HEART FIRE – Robin D. Owens
A Celta Novel
Berkley Sensation
ISBN: 978-0-425-26395-2
November 2014
Paranormal Romance

Druida City, Celta – 422 Years after Colonization

Antenn Blackthorn-Moss is hitting his stride as an architect. Despite the fact that his early years were difficult, and the murderous reputation of his brother still haunts him, his adoption by Mitchella Clover D'Blackthorn and her mate, Straif T'Blackthorn changed his life for the better. And now Antenn has been contracted to build the Intersection of Hope's cathedral, a huge project. Antenn knows he has a Heartmate somewhere, but he has blocked all communication with her for what he feels is a good reason – that he isn't good enough for anyone. Now he also has the excuse that his career comes first.

As a priestess for the GreatCircle Temple, Tiana Mugwort is moving into a higher level in her religion. The daughter of a former judge, Sinjin Mugwort, and Quina Mugwort, a follower of the Intersection of Hope, Tiana has a lot on her plate all of a sudden. Now that she is a FirstLevel Priestess, she has more responsibilities and must choose between staying at the Temple or accepting the leadership of a smaller Temple. With the history of her family being shunned, Tiana has always felt the need to make up for it all, despite the fact that none of it was her family's fault. She is assigned, to her shock, as the Temple liaison to the building of the Intersection of Hope Cathedral. Part of that appointment is to design a ritual to include the two religions and show how open Celta is to all faiths. In this, she must work with the architect, Antenn Blackthorn-Moss.

On her way to her first meeting with Antenn, Tiana is “adopted” by a Fam, a rather scruffy, smelly cat who calls himself RatKiller. Tiana thinks that's not exactly the kind of name a Priestess's Fam should have. He is renamed Felonerb.

The man who ruined Tiana's family and sent them into hiding, GraceLord Equisetum, is the founder of the new Traditionalist Stance – the theory being that only one religion is worthy of being recognized, that of the GreatCircle Temple. And now he and his ilk are adamant about blocking the building of the Intersection of Hope Cathedral. Can Antenn and Tiana protect the construction site from danger? And what of the feelings they have for each other?

The latest in the riveting Celta novels, HEART FIRE is as good as it gets. The main characters, Antenn and Tiana, both have troubled pasts that have greatly affected how they face the future. Both are defensive about their families, and both feel they have a lot to prove. And neither has wanted the complication of a HeartMate. Danger circles them as those who plot against the cathedral look for any way to disrupt and destroy the construction. The only way for everything to move forward for both Antenn and Tiana is for them to work together.

HEART FIRE is pure enjoyment. With the background of the mystical land of Celta, plenty of psi powers and Flair, and the entertaining addition of the various Fams, this is a return to the HeartMate stories that I've loved from the first book. Do yourself a favor and check out Robin D. Owens's website at http://robindowens.com . Check out the Celta books as well as her new series, Ghostlayer. You can't go wrong with any of these well written, beautifully constructed books.

Jani Brooks