Many thanks to Marie Treanor for spending the day with us for her recent Duck Chat. Don’t know about all of you, but I enjoyed finding out more about her vampire hero, Saloman. Talk about sexy!

And now for our winner! Drum roll, please!

** Pam S

You have yourself a copy of either Blood on Silk, the first book in Marie’s series, or Blood Sin, the second book. Send your choice and your snail mail address to lighthousetagger at gmail dot com and I’ll get in touch with Marie for you!

Congratulations!

Saloman. The name sends shivers of delight – and trepidation – down your spine once you get to know him. You understand Elizabeth’s plight when in one moment she wants to stake the arrogant vampire and then love him into oblivion the next. He evokes powerful and sensual emotions. He’s a hero you won’t soon forget.

Elizabeth is caught between that darned old rock and a hard place – she has the blood of vampire hunters running through her veins but she can’t resist, as much as she tries, the ancient being she awakened after a three-hundred-year sleep. I say, “Why keep trying, Elizabeth??!!” But that’s just me. Elizabeth has to do her own thing. And she does. Much to Saloman’s amusement.

If you haven’t read a good vampire story lately, try this series. I know you’ll fall just as hard as I have.

Summary:

Even if you walk in the light, you can dwell in the dark.

Months after her dangerous encounter with vampire overlord Saloman, Scottish academic Elizabeth Silk is still trying to cope with both the demands of her ancestral bloodline—which marks her as a vampire hunter — and the overpowering desire she feels for the immortal she brought back from the grave. But she is not alone in her fascination with Saloman.

When Elizabeth tracks down a distant cousin from America, she learns he possesses an antique sword that has caught the interest of the Grand Master of the American hunters. It is the ancient and mystical sword of Saloman — a treasure of vast occult powers and a prize beyond measure to both vampires and humans. Now the race is on for possession of the sword.

Even as her enemies and allies shift their allegiances and battle for supremacy, Elizabeth must decide which will rule her own perilous fate: unwanted loyalty or unholy love.

“My,” Travis said, moving around the table toward them. “My, oh, my. What do we have here?” He sniffed the air around them, and Elizabeth was suddenly reminded of her first encounter with the Hungarian vampire Zoltán, who had behaved in much the same manner and then laughed, as if he’d recognized her by the very smell of her blood. Although Travis didn’t laugh, there was no doubt of his recognition.

“Powerful human blood,” he observed, his mouth so close to Elizabeth’s ear that she wanted to scream. She held herself rigid, unmoving. “Elizabeth Silk, the Awakener . . .”

Josh yanked her away from him, staring down his nose at the vampire, who paid him no attention whatsoever.

“Okay, boys,” Travis said. “Two descendants to play with, and the victim was Saloman, so no gulping. Share the boy and hold the Awakener for me.”

Josh, who seemed to have finally picked up that the “men” surrounding them were dangerous, took a step backward. Before he could draw too much attention, Elizabeth glared at the vampire who grasped her arm.

“Gulping?” she said. “Without an introduction, I don’t even allow biting.” And she whipped out the stake, plunging it into his heart. At the same time, she spun in the cloud of his dust and kicked the vampire nearest Josh hard enough to knock him into the table. “Josh, run!” she yelled, and lunged at Dante, grabbing his wrist and yanking him after her. “Go!”

It was desperate; it probably required a miracle to make it work; but at least its suddenness gave them a chance. Unfortunately, Elizabeth had reckoned without Josh’s recent skepticism, which she’d just blown sky-high with the vampire. He stood rooted to the spot, blinking at where the creature had last stood. His lips moved, making no sound.

“Get them,” Travis snarled. Elizabeth gave Dante one last tug after her to make her point and grabbed Josh’s arm instead. She couldn’t drag both of them and fight at the same time.

“Josh!” she cried. “Move!”

He stumbled in her wake, but she had to punch the vampire who had hold of him and dragged him to the ground. As Elizabeth leapt and staked the fallen vampire, she could see that their moment had passed. The vampires were closing in on all sides. More were emerging from the office beyond, from the doorway to the car park. Wildly, she scanned the room for an escape route, holding fast to Josh’s arm. He was breathing like a steam engine. Dante backed away toward Travis, who, however, ignored him. The vampire leader’s attention was all on Elizabeth.

