MIDNIGHT BRIDE

Susan Carroll, MIDNIGHT BRIDESusan Carroll

"It is always dangerous to use magic to trifle with the human heart." This declaration, uttered by Prospero, the ghost of a once powerful medieval sorcerer and now a ghost, offers a one-line plot summary of this simplistic yet bewitching 19th-century historical romance. Carroll continues the St. Leger family saga (The Bride Finder; The Night Drifter) with the story of Dr. Valentine St. Leger, a shy descendant of Prospero who possesses a supernatural gift for healing others by absorbing their pain into his own body. The 32-year-old Val has been condemned to a solitary life by a family superstition, which, if ignored, would result in tragedy. Beautiful and feisty Kate Fitzleger, however, has loved Val ever since she came to his English country village when she was adopted by a local. Not one to let family tradition stand in her way, Kate sets out to find a book of sorcery in Prospero's deserted tower. She steals the wizard's tome and, disregarding his warning, casts a spell on her beloved. In the meantime, a sickly midnight visitor appears at Val's home bearing a magic crystal that once belonged to the St. Legers. The talisman has a strange effect on Val, curing his disabled leg and stirring his darker passions. The stranger, whom Val recognizes as Rafe Mortmain, sworn enemy to the St. Leger family, escapes, but not without feeling a change in himself as well. Believing that her spell is the cause of Val's corruption, Kate desperately tries to revoke it. But the only one who can help her is Rafe, and that will mean ending a centuries-old feud. Carroll's swift-moving tale won't disappoint her fans. National ad/promo.(May)

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Reviewed on: 04/16/2001

Genre: Fiction

Peanut Press/Palm Reader - 290 pages - 978-0-345-49351-4