Ever since I watched The Longest Ride on Netflix I've been craving cowboy romance novels, so I was looking forward to reading Fire Brand by Diana Palmer. This is a republication of the original novel from 1989. It was a quick read, and I generally liked Gaby as the lead female character. She may not have a lot of experience with men and relationships, but she sure didn't back down from Bowie when she disagreed with him professionally.

My favourite part came early on when the Palmer is describing Gaby.

"Her figure was a perfect twelve - not quite voluptuous, but very noticeable - which was why she spent so much time camouflaging it. She didn't like men staring at it. On the other hand, it didn't bother her to think of Bowie looking at her." - Diana Palmer, Fire Brand

"...a perfect twelve"!!! Yes! I loved this so much. Maybe that's one of the benefits of reading a book from another generation. Societal expectations shift and sway so much and not always for the better.

While I thought Gaby was a good character, I really struggled with Bowie. Though it is clear that he cared for Gaby, I did not like how he spoke to and treated Gaby most of the time. Even when he finds out her secret, he tries to be understanding, but he comes across as pretty immature about it.

I appreciated that the communication between Gaby and Bowie was honest. There was no all-too-common "misunderstanding" that we see in romance books. Bowie knew that Gaby had a secret and loved her anyways, even if I felt he could have showed his love and support for Gaby differently.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely love Diana Palmer books as 3 shelves of her books on my bookcase can attest to, but for some reason Fire Brand fell short for me on so many points, and when I forced myself to finish the book, I was majorly disappointed.

I’m used to the authors Alpha Men vs timid women books, but this one was just too much, Gabbie was clueless half the time and Bowie was flat out annoying. And it truly is such a shame.

I won't say how long I've been reading Diana Palmer books suffice to say its been a long long time. Her stories are always a great romance story with angst, conflict, and most of all love. This one is no different.

But I did notice a one big difference in this book. The hero wasn't as much of an ass as some of her others have been. And the heroine Gaby maybe innocent but she holds her own. Seems like we got both their points of view more in this one that we have in the past with Ms Palmer's books and I liked that. Her books are an auto buy for me and I love that I can share them with my aunt and SIL.

This book gets 4 stars from me and I was given this book via Netgalley in consideration of a review and that in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

Fire Brand was one of those books that I really enjoyed reading, especially since I’ve been branching out of my usual genres. This western romance is set in Arizona in the 1980s–before cell phones or the internet, and when computers were only desktops. I’m starting my review with this because I had one hell of a time figuring out what time frame this book was set in. I opened my Kindle and began to read, but only with some vague historical references from the characters and the lack of modern technology was able to eventually narrow the time frame down. It was when I sat down to write this review that I saw that this book is a reissue of a previously published book from 1989, and wish I would have known that going in. I think I would have been able to enjoy this one more with the tint of the attitudes and styles of the time period.

Gaby Cane is pretty fearless and driven when it comes to her job as a reporter, but when it comes to personal relationships, she shies away from any physical contact with men, and she doesn’t liked to be touched in general. Having fled Tennessee for Arizona to start a new life when she was 15 years old, she wound up at Casa Rio, the McCayde’s sprawling ranch, where she’s taken in and treated like the daughter they never had. But Bowie McCayde–the son they did have–resented her presence and his mother’s doting on Gaby, so he made himself scarce over the years. Gaby flourished there, always admiring Bowie from afar but never getting close to the handsome, hardworking head of a construction company.

Ten years after Gaby came to live with his parents, Bowie needs Gaby’s help since he’s never been close to his now widowed mother. When Aggie McCayde goes on a cruise and comes back with a new boyfriend, Bowie wants to make sure that he’s not a gold digger looking to get a chunk of their successful ranch. He enlists Gaby’s help to suss out if this guy is on the up and up or not. Bowie didn’t expect to have to fight a growing attraction to the grown up and confident at work Gaby. She gets him tied up in knots inside, but she’s so skittish he doesn’t know how to approach her. On a professional front, he won’t sell his land to an agricultural company that’s looking to move into town, which will supposedly create jobs that Lassiter sorely needs. Bowie knows that they’ll destroy the already tenuous water supply that his cattle rely on, so he refuses to give in. Gaby’s reporter instincts kick in and she starts to investigate the agricultural company for the local paper, at first as an excuse to stay in Lassiter to keep an eye on Aggie, but then to be with Bowie.

Gaby and Bowie’s relationship gave me whiplash at times. She’s traumatized from an event in her teens so she has no experience with men, while Bowie is an alpha male all the way. He’s hot headed and says mean things that he doesn’t mean when he gets mad. He’s suspicious of her reasons for staying in Lassiter when his mother says mean things as well. Poor Gaby is caught in the middle with her sweet, trusting nature, and she definitely doesn’t have the backbone to always stick up for herself.

I give Fire Brand a four out of five. While the book does come off as dated, especially with how much of a chain smoker Bowie is and some of the ways Bowie treated Gaby, I really enjoyed reading the two love stories along with the agricultural company side story and a lot of the historical Arizona information. Bowie was very hot and cold towards Gaby, but he was often sweet, charming, and soft spoken to her. Their blooming relationship was very fun to see develop throughout the book. Fire Brand had one of the most annoying, selfish, and self-centered parents that I’ve ever read, though. Both Aggie and her boyfriend act like immature children when Bowie interferes in their relationship, and Aggie gets downright nasty with her son and Abby. I would be ashamed to call that woman mother. Overall, Fire Brand was a nice stroll back to the way things used to be, before technology was so front and center. I forgot how hard it was to investigate things without the internet and Google!

I loved this book by Diana Palmer, is no secret I have always loved her books and his one was a really good read.

Gaby Cane, is fifteen when something horrible happens to her, and she is forced to flee into the night, and her Father had to flee the other way. This has shaped her into the 24 year old woman she is today. When she fled 9 years ago she hid out in the barn of an unknown family and was found by the son, Bowie McCayde. He brings her into the house and hands her over to his mother, who always wanted to have a girl. AS time goes by Bowie realizes that his mother shows more attention to Gaby than him, and even though he is an adult, it still hurts him. He was never really raised in love, everything was business with his father and so he was always trying to win his respect.

Ten years have gone by, and Gaby now works for the newspaper and is very good at her job. One night after a shooting Bowie shows up at her work, and she feels apprehensive but curious about what he wants. They have seen each other over the years, but he never sought her out before.

Bowie can't believe the beautiful but innocent beauty she has grown up to be, and he feels enamored of her, but she always does not like to be touched and he could never figure out why. After he asks her to take a vacation and help him at the ranch to find out if his mother is falling in love with a gold digger and he wants her to keep an eye on his mother, she thinks she will be there by herself. When she gets to the ranch he is already there.

Bowie starts having feelings for her, but he can sense her resistance and fear. On top of this a huge company is trying to sell some of his prime land to farm cotton on and he says no! Gaby, being the reporter she is looks into it and can see both sides. Will they both lose out on a chance at love for this reason, since it seems as if the are on opposite sides of the fence. Will Bowie's mother marry a gold digger? Will Gaby ever be able to give herself to a man without fear?

Read the surprising ending and watch this story into a book with angst, heartbreak, and love, and you will see why I love Diana Palmer's books so much!

I gave this book 5***** emotional stars!