Cherish the Flame

Valerie Bishop never thought that she would see Alexander Price again. Eight years ago, Alexander's father blackmailed her into leaving him. Afraid that his father would carry out his threat, Valerie walked out on Alexander with nothing more that a `Dear John' style letter. Now, years later Alexander was back in Valerie's life with all of his anger geared towards her and his mindset on making her pay for walking out on him. And, if that wasn't enough to deal with, Valerie had to find away to keep Alexander from discovering her secrets. For Alexander Price revenge was bittersweet. Eight years ago, the girl that he wanted to marry hurt him deeply by walking away from their relationship with a huge sum of payoff money from his father. Filled with hatred and despair Alexander was determined to get even with the gold-digging Valerie for using and abusing his heart. But, his retaliation quickly turned on him after Alexander discovered Valerie's secrets - secrets that she should have told him about eight years ago. Now, Alexander was at a tough crossroad - should he continue with his vengeance or should he forgive Valerie? Although a classic tale, Cherish the Flame was a tale that brought forth a multitude of emotions from deep within. I cried, I laughed, I screamed at the characters and most of all I fell in love with Alexander and Valerie's romantic love affair. Because of fear and the need to protect a loved one, a wedge was inserted deeply between Alexander and Valerie with no point of being broken. Well, that was until Alexander decided to seek revenge against Valerie. From that moment forth their lives changed forever and the secrets from the past finally came to light. Yet, through it all, neither Alexander nor Valerie could deny that the old flame that sparked between them so long ago never died. The passion showcased between the couple was hot enough to melt ice. There were some sexual scenes throughout the book, but they were told in a vanilla, gently described fashion. Cherish the Flame certainly kept me captivated until the end. Nikita Steele Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Although I did enjoy this book, CHERISH THE FLAME did not come close to the standards of other Beverly Clark books. The story was practically a retelling of an old one. (Bound By Love, which I happened to love!) The lead male in this story, Alexander, was not likable at all. I found Alexander to be childish, unforgiving, hurtful and conniving, all in the name of love. Please! Then Valerie, no matter what hurtful thing this man said or done to her continued to come back for more, all in the name of love. This was not Beverly Clark at her best but still an alright read with a few twists added in. For a really good read try BOUND BY LOVE by this author.