Flames of Glory - Large Print Author:Patricia Matthews Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders are about to charge up and down the Hill; in Tampa, Florida Latinos are rallying to fight their own war against Spain for Cuban independence; and three women -- rich banker's daughter Jessica Manning, not-so-nice wealthy Dulcy Thomas, and proud, beautiful chef's daughter Maria Mendes -- saute in passion while... more » their menfolk are flicked by flames of glory in the Spanish-American war.
It all begins at a grand Tampa ball during which: Jessica and stalwart Lieutenant Neil Dancer exchange admirations; Dulcy exchanges with Neil some sexual satisfactions in the shrubbery; and waitress Maria oversees refreshments. But Neil is only one of several men whom the leading ladies wrestle over (and with) through Matthews' latest throb-arama. Jessica, after performing nobly during a fire in the Mendes' section of town, is tended by the family and admired by Maria's brother Ramon -- who tries to forget Jessica is a gringa. (Jessica just plain forgets: she's a bit of an amnesiac who can't seem to remember her island-love idyll with Neil, who's off fighting in Cuba.) Maria is also courted by two men: old friend Carlos, who (with Ramon) leaves for the front; and US Lieut. Tom Farrel. And all three women come more or less under the spell of suave Britt Kroger, a con man with a mother fixation who is managing charity balls for both the Anglos and Latins of Tampa, presumably to raise war-effort money -- loot which he intends to spirit off.
Minimal war and politics, maximum flounce and gasps in the typical Matthews (Tides of Love, etc.) manner.« less