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"Mages and mayhem - can it lead to love?"

Since childhood when they were brought as orphans to train with wizard Madawc, Mages Eliana Daere [the Fiend] and Damir ap Kora [the Demon] have competed against one another. Skilled in herbs, Eliana believes she has finally come up with a potion to best Damir, now the king's advisor. By switching cups of the Wine of Truce, Damir finds that Eliana's potion has wiped her memory instead of his as planned. Feeling responsible as well as vengeful, Damir takes her home telling her that he is her husband. Damir soon discovers that his childhood nemesis is more than he ever dreamed.

Even without her memory, Eliana is not a meek maiden but urgent events cannot wait for her to remember her past. The dark ki [spirit] of an ancient evil mage is being felt throughout the Woodlands and the king and advisors believe it is coming from the Norse. Eliana and Damir must travel to the north and confront a rebel mage and the Norse influenced by the dark ki.

Ms. Piel has again provided strong characters and adventures that are a joy to read. STRANGE BREWS is a romantic fantasy in a 'historical style' setting. The elements of magic and amnesia stir the imagination in a story where love must battle evil and all is not as it seems. Although the story comes to a satisfying ending, I hope that the sequel hinted in this book is to be published as this is a world that I would like to visit again.

Courtesy: eBOOKISLE

Reviewed by Cy Korte
Posted November 5, 2006

Eliana Daere was the greatest herbalist alive. Trained by the wizard Madawc, she could brew a potion to bring on a gentle slumber, or a philter to drop a foe dead in his tracks. Only one man existed whom she feared—one man who constantly thwarted her will, one detestably handsome, insolent and gifted sorcerer. It was his power that protected the land of Amrodel. But Damir would never turn down her offer of an alliance, and when he arrived at the Mage's Glade and drank of the Wine of Truce, Eliana would spring her trap.

He'd never trusted Eliana Daere. Her beauty had haunted him since their school days, but she was headstrong and impulsive and had reputedly aligned herself with the enemy. That was why Damir found Eliana's offer hard to swallow—he was well-prepared for treachery—and why, when she fell into his hands, he felt no remorse about teaching her a lesson. But he would not use force; he would be gentle. He would craft a seduction so potent that, in the end, she would have to admit to her own desires. It was a strange brew that had brought them together, but nonetheless the sweetest he had ever tasted.