Nicolas Montgomery fell in love with a bewitching woman only months before his sworn obligation to marry another. His beloved’s fury cast a spell that lasted hundreds of years: “You will never love another like you love me. You will never know a moment’s peace for what you have done. Until you love me enough to forsake everything–your honor, your pride, your own soul–we cannot be together.”
Reborn into the body of Sean Concannon, a powerful witch, Nicolas has found his beloved. Now he has a choice to make, a sacrifice. One he may be unprepared to make.
A beautiful love story begins beside a quiet stream in the 14th century–two powerful, magical people find each other and begin a steamy love affair which lasts three months. Brought to a painful end by Nicolas’ marriage–a marriage arranged by his parents and which would maintain the family’s social position and honor–Nicolas leaves Aislinn. He had, after all, told her from the first that they could never be together–and in her pain and heartbreak, she reveals publically that she is a witch–right on his wedding day, right in front of all the high and noble, powerful people gathered for that celebration. She did it knowing the pain would crush him, knowing that it would mean her death, knowing that there would be no peace for him anytime soon. As he watches her being consumed by the fire, the emerald brooch he had given her finds its way into his hand, piercing his flesh and branding him with its shape. He buries her beside the stream where he first saw her, marking her grave with the stone where he saw her sitting. He left his child bride behind and died 17 years later in Ireland, saving a witch from a similar fate.
Seven hundred years later, a beautiful lady, one with violet eyes and waves of golden curls falling around her shoulders, wanders into a small, rather shabby booth at a Kentucky flea market. There she sees an emerald brooch, one that calls out to her and which, for some reason, she decides absolutely belongs to her. Later, the famous magicial and illusionists (and powerful witch) Sean Concannon learns that a Ms Ryannon Welles has a brooch that appears to be identical to the one his family has always owned. She refuses to sell at any price. When he travels to confront her himself, he recognizes her–he has finally found her–and their story moves forward.
Shiloh Walker has written a story of love gained and lost, of pain and betrayal, of magic that spans the centuries of multiple lives, of frustrating and fruitless searches for a soul mate who is “out there” somewhere. The pain of that first encounter which sears the heart with its awful pain is one thing. The reader is dragged forward into the current century, almost with a force that barely allows one to breathe, before once again that hard and mind-bending choice is before the contemporary incarnation of Nicolas: is your love for Aislinn great enough that you can forsake everything that means anything to you?
It is a novella that is full of twists and turns, mysterious soul and mind communications, the quiet yet powerful recognition of a person whose beautiful soul can never be disguised. Yet it has that confrontational quality that seems to leap off the page–fictional characters that suddenly become so real so that one wonders if they aren’t, in truth, really alive. I know that when I finished reading this work I had the sense that I had been struck right between the eyes. It is powerful in its ability to pose the core question about any love relationship: Is this person meaningful enough to me, special enough, essential enough that 1) I can’t go forward with him/her; 2) and will I do whatever it takes to keep this person in my life? And if indeed we pass from this life into other manifestations of existence, will this love endure and cross those time divides?
As always, Ms Walker has that talent that concocts a story that seem to be greater than the sum of its parts. She has, of course, given her fans many different kinds of stories but all of them reflect her creativity and writing expertise without fail. This novella was just that–a shorter work, and in reading and reviewing short stories and novells there have been times that I have really been disappointed that some of her stories have been so brief. This is definitely one of those times. Yet there was a sense of closure to Sean and Rhee’s story that seemed appropriate so I didn’t grieve too much. As always, the loving is intense and erotic, but the sexual content does not overwhelm the rest of the tale.
I can’t imagine a romance fiction fan that won’t like this story. I just can’t. And reading this story has confirmed that I will be excited to read any of Ms Walker’s work, whether it be one of her most recent releases or stories that have been around for awhile. Do your number crunching and figure out a way to get this book. I don’t think you’ll be sorry.
I give this work a rating of 5 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.
