The first few pages of this book started out good but quickly went down hill. I found this story unbelievable. Gem quickly got on my nerves. She is an obsessive, annoying brat. How can she still be in love with Chase after he had been gone for 5 years! Considering he was probably around less then a year before he left. Apparently this girl led a sheltered life. Gem is desperate and irritating and fell in love with someone she hardly knew. And then she forced him to marry her. The only reason why I gave this book 2 stars was because it kept me interested enough to finish it and find out how Chase eventually told her he loved her.

21 years old Chase Dupre won a feisty girl of 15yrs in a hand of poker. Obligation forced him to helped her and decided to bring her home with him. Gem McBride had no where else to go but stay with Chase. It was a warm welcome to be part of a family, a loving one, at that. She became Chase's little cousin only to realized she was falling in love with him. She was however just a "'Lil KID" to him. What makes this book different from others is Chase 5 years seperation from Gem, who awaits his return everyday, hoping they would get married someday.... but upon his return, Chase brought home a wife. Ugh, now that hurts! I didn't ruin this for others because this is actually what the back book description would tell you. I just thought I'd mention it here since there is no book synopsis here in Amazon. I tell you, this book will break your heart to pieces the first half of the book. It will also make you believe in the power of true love. At the same time, it will make you fear it. There are times I wanted Gem to forget Chase and simply move on with her life but then the more you read R.L.H's words, the more you'll see Gem's heart and feel it at the same time. I wanted her to have Chase as badly as she does. No matter how hard she tries, no matter how much she wants to remain honorable, it's her heart and she can't do anything about it. Their love story is truly heart warming!

Heart breaking love story...relief...thrilling mystery suspense...relief....frustrating consequences...relief....then another conflict would come out of no where, surprising you out of your seat! This is another emotional topsy-turvy book you surely wouldn't want to miss.

I've always been impressed with Ms. Robin Lee Hatcher's talent. She is the only historical romance novel author with an American setting that I would read without hesistations. She had already proven her worth to me in the AMERICANA SERIES. Reading Gemfire magnified and confirmed my opinion.

The young Gem McBride is a wonderful fiery compliment to the female gender. Robin Lee created one of the most lovable, iron-willed, tenderhearted women in romance history. A skittish adolescent grows into a beautiful woman, fighting to earn the heart of the man she loves. Chase Dupre's little "Gem Fire" will capture your heart with her spirit and determination. This is a romance sure to take you back to the memories of your first love.

PATTERNS OF LOVE is book two in Robin Hatcher's Coming to America series. The 2001 revision of the 1999 RITA Award book portrays the life of Swedish immigrant Inga Linberg and Dirk Bridger, an Iowa dairy farmer, with the added insight of their spiritual journey with God.

Because of his strong sense of responsibility, Dirk Bridger has abandoned his dreams of world travel and adventure to settle in Uppsala, Iowa, as the guardian of his two orphaned nieces and his deceased brother's dairy farm. Pragmatically, he struggles with despair over his lost dream and the monotonousness of life on the farm. Dirk's sure God if He even exists, has abandoned him.

Inga, the oldest daughter of a Lutheran minister, is resigned to God's plan for her life as quilt artist and capable assistant in her father's ministry. Unlike her four sisters, Inga is neither attractive nor flirtatious and completely content until Dirk arrives at the parsonage to ask her father's help in finding someone to assist him in caring for the two children and his ailing mother. Inga agrees to become his live-in housekeeper and quickly brings order and love to the Bridger household. Personally, she grows discontent with her life. As time goes by, Dirk finds himself attracted to the tall, willowy Swedish immigrant that his mom and nieces have come to love. When Dirk's mother dies, proprietary morals of the period prohibit Inga from continuing in her role as live-in housekeeper. Dirk offers Inga a marriage contract to be terminated when his nieces are older. When Inga agrees, their lives are forever changed.

Robin Hatcher skillfully weaves a tender romance between Inga and Dirk while portraying their spiritual struggles in an unobtrusive, believable way. Her historical and cultural accuracy blends an engaging story line with Swedish heritage in an authentic narrative of life in 19th century America.

Through Inga's correspondence with her friends from the voyage to America sprinkled throughout the story, the reader sees glimpses of the main characters from the other books in the Coming to America series. After reading about Dirk and Inga, I'm sure you'll want to read their stories too!

There is a good reason that RWA's published members awarded PATTERNS OF LOVE the prestigious RITA Award. It's excellent. The love story is tender and real. The hero is to die for. If you want a romance that touches your heart, this one's for you.

It's easy to see why this book has won so many awards. It touches a reader on so many levels and searches the human heart. Dirk is a true hero, a man who gives of himself to others, even when it means letting go of his own dreams. And Inga is a woman who loves with her whole heart. This is a perfect historical romance, well deserving of every accolade that has come its way. I highly recommend it.

The Hawk and the Heather was a good story and I liked the characters Heather FitzHugh and Tanner Montgomery but I can't give it 5 stars because as it's an audio book recording for a Historical Romance set in Regency England I found it strange that the reader did not use an English accent and had a very American sounding accent so I was disappointed as I felt that a proper English accent would have been more approprate to the atmosphere of the story and I could have visualized the story better! The story is about a young lady named Heather FitzHugh who has an intense dislike for Tanner Montgomery, the Duke of Hawksbury a man she has never met but has mistakenly believed that he caused her family's financial ruin and fall from grace and her father's death and sets out to get revenge by catching Tanner's heart and than breaking it and causing him the embarrassment of society she believes he caused to her family but winds up falling for him instead much to her dismay and soon she is plagued by guilt because of her deception to the man she loves and also feeling guilty because she believes that she is being disloyal to her family by falling in love with their sworn enemy! It really wasn't a bad story but the accent thing made the story less enjoyable than it should have been if they had used an English reader or had this one imitate an English accent.

A lovely modern romance story with a twist of stubbornness.

A lovely romance story with a twist of stubbornness

Long separated childhood friends renew their acquaintance in a private Internet chat room. They agree to unite in a scheme to convince the heroine's ailing Grandpa that all is well with his pregnant, unmarried granddaughter, using the hero as a substitute husband and supposed father-to be. When Grandpa uncovers their masquerade, the schemeing couple decides to legalize their sham "marriage". Share the couple's duplicitous journey to love. Add a hissing cat, a loveable mutt, and a happy holiday season to the likeable characters for a charming, enjoyable read.