Returning from the timber fields of Northern California, Ward Bose moves in with his sister. The weekly knitting group shows up, and Ward is attracted to Ivy Mattson, a lively lady. But Ivy is married - and since a logging accident, her husband is in a wheelchair. Ivy is doubly off limits. FEVERED HEARTS looks at some challenging issues and may not suit everyone.

Liam Mattson has given up on life, not knowing how to cope with his disability. He's upset that his lovely wife is missing out on marital activity, as well as earning a living for both of them. He decides to help his father in the timber firm's office - but their competitors the Bose family have begun clear-cutting hillsides of forest. The Mattsons disapprove. So does an environmental group, raising tensions in town. When Liam talks to Ward to find out what the situation really is, he puts an interesting proposition to his former buddy.

Poor Ivy is left out of these machinations, with a court job and no contact with the timber firms. Ward's offer to take her to bed nearly freaks her out, especially when he says Liam was behind it. From here on the reader has to suspend her own feelings of right and wrong, because these three adults have to communicate and discover what can be right for them. It seems a little too convenient that Liam and Ward are bisexual; they had an affair for some months when they were younger. I have to think that Ivy's letting a virtual stranger make love to her while her disabled husband watched would be far more uncomfortable than having some privacy. And a man telling another man to take her to the bedroom, seems to be removing some of the choice Ivy is entitled to have. She comes across as a woman who has been worn down by her family circumstances. While bright and trying to be positive, she is letting outside forces dominate her life and thinking.

The activities may be therapeutic for Liam, and getting the two families to join forces improves the tree-cutting issues. But I can't shake the feeling that Ivy is used by the two men and is put in a position where she cannot refuse. Em Petrova writes gritty romances and this is the first I've read where the woman is less than the strongest character. This erotic and unconventional romance FEVERED HEARTS may suit you, or you may prefer to explore the other works by Em Petrova to start.