Fobes (To Tame a Wild Heart) draws readers into a world of mysticism and magic once again in this beguiling, early-19th-century romance between an inventor and a sea maiden. Centuries ago, an old gypsy witch consigned the descendants of the St. Germaine family to life as half-human, half-dolphin creatures because they stole her family's lucky Sea Opal and killed the leader of her clan. Cole Strangford is the final descendent in the gypsy witch's family line, and Juliana St. Germaine knows it's imperative she marry him to break the curse on her people. When out of water, the sea people can take on human forms, so Juliana and her brother, George, devise a clever scheme to seduce Cole and his prospective bride, Lila. The seduction goes as planned, but Juliana soon finds herself falling in love with Cole and regretting her deception. While Juliana's transformation into a half-dolphin is unattractively explicit, the beauty and power of the sea creatures more than compensates for the jarring description. Likewise, Fobes's stilted dialogue ("...we must share confidences, no?") doesn't detract from the refreshing originality of this fanciful fable. (Mar. 11)
