Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Penguin Publishing Group
Description
Fiction. Romance. Science Fiction. Suspense. HTML:All his life, Rand T�??Ash has looked forward to meeting his HeartMate, with whom he could begin a family. Once a street tough, now a respected nobleman and artisan, he has crafted the perfect HeartGift, which, in the custom of the psychically gifted population of the planet Celta, is the way a man finds�??and attracts�??his wife�?� Danith Mallow is irresistibly drawn to the magnificent necklace on display in T�??Ash�??s shop, but she is wary of its creator, despite an overpowering attraction. In a world where everyone is defined by their psychic ability, Danith has little, placing her at the opposite end of the social spectrum from T�??Ash. But T�??Ash refuses to accept her rejection and sees it as a challenge instead. They are HeartMates, but can T�??Ash persuade his beloved to accept he… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Wow. As I think about the story afterward, it's a pretty standard romance - interesting SF/Fantasy setting, but nothing very new. But when I finished it, it was as if a large and gentle whirlwind had just set me down - I was totally caught up in the story. Just wow. I want the rest, and the
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Summoning books, too. A lot of standard tropes, well-handled - class differences, I-am-not-worthy (in both directions), misunderstandings (but not over-done). Interesting and well-drawn characters - no cardboard here, not even in the minor villains! And a very interesting setting - pretty much standard fantasy (with psi as magic) except for the constant references to the starship that brought them there (many generations ago). Love it. And a couple months later - I just discovered that this was her _first_ (published) novel. Wow all over again. More! Show Less
LibraryThing member Kyrie
I enjoyed this new author very much. Her world is well thought out and I had fun visiting it.
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
Although it is a bit overdone sometimes this is a charming SF romance where psionics is the used magic and your psionic ability dictates your place in society.
Rand T'Ash has faught his way to reclaiming his family home and his family's place in society. This took him from being a street tough to
He has created a piece of jewelery to attract his heart mate, his HeartGift. Danith is attracted to it but is afraid that it's a trap. He doesn't know how to go about seducing her and she isn't sure that she belongs with him.
Interesting and fun, it's an interesting read.
Rand T'Ash has faught his way to reclaiming his family home and his family's place in society. This took him from being a street tough to
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being the respected artisan.He has created a piece of jewelery to attract his heart mate, his HeartGift. Danith is attracted to it but is afraid that it's a trap. He doesn't know how to go about seducing her and she isn't sure that she belongs with him.
Interesting and fun, it's an interesting read.
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LibraryThing member Darla
I first read this book in 2002, and I loved it, and have loved the series, so when it was reissued, I took the opportunity to re-read. My copy of the original is back in San Antonio.
HeartMate introduces the world of Celta, with its Flair (magic) and Fams (pets--cats, who are telepathically bonded
Rand Ash, or T'Ash (the T' denotes the male head of the family; a D' denotes the female head) has rebuilt his family fortunes after a fire killed his entire family, leaving him at age 6 the only survivor. He got his revenge on the killers, and now his next task is to rebuild his family, and a wife features prominently in those plans. Fortunately, he has a HeartMate--a soul mate, the existence of which is revealed in the ceremony/ordeal that releases a person's Flair.
Said HeartMate is Danith Mallow, an orphan with, as she thinks, no Flair, and firmly in the lower-middle class. And she doesn't believe in HeartMates. In addition, she thinks T'Ash is just toying with her.
T'Ash, having spent his life fighting for his life, mostly solitary, and definitely without the civilizing influences of family, much less females, has a hard time convincing Danith that he's serious, and thinks if he can just form a HeartMate bond with her before she finds out what a terrible guy he is, she'll be stuck, and he'll be fine. Silly, silly man.
Both T'Ash and Danith learn things about themselves, and grow and change in the course of the book. It's mostly about their romance--there are other things going on that provide obstacles, but there's not, for example, a suspense or mystery plot along with the romance.
What amazes me so much is that HeartMate is a first book. It's no surprise that it won the RITA. But neither is it a surprise that Berkley/Jove waited to see how it did before agreeing to publish the next in the series. It's definitely different from the other paranormal romances out there. The few that are set on different worlds (at least the ones I've read) don't have the depth of worldbuilding this series does. Part of what I like so much, I suspect, is that I've always read a lot of sf/f, and this reads very much like an sf/f romance, without the sf/f details dumbed-down or left out for the too-stupid-to-care romance readers (not my opinion--it just seems sometimes that that's the opinion of some writers/editors/publishers).
Robin D. Owens is definitely a master storyteller. There's just something about her style... it's polished, or professional, maybe. It's like the difference between cheap fake-leather boots and the real deal.
*sigh* Okay, enough gushing.
