Heart of Fire by Linda Howard (Pocket, 1993)

Ben Lewis is Linda Howard’s take on Indianna Jones, and I have to say, as sexy as Harrison Ford is in those movies, this guy won for me hands down. When we first meet him, he seems like a womanizing drunk with more ego than brains. He tells the waitress that he’s worth the wait, and that “A couple of hours of screwing would take the edge off.” Needless to say, we’re every bit as skeptical as the heroine when her brother hires him as a guide into the Amazon Jungle. But what we’re skeptical about is not whether the two will get together, but how this guy is going to turn around to be worthy of our heroine. In the end, he more than proves his hero-ability.

STATS:

A guide in Manaus, Brazil, he’s hired by Jillian Sherwood and her brother to find a lost Amazon city.

THE LOOK:

Don’t underestimate him. When Jillian first sees him, he “lazed as if half asleep, an open bottle of whiskey in front of him. His appearance was deceptive, however. Even from beneath those half-lowered lids she could see intensity gleaming in his eyes….This man, in his mind, already had her stripped, spread-eagled, and penetrated, and didn’t care if she knew it.”

LEADING LADY:

A “buttoned up” archaeologist, Jillian Sherwood is on a mission to clear her father’s name, and the way she’s going to do that is by proving that “crockpot” Sherwood was right about the lost Amazon city. She has to go on the expedition, because she’s the only one who knows how to get there.

She’s strong, she’s mouthy, and she’s smart. Even when she gives in to the passion with Ben, she’s no push over. When he teases her about why they can’t have sex during her cycle, she says because “I don’t feel like it, don’t want to, and won’t let you.” He responds, “I guess that about covers the issue.”

Memorable moment:

When Ben and Jillian stay with native villagers and he tricks her into washing his laundry, she decides to punish him by messing with his food. Then he gives her a better idea. When he so clearly expects her to withhold sex, she goes along with it. Later, he tells her to go with her own instincts next time.

Genuine bewilderment:

Ben can’t understand why Jillian won’t give in and sleep with him. When he asks her, and she jokingly replies she doesn’t want children, so why bother, he stares at her and says, “You’ve never had a climax, have you?”

The journey from crude to caring:

When he first meets Jillian, Ben tells her to say home, and that “there isn’t enough prime pussy in the word as it is, and a man need to protect the supply.”

Later, he blithely reassures her that he would never “leave her hanging,” and he proves this by “marking her as his woman” so the men in their expedition will leave her alone.

Finally, by the time he and Jillian take the journey back to Manaus, Ben indeed thinks of Jillian as “his” and he’ll do anything, tender and violent and anything in between, to keep it that way.

BOTTOM LINE:

Like most of Linda Howard’s heroes, I find Ben Lewis irresistible. He’s sexy, he’s irreverent, and he’s a true swashbuckler. In the end, he makes a huge sacrifice for Jillian, and we know that there ll be nothing but adventure and good times ahead.

Question Of The Day?

The fourth Indianna Jones movie is coming out this year. Are you excited to see a more mature Harrison Ford in this role again?