“Sir, do we have an agreement?” Dante shouted.

“Not now, Senator.” Travis smiled and walked forward into the circle. “It’s feeding time.”

Dante strode the length of the room toward the exit, and began to run, shoving past the vampires who were not remotely interested in him when the blood of two descendants, one of whom was also the Awakener, was up for grabs.

“I’ll fight, Josh,” Elizabeth said shakily. “But I can’t win. If you can manage it, get out—they want me more. Find Adam Simon and tell him what happened here. Do you understand?”

There was no time for any reply. The vampires approached, beginning at a walk and advancing quickly to a run. Elizabeth raised her stake and released Josh in order to have both arms free.

“Straight ahead,” she breathed, and launched herself at the first vampire with a scream of pure rage.

But something was louder than her cry—the crashing of falling masonry as the ceiling began to cave in. Her chosen victim’s distraction gave her an easy kill. Whirling, she spun to face the vampires closing behind her, and found their backs to her. They were watching in stunned amazement as someone fell—no, stepped—through the hole in the ceiling as if descending a staircase.

He still wore the business suit, minus the constricting jacket. From his long, loose black hair to his shining shoes, he was dazzling. He advanced on those who stood between him and Elizabeth and Josh.

“I’m Saloman.”

*

Elizabeth closed her eyes. In that moment, she understood him so completely it hurt. She knew his loneliness as if it were her own, and this was all there would ever be for them, snatched nights when circumstances beyond them dictated they could be together for twenty-four hours. For a being thousands of years old, that was less than a drop in the ocean.

This is all there is. Don’t waste it, Silk.

She rose from the bed before she could change her mind, pad¬ding the few feet across the soft-pile carpet to his side. Still he didn’t turn from the window, but by the city lights reflected on his face, she glimpsed his faint smile.

“Is it all illusion with us, Saloman? Is none of it real?”

“It’s all real, just . . . fleeting.”

He wanted more; he still wanted more. It should have appalled her; it should have sent her scurrying back to bed with the sheets drawn up to her chin in protection. She should not have continued to stand there in her sexy nightdress, and she certainly shouldn’t have taken his hand, threading her fingers through his as she gazed with him across the blackness of Central Park. The sounds of traffic and partying were faint, but audible.

“I never expected New York to be this beautiful,” she observed.

“It has its own charm, as all places do.”

“You have been here before!”

The smile came back briefly and vanished. “Not since it was like this. A long time ago, before it was called America.”

She accepted that. One day, perhaps even tomorrow, he would tell her about it. Tonight, it seemed, he didn’t want to talk. So she lifted their joined hands to her cheek.

“I wish it was different, Saloman,” she whispered, and then, before the tears came, she dropped his hand and turned away.

But she moved too slowly. Before she had even taken a step, he’d seized her wrist and swung her against him. His arms were hard around her and his head swooped like some bird of prey. There was no time to protest before his lips crushed hers.

Her mouth opened wide in shock; she might even have intended to object, but as he took possession, she gave up and sank into his embrace with a muffled moan of relief and joy. He bent her body backward, grinding the hardness of his erection into her abdomen, and she flung her arms up around his neck, grasping his hair between her fin¬gers. As he deepened the kiss, she welcomed his tongue with her own, and when she felt the graze of his dangerous fangs, she licked them greedily.

Saloman spoke inside her head, presumably so that he could keep kissing her. Did you come to offer me your blood or your body?

Either. Both.

I wish I’d thought of showing you weakness before.

At that, she tore her mouth free, tugging at his hair in a feeble attempt to prevent him from doing exactly as he wanted to. “You think this is some kind of weird, misplaced pity?” she whispered.

He didn’t answer, simply took her mouth back, and her tugging fingers relaxed in his hair, holding him to her. You don’t like pity, she reminded him.

I like sex with you.

Welcome to today’s Duck Chat!

We’re talking with Marie Treanor, getting to know her and taking a peek into her new vampire series.

