, attempted rape, shootings, and killings. The violence is not graphic.
Bottom Line on Frontier Flame
The previously mentioned issues keep Rochelle Wayne’s Frontier Flame from receiving a 5-star rating. However, it is still a very good book.
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| Overall: | 4.3 |
Synopsis
PRAIRIE FIRE
When her cousin Patrick deserted the army, spirited Suzanne Donovan knew that the only way to bring him back was to go and get him. But once the luscious blonde confronted towering Major Blade Landon, she wished she’d never left her lavish Mississippi home for isolated Fort Laramie. The lean, muscled officer seemed as wild and untamed as the land — and made her think only of the rapture his touch could bring! She did all she could to resist the handsome scoundrel, but with just one touch of his demanding lips she felt the first fires of unquenchable passion.
WESTERN BLAZE
Major Blade Landon was single-minded about capturing the deserter…until he saw the provocative Suzanne. Her cascading golden curls and firm round curves were more pleasurable quarry to hunt than one turncoat runaway. Then the cunning major decided to further his career and conquer the belle, too, by using her to track Patrick down. After stealing one breathless kiss, however, his determination turned to raging desire — and Blade knew the southern beauty was the only one to forever ignite his Frontier Flame.
Frontier Flame by Rochelle Wayne
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