Susan Carroll
Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0-345-43397-1
Reviewed by Bea Sheftel
The book opens with a somber, angry man on ship returning to his home in Cornwall seeking revenge. Raphael Mortmain is dying but before he dies he intends to destroy Val. St. Leger. The bleakness of the weather seems to settle in this man. He lives with the nightmare of being left while his mother returned to Cornwall to obtain his birthright. His hatred for Val St. Leger keeps him alive, as evil pervades his mind.
Val St. Leger is not the monster Raphael thinks. He is a healer with a heart of compassion and love. And yet he is trapped by a family curse that prevents him from marrying. If he goes against the curse, his bride will die an early death. The woman he loves is young Kate Fitzleger; a former street urchin who was rescued from a cruel orphanage and brought to a life of luxury in Cornwall to live in a castle by the sea.
She is passionately in love with Val when he rebuffs her advances to protect her, she sees help in magic. Stealing into the attack, which is supposed to be haunted she comes face to face with the ghost of Propsero St. Leger, the ancestor who delved into magic and potions. She steals his magic book and tries a spell to make Val St. Leger love and marry her. Only the spell goes wrong.
I was enchanted by the many different characters in this book, especially Val. St. Leger, the wounded hero, and his young charge, Kate. The author has created a book of intrigue, imagination, and romance. I absolutely loved the book and found it hard to put down. The author writes in a literary quality style that tempts the reader with fascinating characters and an intricate plot. I highly recommended this book. It is good the first time, and the second. It is one those rare books that is a keeper.
4 Stars
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