Marie lives in Scotland, so no surprise that her heroine in that new series is Scottish! She’s penned a sexy and mysterious hero to complement Elizabeth Silk as she fights her attraction to Saloman, refusing to give in to his end game. Two books in the trilogy have been released so far, with the third due out in October. Still plenty of time to pick them up and get started so you’re all set later in the year!

Be sure to ask Marie a question or leave a meaningful comment for her – she’s offering up a copy of either Blood on Silk or Blood Sin – reader’s choice.

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Welcome to The Good, the Bad and the Unread, Marie! By way of an introduction, instead of the usual tell us about yourself, how about revealing that one thing that perhaps even your most loyal fans don’t know about you?

MARIE TREANOR: Thanks for having me, Sandy – it’s great to be here! Hmm, how about: I can’t drive a car? The last time I was behind the wheel – many years ago! – I nearly killed my driving instructor by driving straight at an oncoming van.

DC: If you could retire any interview question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

MT: It would probably be: “What advice do you have for aspiring authors?” – not because I’m not happy to help fellow-writers toward publication – I am! – but because I know I’m still learning myself and I’m terrified of giving someone advice that doesn’t work for them, or, worse, even holds them back! There seem to be almost as many routes to publication as there are authors, and I know my own story isn’t typical.

So I tend to give very general advice – like “keep reading and writing as much as you can and learn from any feedback or criticism you’re given.”  I don’t think you can go wrong with that.

DC: I’ve heard writers often say their stories take them in surprising directions, or dialogue flows from some unknown place. Is it the same with you? Do your characters surprise you sometimes?

MT: Yes, definitely – especially once I’m really into the story and the characters are so clear that they do virtually take on a life of their own. Their words don’t seem to be mine any more, and conversations quite often go off in directions I hadn’t originally intended. And yes, they do surprise me sometimes – for example, by being seductive when I mean them to be cool, or the other way round.

DC: Do you ever argue with your characters while you’re writing? Who usually wins?

MT: They do, hands down!

DC: Let’s talk about your Awakened by Blood series as a whole first and then we’ll talk about the books. Please tell our readers, first, about the genesis of the series, and, second, is it evolving the way you’d envisioned?

MT: Well, the background is, I’ve always loved gothic romance and vampire stories, and I’d been feeling the urge to write something dark and gothic with an ambiguous but devastating hero. And then this image came to me of a stone sculpture coming to life in some spooky crypt, and advancing on a terrified woman. This became the awakening scene from Blood on Silk, and my gothic hero became the Ancient vampire Saloman. Well, you can’t get a much darker past that his. 

Parts of it have evolved more or less the way I saw it from the beginning. Others, like some of the secondary characters and the wider vampire world developed rather differently, but I don’t think it changed the overall “feel” of my story.  The relationship between Elizabeth and Saloman developed a little differently too – a bit more stormy and uncertain than I’d planned after the first book; and yet one  scene where I had planned for her to leave him, didn’t work out like that at all!

DC: What is sure to distract you from sitting down and working/writing?

MT: Kids    Though actually, mine are very good. They’ve got used to me disappearing into my own world for long periods! It’s when they have too many friends coming and going all the time, or spend umpteen phone calls (which I generally have to answer) arranging to go out that I begin to get impatient. And I know I shouldn’t because I actually like them to bring their friends round!

I’d love to say housework too, but in reality, I ignore that until it becomes too difficult to move around the house!

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

MT: I’m happy to say I’ve had lots of beautiful covers over the years. I love my covers for Blood on Silk and Blood Sin because they’re elegant and gorgeous and sexy, and convey just the sort of atmosphere I want to. And they managed to get St. Andrews Cathedral, one of my favourite places in the world, onto the cover of Blood Sin. 

But I also confess to a soft spot for Gothic Dragon from Samhain. Why? Because he’s beautiful to look at and fits almost exactly my vision of the hero.

DC: How about your least favorite book cover?  Why?

MT: Ah. Well, I think that would have to be the cover of an old e- book from a now defunct publisher. I hated it because it said nothing about the story or the “feel” of the book,  and in my opinion it didn’t even look nice L. But, the good news is, the book was republished as Magic Man at The Wild Rose Press, with a much sexier and more relevant cover. 

DC: How do you feel your male or female characters have evolved over your career? Do you think you write them differently now than you did when you started?

