"Captivating Tale of Magic in a Historical Setting!"
Tracy Fobes weaves her own brand of magic, blending history
and fantasy so realistically that the reader becomes
captive to her world from page one. London 1826 ~ Unbeknownst to her, Georgiana Darleigh holds
the fate of her nation in her hands, yet she would be
satisfied if only she could win the heart of her
husband ...
and then tear it from his chest! Indeed he had done so to
her. She had once naively imagined that Brock returned her
feelings, only to have her dream shattered when she
overheard the impoverished Marquis admit to a friend that
he had traded his name for her fortune. From that moment to
this, two years later, the two had lived separate lives. Brock, Lord Darleigh, had had ample time to regret his
foolishness. Unable to bear her nightly tears, he had
removed himself from her life, appointing his faithful
younger cousin, Rees, as her guide to society. In hopes of
capturing his attention, Georgiana's antics had become more
and more scandalous, until at last Brock can ignore them no
longer. He has just learned of his wife's plans for the
evening, to attend a masquerade held for
aristocrats .......and
their mistresses! Now it is not just his good name that
concerns him. He has watched his wife from afar grow more
confident and beautiful by the day. Indeed she had always
stirred intangible feelings within him, he had just been
too preoccupied with his precarious finances to pay them
any mind. However unfashionable, he wanted his own
wife......
badly. Attending the ball had been a mistake, Georgiana takes a
hard look at herself and doesn't like what she is becoming.
Loneliness swamps her, suddenly the garish glass pendant
around her neck, a remnant from her childhood never before
worn, warms against her skin and the person she'd been
thinking of, Gwynllian, the aunt who had raised her,
appears in the room. Has she gone mad? But no, the
apparition has captured the attention of two men. One of
them, a youth dressed as a druid, even attempts to speak to
it. The older man, the Duke of Gloucester, looks less than
pleased. He is even less so when the illusion disperses.
The Duke, for his part, put chills down Georgie's spine,
for he reeks of evil. Brock arrives to take his wayward wife home, an occurrence
Georgiana would have welcomed mere moments ago. Now the
illusion she has created has sent a beacon to druids both
good and evil, alerting them to the location of a Guardian
of Becoming, one who can create substance from chaos. Georgiana has a date with destiny. It had been foretold to
the Duke that a daughter of his loins would prevent him
from attaining his fondest desire, to sit upon the throne
of England. He had killed her mother in an effort to deny
destiny. He had thought he'd killed the child she bore as
well, his child, Georgiana. Georgiana learns that both of
her parents had had the power to create illusions making
her own powers even greater. Her power had lain dormant,
for her own safety, until she had donned the pendant. Now
only she stands between the Duke and his twisted desires.
She is also expected to produce the next generation of
Guardians....with David Gwylum, another such as herself. It
is her destiny and her duty, but Brock implores her to
create her own destiny .....with him. Will Georgiana choose
duty or love? Ms. Fobes throws in a twist of irony at the
end which really makes one think, for the future successor
to the throne was most vulnerable in truth. Another triumph
for Tracy Fobes! Highly recommended. Copyright © 2000
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted October 8, 2001
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