Evangeline has taken a sabbatical from her day job
and retired to the country to write her first novel. Of course, that's not the only reason - there
was that little matter of a violent altercation involving her last case. And then there is the inspiration to be found
for a supernatural novel in the local Roman ruins and the country house known
as Crystal Gardens which locals prefer to avoid. Sadly, after completing four chapters of the
novel she is extremely uninspired, suffering both boredom and writer's block.
Additional inspiration strikes when our heroine
flees her cottage for Crystal Gardens pursued by a murderer with a knife and
falls almost literally into the arms of Lucas, the new owner of Crystal
Gardens. The carnivorous plants in the
Night Garden get the attempted murderer, so Lucas attempts to get to the bottom
of the attack by interviewing Evangeline.
Not much is resolved so he returns her to her cottage before anyone sees
them together. [The setting is Victorian
so seeing the heroine, dressed only in her wrapper, in the company of the hero
would be far more shocking than a contemporary heroine who moonlights as Miss
Kitty Galore at the local strip club.]
Evangeline now has the cure for her writer's block and her boredom, she
will make the villain of her piece into the hero and model him after the
fascinating Lucas!
Lucas sends for an aunt to provide propriety to
the situation and has Evangeline move into Crystal Gardens so he can protect
her while trying to solve the crime. To
Lucas’ dismay, more and more family members appear throughout the story adding
further complexities to the story line.
Besides solving murders, attempted murders, thefts, and the mystery of
the out-of-control gardens; Evangeline deals with Lucas' stepmother who has
dark secrets and a taste for melodrama, the matchmaking aunt and the
much-younger and scientifically, but not psychically, inclined siblings.
This is a paranormal romance. The hero, the heroine, the heroine's friends,
the plants, AND the pool in the garden all possess some sort of psychic
power. Despite the psychic stuff, this
is NOT an Arcane Society novel - so don't spend your time looking around
virtual corners expecting them to show up.
They don't.
This is historical romantic suspense - it has
sexual tension but not a whole lot of sex - and what occurs is not detailed.
Krentz is great writer - whether she is in her Amanda Quick, Jayne Ann Krentz,
or Jayne Castle mode. Her characters are
fascinating, the dialogue is witty, and the plots are page turning. Probably because it is a Victorian setting,
this book is 'cooler' in tone than some of her others. If you are new to the author you might want
to start with one of her earlier novels - Scandal perhaps, or Ravished. Of course that might be because the Victorian
era was never a personal interest of mine but she does make it breathe...
Good read? Yes.
Will there be more in this series?
Undoubtedly. Will I buy
them? Definitely. And the ultimate accolade? My husband liked it too...
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