MT: Interesting question. I suppose they must have evolved, if I’ve grown at all as a writer. But I don’t actually feel that I do anything different! I’ve always tried not to allow my characters to become clones of each other, and when each comes to me, he or she still feels fresh and new. 

DC: The first book in your series is Blood on Silk. I have to say I really love Saloman. So deliciously sexy and mysterious. Would you tell us more about him and Elizabeth and how their story came about?

MT: Saloman was my gothic hero, the beautiful, terrifying sculpture that came to life. For me he was already more than a vampire. He was a prince among vampires, older than recorded time, so he had to be a larger than life character, almost overwhelming. The rest grew from that: he alone among his people survived, because of his sheer drive, wit and curiosity. He’s highly intelligent and fascinated by the new. He’s learned wisdom way beyond anyone else’s, and yet it isn’t really tempered by compassion. He isn’t without feelings: he’s loved and lost in the past many times, and has strong affections for his vampire “children”; he’s as hurt by betrayal as anyone. But he isn’t human, he’s alien in his thoughts, feelings and morality, and so other people’s lives and his own affections tend to take second place to his ultimate goal.

Although he’s a complex character, he sprang more or less fully formed into my imagination. Elizabeth was a little harder. She had to be intelligent enough and strong enough to oppose him, humorous enough to amuse him and quirky enough to intrigue him beyond all other intelligent, modern women. It was fun to have her be the one who awakens him when she’s devoting all her energies to rationalizing vampire myths, and then, very reluctantly loose her skepticism.  But she never loses her enquiring mind, even when terrified; and from the beginning the historian in her is fascinated by the things Saloman can tell her!

DC: Is there a genre you haven’t tackled but would like to try?

MT: I do tend to mix genres up a lot in one story, so I’ve probably tackled elements of most genres to some degree! I do enjoy murder mysteries, though and I’d quite like to try a “straight” one of those some time.

DC: What advice would you give to your younger self?

MT: To have more self-confidence, I think, and try for what I really want rather than what I think is all I can do.

DC: What book would you like to read again for the first time?

MT: Off the top of my head, an amusing crime thriller by Christopher Brookmyre called The Sacred Art of Stealing. I read the sequel recently and found I’d forgotten several salient points of the first one! They were both great fun – all about misdirection.

DC: Blood Sin is the second book in the Awakened by Blood series. Can you give us some insight as to what will be happening with Saloman and Elizabeth in this edition?

MT: Well, they find themselves working together to track down Saloman’s missing sword, which in the wrong hands could be lethal for the world. Naturally, they disagree as to the right hands, but being together they grow to a new understanding of each other. Saloman is overcoming what is left of vampire resistance and extending his influence into the human world, while Elizabeth, growing into her powers as Awakener, takes on the dangerous challenge of preventing him from allying with the vampires of America. Their feelings for each other deepen, but worse tragedy looms because Elizabeth knows she will have to betray either Saloman or her friends the vampire hunters. And for the first time, she encounters the possible option of immortality versus stickling to her principles.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

MT: Short but compact, this one packs quite a punch.  From the chaos which surrounds her, she bumbles through triumphant, or at least in one piece.

DC: What would your “voice’s” tagline be?

MT: I’m rotten at taglines. Based on things other people have said, how about “unique, sensual, fun”?

DC: What romance book would you recommend our readers pick up during their next bookstore run? (Yes, in addition to any Marie Treanor novel!)

MT: Any of Gail Carriger’s “Parasol Protectorate” series.

DC: The third book, Blood Eternal, is due out in October. Can you give us a sneak peek as to what Saloman and Elizabeth will be up in this book?

MT: Well, another Ancient is awakened and becomes the focus of rebellion against Saloman, who has to face the demons of his past as well as the possibilities of the future.  The secret of vampire existence is struggling to get out! Elizabeth fights prophecy,  illness, the stagnation of the vampire hunter network and the temptation of immortality, in order to find her true place in the world and in Saloman’s life.

DC: If you had never become an author, what do you think you would be doing right now?

MT: I would probably have gone back to being a librarian. Which would be okay – I love books!

