"superb romantic fantasy"
Though at the top of her game as a famous in demand
actress, Madalyn Mae Simon decides she no longer needs to
take the shallow smiles from so-called friends and terrible
movies. She needs to escape far away from the phoniness of
Hollywood, but wants to stay in the United States so she
leaves Southern California for Alaska, but she does not
even stay in Anchorage. Instead she moves to a village in
the artic where she hopes to regain her mental health. Her harmony is disrupted when her sister Drake persuades
Madalyn that camera in hand, they should explore the
wildlife of the tundra. However, they run into Otar and
three of his Viking compatriots who abduct the siblings for
fear they will reveal to the outside world that beneath the
frozen tundra is their home New Sweden; besides they need
breeders for the colony. Otar recognizes Madalyn as the
actress he secretly has loved for years from the audience
and plans to make her his wife; if she refuses she takes
her chance on the marriage mart auction. Madalyn begins to
fall in love with her new husband, but assumes he loves the
screen version and not the flesh and blood real person. Fans will initially be skeptical of the setting,
classifying it with Santa's North Pole, but rather quickly
through the characters and the deep social relationships
readers will believe that New Sweden exists underground
within the Arctic Circle. This conversion occurs because
the strong cast especially the lead couple makes the
background feel plausible. The exhilarating story line that
never slows down once Otar realizes Madalyn (and Drake) has
seen them, which leads the audience seeking the previous
romantic fantasy set in New Sweden, the novella Hunter's
Right, part of TIE ME UP, TIE ME DOWN.
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted March 12, 2006
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted January 24, 2007
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