HeartMate introduces the world of Celta, with its Flair (magic) and Fams (pets--cats, who are telepathically bonded
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to their owners) and Great Houses. It's a rich world, even from the beginning, yet the worldbuilding is entirely natural and non-intrusive.Rand Ash, or T'Ash (the T' denotes the male head of the family; a D' denotes the female head) has rebuilt his family fortunes after a fire killed his entire family, leaving him at age 6 the only survivor. He got his revenge on the killers, and now his next task is to rebuild his family, and a wife features prominently in those plans. Fortunately, he has a HeartMate--a soul mate, the existence of which is revealed in the ceremony/ordeal that releases a person's Flair.
Said HeartMate is Danith Mallow, an orphan with, as she thinks, no Flair, and firmly in the lower-middle class. And she doesn't believe in HeartMates. In addition, she thinks T'Ash is just toying with her.
T'Ash, having spent his life fighting for his life, mostly solitary, and definitely without the civilizing influences of family, much less females, has a hard time convincing Danith that he's serious, and thinks if he can just form a HeartMate bond with her before she finds out what a terrible guy he is, she'll be stuck, and he'll be fine. Silly, silly man.
Both T'Ash and Danith learn things about themselves, and grow and change in the course of the book. It's mostly about their romance--there are other things going on that provide obstacles, but there's not, for example, a suspense or mystery plot along with the romance.
What amazes me so much is that HeartMate is a first book. It's no surprise that it won the RITA. But neither is it a surprise that Berkley/Jove waited to see how it did before agreeing to publish the next in the series. It's definitely different from the other paranormal romances out there. The few that are set on different worlds (at least the ones I've read) don't have the depth of worldbuilding this series does. Part of what I like so much, I suspect, is that I've always read a lot of sf/f, and this reads very much like an sf/f romance, without the sf/f details dumbed-down or left out for the too-stupid-to-care romance readers (not my opinion--it just seems sometimes that that's the opinion of some writers/editors/publishers).
Robin D. Owens is definitely a master storyteller. There's just something about her style... it's polished, or professional, maybe. It's like the difference between cheap fake-leather boots and the real deal.
*sigh* Okay, enough gushing.
Show Less
LibraryThing member booklovre6
I like it, though I found the chapters to be too long for my taste. I loved the ending where they were finally happy. Looking forward to reading more of the series.
LibraryThing member booklovre6
I like it, though I found the chapters to be too long for my taste. I loved the ending where they were finally happy. Looking forward to reading more of the series.
LibraryThing member cranberrytarts
Re-read 10/26/11: Have I mentioned how much I love this series? The first time I read it, I read out of order. After finishing Heart Search a few days ago, I wasn't ready to Celta behind and decided to re-read. It held up very well. I can definitely see how Owens has grown as an author from this
____________
I was kind of nervous about reading this one after I finished Heart Duel, but it was awesome. I loved both T'Ash and Danith.
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book to her latest release. The characters bothered me some. The lack of communication between Danith and T'Ash rankled, though not enough to kill the story for me. The world-building wasn't quite as tight back then. Still, this is an excellent series and this book is one of the better ones. ____________
I was kind of nervous about reading this one after I finished Heart Duel, but it was awesome. I loved both T'Ash and Danith.
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LibraryThing member AzureStrawberry
3½
I'm not completely sure about this. Yeah, it's a beautiful love story, when you see it only from that side, but the setting it's quite difficult to grasp in the beginning...and also when you're completely absorbed in the story sometimes it make you lose the focus. But it's surely an original
And I loved T'Ash's Familial, Zanthoxil, a whole lot! A cat possessive, sharp-witted and with a characterization so perfect he seems more real that the human characters themselves. ;)
I'm not completely sure about this. Yeah, it's a beautiful love story, when you see it only from that side, but the setting it's quite difficult to grasp in the beginning...and also when you're completely absorbed in the story sometimes it make you lose the focus. But it's surely an original
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novel with many interesting aspects and characters.And I loved T'Ash's Familial, Zanthoxil, a whole lot! A cat possessive, sharp-witted and with a characterization so perfect he seems more real that the human characters themselves. ;)
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LibraryThing member Eire2011
I'm always on the lookout for books that have Celtic influence and when I found out this world is a whole planet of people whose ancestors came from Earth with a heavy Celtic influence, I couldn't resist.
On Celta most every has a touch of Flair (magic), high technology mixed with pagan traditions,
Rand T'Ash is a man of High class though for a time he lived as a Scruff (think really tough street urchin) and worked hard to get where he's at. He's of Noble birth whose family died in a house fire set by vigilantes who later are killed by Ash. His only companion is his familiar Zanth, a tough street catch who he can talk to telepathically. He learns one day of his HeartMate who will complete him in every way and sets out to win her though the journey will be far from easy.
