Promise of Fire

This pre-Revolutionary War romance disappoints with its cliched characters and excessive reliance on convenient coincidences. Rich, beautiful, willful American Brittany Chambers vows not to marry; then she meets dashing, possessive English aristocrat Bryce Tremaine, who finds the task of taming her almost as compelling as the mission of vengeance that brings him to the colonies. Their passion mingles pain and pleasure, sometimes displayed in scenes of questionable taste. Anachronistic improbabilities abound: Brittany gives little thought to the stigma attached to her premarital deflowering and subsequent pregnancy; she buys her slave Tansy's freedom, they become bosom companions, and Tansy eventually marries Bryce's best friend, who is half-black although he's been passing as white. Sattler's ( The Bargain ) lack of surprises leaves the reader unsatisfied in this sluggish romance. (Dec.)