Badass Bloggettes: ***BLOG TOUR & REVIEW*** HEARTS OF FIRE by L.H. Cosway

Release Date: March 9^th

The Circus Spektakulär is proud to present Jack McCabe: Fire-breather, knife-thrower, risk-taker. My house burned down when I was just a boy, robbing me of both my parents.

Now I breathe fire, eat the poison that almost killed me. Crowds come to see me night after night. Men for the spectacle, women for the thrill. I’m an oddity to be stared at and desired. With each flame I spit, I risk my life.

I wear scars on my body that will never go away, but the scars inside my head are far more difficult to overlook. My brother doesn’t know me, and if I have it my way he never will. Life was going exactly the way I’d planned until Lille came along.

She wanted to run away with the circus, have an adventure, but this world was never meant for her. I try to keep her safe, because she doesn’t know the dangers that are out here on the road. She doesn’t know the monsters that lurk behind the bright lights of the ring.

In truth, I could be considered one of them. We were fashioned from different cloths, never intended to mix. So I watch her. I try not to touch, even when her eyes invite me. Join us in the Spiegeltent and let us give you a show. Allow my Lille to draw a picture for you in paint and sweat and skin. The truest love is always the hardest to let in.

This is a standalone romance that tells the story of Jack McCabe, Jay Fields’ long lost, presumed dead brother. It is not necessary to have read Six of Hearts in order to enjoy Hearts of Fire.

Jack didn’t even announce that he was starting when he stood at least ten feet away from me, flipped a knife in his hand, caught it, then lunged with his whole body and flung the knife right at my head. I squeezed my eyes shut, and a hollow thud sounded at my ear where the knife had, thankfully, hit the board. Sounds of nervous excitement and clapping came from the audience as Jack continued his assault on me. He moved his body with the kind of skill that only comes from obsessive practice.

Adrenaline drowned me, my chest rising and falling rapidly. A small squeak of fright escaped me when he threw a knife at my hip and it barely missed. In fact, I could feel the hard edge of the steel pressing against me. I was surprised it hadn’t cut into the fabric of my coat. Jack prowled around the stage, gaze on me, calculating his next throw. Everywhere his eyes looked, I felt positively laid bare. Molested by disinterest.

I might as well have been a sack of potatoes for all the care he showed as to whether or not he might cut me. Deciding I couldn’t take any more, I kept my eyes closed until it was over and all six knives had been thrown.

Thud.
Thud.
Thud.

When I finally opened my eyes, Jack was standing before me, unbuckling the belt that held me in place. I didn’t move even after I’d been released, still trying to come to terms with the terror I’d just endured. All of a sudden, Jack McCabe was more scary than sexy.

“That was a close one,” he said as he pulled out the knife that had landed just below my ear. I glanced to the side to see a tiny lock of my hair fall to the stage floor. Oh, my God.

“You cut off my hair,” I gasped.

“Only a small bit. Don’t worry — I didn’t leave a bald patch.” He chuckled darkly.
I didn’t know what to say, but I was momentarily appalled at how cavalierly he was taking all this.
“I could sue you,” I said, and then instantly grimaced. I sounded like my mother.
It was only hair, after all. He leaned in, and I thought I saw him bare his teeth for a second. “Go ahead, pumpkin.”

I was asked to read this ARC for a honest review.

When I first saw the title and synopsis I did wonder what the story would be about, how would it touch me, would it be magical?

I am new to LH Cosway’s writing but in the books I have read by her so far I have found her style of writing seems effortless and flows of the page.

I was happy to get the opportunity to read Hearts of after reading Six of Hearts and getting to know the intense but sexy Jay Fields. I loved how the book is set in the circus, I love that whole atmosphere and the magic behind the carnival/circus feel.

Throughout this book LH Cosway gives us great quotes and I am sure a lot of people fell in love with this one as much as I did. It is very profound.

“I thought maybe that was a good philosophy for life. Experiment with your colours, but don’t experiment too much, or you’ll destroy the natural beauty.”

This story bases itself on Lille. Lille unfortunately has one of those mothers who for a better word is controlling over her, I felt sorry for Lille as she was so at the beck and call of her mother, doing what she is told, holed up in the house, never escaping. So it is no wonder she secretly daydreams of how to get away, how to live her own life away from her home, her mother, he so called existence as it is just now. Lille wants to explore, live life to the full, experiment, have fun, be able to feel like a normal 20 year old girl.

The Circus Spektakulär comes to town and Lille is over the moon. What is more exciting to Lille is that the ringmaster actually asks her to join them, Lille has no hesitations, she wants this new adventure, she wants away from her mother so the decision to go with them was an easy one for her and yes you guessed it, she packs her things and runs away with the circus.

One of the other characters you come across is Jack McCabe, he is another member of the Circus but he is one of those very intense brooding type men. Jack does not trust people very well. He has walls all around him so no one can get let in unless he wants you to. Jack to me is the type of guy who needs a good woman to save him, someone who will protect his heart and care for him and give him their all. Could Lille be that girl?

Slowly Jack and Lille build up a relationship and Jack starts to let down his walls but only to Lille. These two become very close indeed. The sexual tension between them is evident but they take things slowly, building up their friendship first, trusting each other and getting to know each other which with these two I felt was a good way to start.

“Somehow, by joining our bodies, we lit each other up.”

This is a lovely story of two people who have scars, trust issues and barriers all around them finding each other and having something beautiful. Building up a relationship, trusting each other and eventually letting the other one see their hearts.

I did enjoy this story, however, the only drawback for me giving it a whopping 5 stars was some similarities to another book I have read recently about Carnival/Circus life and people looking for escape and someone to except them like Lille and Jack.

4.5 Stamps

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Playlist Hearts of Fire

Hearts of Fire by L.H. Cosway from Becca the Bibliophile on Vimeo.

YOUTUBE: http://youtu.be/IK0Ut-JOFEY

L.H. Cosway has a BA in English Literature and Greek and Roman Civilisation, and an MA in Postcolonial Literature. She lives in Dublin city. Her inspiration to write comes from music. Her favourite things in life include writing stories, vintage clothing, dark cabaret music, food, musical comedy, and of course, books. She thinks that imperfect people are the most interesting kind. They tell the best stories.