My impressions of the print version of Slow Heat in Heaven were favorable although I thought the violence too intense for my tastes and the villains a little too evil for believability.

And, there is a sensuous love story buried beneath a ton of impediments. It’s best to keep in mind the 1988 publication date as Cash is a Vietnam veteran approaching 40 (the math does work), he smokes, and his rough edges only work to make his character all the more complex. But the more important character here is the outrageous Cash. Schyler is not a heroine I could refer to as “warm” and, at times, I had to remind myself that I did actually “like” her character despite her knee-jerk reactive dialogue and occasional foolish actions. The money behind the family’s wealth is from logging rather than cotton and with Schyler’s father in the hospital, there is only one person who knows how to keep the logging business afloat – Cash. The home where she grew up has a name, Belle Terre – it’s the modern version of a Southern plantation. Schyler returns to Louisiana after a six-year absence when her father’s life is threatened by a heart attack. Although Cash’s behavior was the big talk at the time, both Cash and heroine Schyler Crandell’s behavior caused eyebrows to lift.

Published in 1988, Brown scandalized romance readers with this raw, scary tale that is similar to a modern Southern gothic tale. I found I couldn’t resist the descriptions I was hearing of Cash Boudreaux, an edgy, disdainful, and highly sexual hero who holds society’s rules in disregard. After a few spectacular fails with Brown’s earlier releases, I picked up Slow Heat in Heaven with more than a little trepidation.

Slow Heat in Heaven by Sandra Brown