"a wonderful Regency fairy tale"
Lauren needs the ruby that she believes the Duke of
Chillhart's ancestors stole from her family to rescue her
sister Beth. Posing as the daughter of an Earl lost at sea,
she hopes to enter the ton, find the ruby and trade it for
Beth. Grant Hale the Duke of Chillhart, doesn't want to get
married, but if he doesn't marry his deceased grandmother's
companion Lauren, (who he is sure is a charlatan) he will
not inherit the money he desperately needs to run his
estates. Allegro and Largo want to fix the broken magical harp that
when fixed will lock the trolls back beneath the surface of
the Earth. To do this, they need the Keeper of the Flower
of the Health (aka the Duke of Chillhart), to fall in love,
which will create the magic needed to fix the harp. However
pairing up two humans that would rather kill or rob the
other blind is going to be a challenge when the two fairies
won't consider failure as an option! Gloria Harchar has written a wonderful Regency fairy tale.
I really liked the way the humans didn't believe in the
fairy world other than as stories. Then the two worlds
collide and the ensuing mayhem had me reading so fast that
I had to finish the book in one sitting. Just so you know, I haven't read the first book in the
series...yet. Allegro and Largo are two matchmaking fairies
that must perform miracles if they want to save their
kingdom of Jubilant, and I did have some confusion with
their terminologies. You get a lot of information right up
front about them that will make more sense the further
along you read. I found both the fairies absolutely
fascinating and am glad I will get to learn more about them
in the third story, so I would imagine that as a reader you
must learn about them in the first book because as I
mentioned, I was a little confused. Grant and Lauren are interesting characters and I actually
really enjoyed their courtship and relationship. Because
Grant blames Laurens biological father for his own families
declining wealth, he has trust issues (only loving a woman
can allow her to have access to the Flower -- which is
actually a magical ruby). Lauren flat out doesn't trust men
and yet finds herself married to the man she is trying to
steal from as well as having to trust him with her sister's
life. So their relationship is built on deceptions and is a
very turbulent one! Excellent book! While I am planning on reading the first
story, I think ENCHANTED BY MAGIC can stand-alone. Posted January 24, 2006
Reviewed by Cynthia Eckert
Posted December 7, 2006
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