Lucien and his twin brother, Damien, joined the army in service to England.  Damien continued on, but Lucien diverged into a different path - that of an accomplished and cunning spy.  His mission to seek and destroy the enemy wasn't going to be easy, but it was one he had to do to regain a part of himself.  Everything was set up, laid out to the detail, in his home of Revell Court.  That was before his well-constructed plans were interrupted by Alice Montague, the sister-in-law of his latest affair.

Coming to Revell Court was a mistake, but when Alice realized it, it was already too late.  Coming to retrieve her promiscuous sister-in-law, Caro, proved to be a twisted turn of events of which Alice never would have dreamed.  Now, instead of accompanying Caro home to tend to Caro's sick son, Harry, Alice was now in the clutches of "Draco", Lucien, himself for a week!  She couldn't understand the events that were taking place at Revell Court, nor did she want to.  However, there was a side of Lucien she didn't expect to find buried beneath his cunning and alluring exterior.

Lucien, deeply affected by the war and what had happened to him, had never had anyone except his beloved twin to count on; to depend on.  Then Damien turned his back on him, he believed, because of his choice to become a spy instead of fighting in combat.  Alice's tempting innocence made Lucien yearn for something beyond his hopes - to be loved for whom he was.  Before they can make a way toward their future together, Lucien must make a critical choice between his duty and his desire before death came calling once again.

LORD OF FIRE is stunning in it's appeal.  Most of that appeal lies in its hero, Lucien Knight.  Lucien is supposedly the bad twin, but his multi-level personality causes the reader and the heroine to seek out the real Lucien.  He is cunning and foreboding on one level, a man in need of acceptance and love on another, and a fierce and determined avenger on the next.  He was such a fun character to read and discover, I could easily see why Alice had trouble keeping her distance from him.  Alice, on the other hand, was the pure innocent forced to come in contact with this charming rake.  She was the balm to his tortured soul he so desperately craved.  She was a woman of integrity, as Lucien saw her, someone he had searched the world over for.  Lucien, on the other hand, was pretending to be a rake with low motives, but in fact he was sincere.  The other facet of this book was Lucien's past that he sought to destroy.  The cunning spy game as a backdrop works well and doesn't disappoint in its goal as bringing everything to a central focus.  Foley's writing has so many remarkable qualities; one can't begin to name them all.  Just read her stories and you will see why LORD OF FIRE is another stunning read.