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?     – Dark

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?    – Chunky

- heels or flats?    – Flats

- coffee or tea?    – Coffee

- summer or winter?    – Summer (such as it is here!)

- mountains or beach?     – Mountains. We live by a beach so I’m blasé  

- mustard or mayonnaise?     – Mayonnaise

- flowers or candy?    – Flowers (I’m on a diet)

- pockets or purse?      – Pockets for preference, but it depends what I have to carry

- Pepsi or Coke?    – Neither

- ebook or print?   – Both

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?        – It” according to one of my editors! At the moment, I have a liking for “bumptious”.

2. What is your least favorite word?       – “Incentivize” and other horrible made-up business words.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?      – Music

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – Senseless cruelty.

5. What sound or noise do you love?     – My kids laughing

6. What sound or noise do you hate?      – The screech of a fork on a plate (or a blackboard). Shudder.

7. What is your favorite curse word?       – Arse – it’s not too offensive if the kids overhear me 

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?     = Counselling.

9. What profession would you not like to do?      – Police – too dangerous and gritty for me  

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?     – “Just kidding.”

DC: Thank you for being here today, Marie. It was a pleasure!

Sandy M’s review of Blood Sin (Awakened by Blood, Book 2) by Marie Treanor
Urban Fantasy published by NAL 5 Apr 11

I have found myself totally taken by Saloman, the hero of this series by Marie Treanor. His arrogance is in the stratosphere. His sensuality shoots beyond the stars. His aspirations to take over the world, to take care of those inferior humans, has Elizabeth up in arms, causing her dilemma of loving the crazy vampire or staking him to assure free will and independence aren’t excised from humanity. Neither are easy goals to have.

When Saloman saunters back into her life, Elizabeth is ecstatic, sure he has come for her. But she soon learns that isn’t the case. The exasperating man hasn’t given in one iota when it comes to his driving need to take over so he can rule his way. Thrown into the mix this time is a power-hungry senator who wants immortality, a distant cousin of Elizabeth’s who’s on Saloman’s revenge list, and an ancient sword that holds untold influence and is the topic of a dangerous ownership battle. Josh, Elizabeth’s cousin, believes the sword is his since his family has safeguarded it for eons. Senator Dante wants it only for what it can give him. But it’s Saloman who is determined to have it in his hands once again for his own reasons.

The sword is stolen and the race is on to find out if it will eventually be used for good or ill. Saloman makes his way to America to confront those vampires against him, asking Elizabeth to accompany him to continue their recently found camaraderie in battle, but Elizabeth goes with the understanding she’s searching for Josh only. Spending time with Saloman is a dream come true, however, and she’s living for the moment every night they spend together. Even Saloman begins to look forward and cherish those homey times, thinking he could live in this way the rest of his forever.

Twists and turns are woven throughout, just as in the first book. Saloman is always unpredictable. He’s the only one who knows what he’ll do and what’s in store for him, making his own fate. Except when it comes to Elizabeth. She’s not sure she’d want immortality if he asks, but she does want to be asked. I, of course, want her to go for it, be with her vampire into eternity. Darn her morals and principles! I was hoping by the end of this book Saloman and Elizabeth would have come together more. Their few times together are intense and sizzling, but I want more. Now. So it’s going to be interesting to see what Ms. Treanor has for us in the next book when it comes to these two.

Though we do have to wait for that last book and we’re left hanging again, it’s the epilogue and the excerpt that follows that gives a snippet to keep our interest and anticipation high. I have a feeling explosiveness is an understatement at what will happen next. But how I’m looking forward to it.

Grade: A

Summary:

Even if you walk in the light, you can dwell in the dark.

Months after her dangerous encounter with vampire overlord Saloman, Scottish academic Elizabeth Silk is still trying to cope with both the demands of her ancestral bloodline—which marks her as a vampire hunter — and the overpowering desire she feels for the immortal she brought back from the grave. But she is not alone in her fascination with Saloman.

When Elizabeth tracks down a distant cousin from America, she learns he possesses an antique sword that has caught the interest of the Grand Master of the American hunters. It is the ancient and mystical sword of Saloman — a treasure of vast occult powers and a prize beyond measure to both vampires and humans. Now the race is on for possession of the sword.

