"Not as compelling as the previous Donovans"
Unlike the others in the DONOVAN LEGACY, this one did not
enchant me. It featured a self-centered hero, a gullible
heroine,
and a decided lack of plot. The premise was fine but it
went nowhere in a big hurry. This Donovan, Liam, is a
second cousin
to the original Donovans. He has isolated himself in the
mountains in order to make a grave decision. He's been
requested
to take on the mantle of Prince of his people, by his
father the current Prince. On the wind comes a
message.....Love is
coming to Liam. Liam wants no part of love and is
determined to make his decision without its influence. In
fact he
shrewdly determines to use his knowledge of the coming
prospect as an excuse for his final decision. You see as
prince he
must choose another hereditary witch as his mate. If the
young woman being sent is not, he can marry her and use her
as
his excuse to decline. If she should prove to be a witch he
can then refuse her, sighting lack of love as his reason to
decline. This should give you a pretty good insight into
his character already. The heroine, Rowan, is at a crossroad in her life.
Everything in her life has been chosen for her, her career
as a teacher,
her blasé fiancé. She is dissatisfied convinced that
something is missing in her life she retreats to the self
same
mountains to come to a decision as to the direction her
life should now take. This is where she meets Liam. Liam's gift, among others, is the ability to change form.
Taking the shape of his favorite form, a wolf, he scopes
out his
new neighbor, Rowan. Ever astute he draws the conclusion
that she is his prophesized love interest. Rowan is quite
taken
with the wolf, but no so her enigmatic neighbor, at least
at first. Liam attempts to avoid her in his human form
while
watching over her and learning about her in his wolf form.
He crosses the bounds of decency, however, as takes
advantage of opportunities to share her bed and watch her
bathe. He quickly realizes something that Rowan herself
does
not know. She too is a hereditary witch. She is unaware
because her mother married a mortal and chose not to accept
her
nature. Rowan's grandmother whom she is named after, was
put down as being merely and eccentric old woman. In spite of himself Liam finds himself wanting to be near
her in human form as well. Eventually he feels compelled to
reveal her nature to her, and decides that the best way to
convince her is to reveal his own. Justifiably appalled by
Liam's
deceit and the way he has taken advantage of her loving
nature, she flees back to her home. She is determined to
make
the life of her choosing without him, until his mother
appears and tells her he is miserable. Rowan naturally
swallows her
pride and gives him another chance. So what does he do? He
admits that he loves her qualifying by stating that he
doesn't
have to like it, and by the way I decided I want to be
prince with or without you. I don't think the characters ever really connected for me.
I wasn't sure they belonged together, nor that I liked them
enough to care. I enjoy romances with subplots or intrigue.
I like to see the pair working together to a common goal, or
against a common foe. Even if they are working at cross-
purposes, I like that little niggling in the back of their
minds that
says, I love this person, why am I doing this? There just
was no story here, just two self-involved people who never
quite
get over themselves. Not a keeper for me. Copyright © 1999
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted May 2, 2001
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Nora Robert's Donovan Legacy continues in November 1999 with Enchanted, a brand-new Silhouette Intimate Moments story. Needing to escape her predictable life, teacher Rowan Laine retreats to the wild Oregon woods for a summer, and becomes fascinated by her devastatingly handsome neighbor Liam Donovan. Genre: Paranormal Romance, Magic, Witche
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