Three years in the making, Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire was executive-produced by Jim Steinman, who had produced Tyler's previous album.

Tyler's album features collaborations with songwriters and guest artists including Desmond Child and Todd Rundgren.

Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire received generally mixed reviews, but was still a commercial success, reaching No.

Bonnie Tyler and Jim Steinman had already seen international success with Faster Than the Speed of Night (1983) and its highest charting single "Total Eclipse of the Heart".

Steven Wine primarily had criticism toward the length of the tracks, stating that "only Bonnie Tyler's parents would want to listen to her sing the same song for six minutes, but three of the eight tunes on [the album] exceed that span."

[10] Tom Ford of Toledo Blade stated that "although Tyler proves able to do some interesting things, she is outdistanced by the tiresome ponderousness of the material," concluding that "the prissy, self-indulgence here is just too much to stand.

"[11] Paul Speelman of The Age opined that Tyler and Steinman were "deeply entrenched in a rut", and found the music to be excessive.

"There are banks of synthesizers, layers of percussion, dramatic electronic gimmickry and huge production: no wonder poor old Bonnie had to yell to be heard above that lot," he said, praising Tyler's voice.

Jerry Spangler of Deseret News described the album as "a fine collection of tunes with good musical variety and a lot of energy.

The last three single releases – "No Way to Treat a Lady", "Rebel Without a Clue" (peaking at number 162 in the UK)[17] and "Lovers Again" – failed to chart worldwide.