"A dark tale of love and romance in Puritan England"
Kristy Sinclair has been dreaming every night a vision of a
man with brilliant green eyes, surrounded by evil beings
that mean nothing but harm to Kristy. In spite of the
vividness of these nightly encounters, she believes they
are nothing more than dreams; surely they are not
premonitions of things to come. When she comes across an
antique scrying mirror in a New Age Boutique, she has to
have it, though she can't begin to explain why. She looks
into the mirror and sees those same green eyes which have
haunted her nights, and suddenly she is seeing a flesh and
blood man, with those same eyes. Somehow, Kristy has been
magically transported, via her mirror, to a distant past,
where anyone even remotely suspected of witchcraft is
hunted down and killed as a matter of course. Jared Ramsey is a successful smuggler of goods forbidden in
Puritan England. Imagine his surprise when upon returning
to his room one night, he finds a lovely woman of unusual
speech and dress already there. Even more surprising are
her claims that she comes from another time and place!
Witchcraft!! She is beautiful, unlike anyone he has known,
so it is only natural he come to her rescue, when she is
accused of witchcraft. He takes Kristy with him on his
travels to unload his cargo and gather information for his
greater mission... to return a Stuart to his rightful place
on England's throne. Witch hunters and the Lord Protector's police aren't all
who are on their tail however. A powerful witch, Gwyneth,
is after them as well, wanting Kristy's dormant powers for
her coven. Hers is one of The Left-Hand Path though,
practitioners of black magic and Kristy is terrified of the
witch. But Gwyneth has one thing that may lure her to them.
Kristy has no memory of the first six years of her life, or
her parents. This evil witch claims to have all the answers
Kristy has long sought, but will only reveal them when she
comes to the coven willingly. Kristy is horrified to hear what the coven wants of her and
Jared doesn't know what to believe. He doesn't want to
think she is a witch, but.... The more time he spends with
Kristy, the more he desires her and wants to believe her,
despite his doubts. He finds himself helping her to escape
witches and hunters alike, as their journey takes them
across England and into Scotland. But there is no escaping
such powerful enemies. Will Kristy and Jared overcome the
evil they are faced with? And what about her forgotten
years? Is she really a powerful witch like Gwyneth claims?
Is she descended from a legacy of darkness or light? This was an interesting book, though it had a very dark
storyline. Anyone who has a hard time hearing about black
magic practices should not read this book. There are
references to different kinds of sacrifices the witches
make, though no specific details or description. This book
is all about the struggle of good vs. evil, with lots of
romance thrown in. Kristy and Jared's attraction is immediate from the moment
they meet, even before that, in her dreams. Jared struggles
with his attraction to her, since he has a hard time
believing her claims of time travel and that she is not a
witch. He is afraid of being drawn into something evil,
from which there is no escape. Before Gwyneth is really
introduced, when Kristy is just having visions of her and
the mysterious red fog she travels in, one can sense the
malevolence in her character, knowing there is something
about her that is far from right. Just the descriptions of
her appearance and silent actions in the beginning are
enough to send chills up the reader spine and cause the
hairs on the back of the neck to prickle, leading in to a
lot of times where that will happen. This was a good book, giving some interesting details of
Puritan life in England, and the time period. It is
apparent Ms. Haviland did her research thoroughly for this
tale. And fear not, good does triumph over evil in the end,
as it should, with an interesting spin on the story line. c. Kelley A. Hartsell, August 2002. All rights reserved.
Courtesy Love Romances
Posted August 14, 2002
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted November 19, 2006
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