Danith Mallow grew up in an orphanage and is content with her life of Middle class where she works as an accountant, dates Claif Clover who has a large family and has her cat Pansy. Then she encounters Ash who shakes up her life and helps her see she's far from ordinary. She soon learns that she's quite gifted with Flair in Healing as well as animals and is soon raised to the status of High class.
Life becomes complicated for this pair as they learn that life, love and believing in each other isn't easy but very well worth it.
Despite wanting to shake Ash a few times for his stubbornness and to realize he needs more patience, I liked his character. He's at times socially awkward especially when it comes to revealing his feelings but he's generous, is a fierce protector and tries to be supportive of Danith's choices.
Danith is a woman with a big heart, intelligent and an animal lover. She really grows into her Flair and comes to understand Ash.
I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to the rest of the series. I really hope I'll see more of Ash and Danith and possibly a growing family! Also, I want my own familiar now who can talk to be telepathically!!
On Celta most every has a touch of Flair (magic), high technology mixed with pagan traditions,
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a variety of different animals and a hierarchy of High, Middle and Low class.Rand T'Ash is a man of High class though for a time he lived as a Scruff (think really tough street urchin) and worked hard to get where he's at. He's of Noble birth whose family died in a house fire set by vigilantes who later are killed by Ash. His only companion is his familiar Zanth, a tough street catch who he can talk to telepathically. He learns one day of his HeartMate who will complete him in every way and sets out to win her though the journey will be far from easy.
Danith Mallow grew up in an orphanage and is content with her life of Middle class where she works as an accountant, dates Claif Clover who has a large family and has her cat Pansy. Then she encounters Ash who shakes up her life and helps her see she's far from ordinary. She soon learns that she's quite gifted with Flair in Healing as well as animals and is soon raised to the status of High class.
Life becomes complicated for this pair as they learn that life, love and believing in each other isn't easy but very well worth it.
Despite wanting to shake Ash a few times for his stubbornness and to realize he needs more patience, I liked his character. He's at times socially awkward especially when it comes to revealing his feelings but he's generous, is a fierce protector and tries to be supportive of Danith's choices.
Danith is a woman with a big heart, intelligent and an animal lover. She really grows into her Flair and comes to understand Ash.
I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to the rest of the series. I really hope I'll see more of Ash and Danith and possibly a growing family! Also, I want my own familiar now who can talk to be telepathically!!
Show Less
LibraryThing member TheYodamom
I struggled with this one. I was tempted to drop it in the beginning. There were just too many details. I was over whelmed with information and strange names. There was a lot in inner dialog, about class, clothes, textures, powers.....after a 100 pages I had little idea what was going on. I let the
Why did I stay with it ?
The main couple, they fought well, and stubbornly. He was a pigheaded controlling Alpha He-Man Noble, orphan and Ex-street rat turned Noble. She was an orphan, looking for family, filled with fear, wanted only safety, only to have everything turned 180 by the noble beast. Their battles, stupid little mating games and snippy moments kept me going.I was also wondering when they would finally do it. Yes, I am that way.
They also had cats, I love books with cute little side kicks. These cats weren't really cute. They were weird, jewel encrusted talking fur balls and lacked the snark I look for in my beasties. I'm not sure if I liked them or not, they ended on a null.
Sounds like I hated it I didn't. I had fun. It is a B list book for me.
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obnoxious details go and just keep reading. The characters held my interest, they were unique in their creation, aliens from another world living on earth. i think that it, I was really blanking out, mind numb reading for at least a 1/3 of the book. This is one long read too.Why did I stay with it ?
The main couple, they fought well, and stubbornly. He was a pigheaded controlling Alpha He-Man Noble, orphan and Ex-street rat turned Noble. She was an orphan, looking for family, filled with fear, wanted only safety, only to have everything turned 180 by the noble beast. Their battles, stupid little mating games and snippy moments kept me going.I was also wondering when they would finally do it. Yes, I am that way.
They also had cats, I love books with cute little side kicks. These cats weren't really cute. They were weird, jewel encrusted talking fur balls and lacked the snark I look for in my beasties. I'm not sure if I liked them or not, they ended on a null.
Sounds like I hated it I didn't. I had fun. It is a B list book for me.
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Awards
P.E.A.R.L. (Honorable Mention — 2001)
RITA Award (Finalist — Paranormal Romance — 2002)
Original publication date
2001
ISBN
9781440624278
Local notes
Celta's Heartmates, 01
DDC/MDS
| Fic Romance Owens |
Other editions
Heart Mate by Robin D. Owens (Paper Book)