Even as her enemies and allies shift their allegiances and battle for supremacy, Elizabeth must decide which will rule her own perilous fate: unwanted loyalty or unholy love.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Blood Eternal - October 2011

Sandy M’s review of Blood on Silk (Awakened by Blood, Book 1) by Marie Treanor
Urban Fantasy published by NAL Trade 7 Sep 10

I’ve finally found that good vampire story I’ve been looking for lately. I’ve been putting vampire book after vampire book aside, they just didn’t pique my interest. But after receiving a couple of emails featuring Blood on Silk, I was intrigued enough to begin reading. I’m so very glad I did.

What I like the most is Ms. Treanor has given us her different take on the usual vampire story. While staking is still a way to kill a vampire, our hero, Saloman, is an Ancient, one of the last, and more than mere staking has to be done to kill him. His betrayers, the few who are left three hundred years later, are finding they should have taken that extra step now that he’s been awakened by Elizabeth Silk, who is working on a thesis concerning vampire lore in the Romanian mountains and who just happens to be a descendant of Saloman’s former lover – and one of his betrayers. But when the time comes for him to take his awakener’s life, her blood making him stronger than ever, he hesitates and allows Elizabeth to live.

However, Elizabeth plays a good game when it comes to her life or her death. Having first to deal with the fact that vampires are real, shattering her non-belief in such things, she suddenly gives in to Saloman’s sexual demands – though, if she’s honest, she’s as turned on and wants him as much as he wants her – she pulls off the unexpected and walks away intact. To fight another day. And she takes the fighting seriously, learning all the right moves from local vampire hunters. Elizabeth’s new goal is to eliminate Saloman, but the closer she moves in that direction the more confused she becomes, because she also still desires the creature and time after time buckles under that desire when with him. And those scenes are intense and sizzling hot. Saloman has a lot of time to make up for when it comes to sex.

There’s several times during the book I wondered when Elizabeth was really going to chuck everything and go where she belongs – with Saloman. Then I have to remember to tell myself this is an urban fantasy, this story will be strung out over a number of books. ACK! I normally don’t like urban fantasy because I’m one of those readers who likes my HEA tied up with a big, red bow at the end of a book. But Ms. Treanor keeps the intrigue, the mystery, the betrayal, the on-edge desire and so much more going  page after page, along with the allure of Saloman, that this time I really don’t care I’m being baited from book to book. Especially when I read the excerpt at the end of this book for the next in the series – something I usually don’t do – and the intrigue and Saloman’s enticing magnetism is still there even in those few pages. I’m hooked!

So much happens in this book. This is only a very top-of-the-iceberg review. Be sure to pick it up soon, because the next one, Blood Sin,  is due out in April. BoS is definitely worth a day on the couch with no interruptions until it’s read, and I know Blood Sin will be the same.

Grade: A-

Summary:

Scottish academic Elizabeth Silk is spending the summer in Romania researching historical superstitions for her PhD. While she is tracing local folktales, one subject in particular sparks her imagination. His name is Saloman, legend’s most powerful vampire, a seductive prince staked centuries ago. Now, in the ruins of a castle crypt, Elizabeth discovers the legends are real. Her blood has awakened him. Her innocence has aroused him. But Elizabeth unleashes more than Saloman’s hunger.

An army of vampire hunters has amassed to send Saloman back to hell. Sworn to help – yet fearing Saloman’s deadly blood lust – Elizabeth seeks to entrap him, offering her body as bait. But something stronger than dread, more powerful than revenge, is uniting Elizabeth to her prey. Caught between desire and rage, Elizabeth must decide where her loyalties lie…and what the limits are to a yearning she can no longer control.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Devon’s review of Gothic Dragon by Marie Treanor
Paranormal Romance eBook released by Samhain 22 Jul 08

I’m not one for time travel romance. It seems too far-fetched. I mean, vampires and werewolves are one thing, but really! The mechanics of messing with the time space continuum, and the implications it may have for the HEA…my brain starts going into critical overdrive. However, Gothic Dragon was intriguing because it had to do with Gothic Literature (of the nineteenth century), a favorite period of mine. And I thought that a blogger with similar tastes to mine had read and positively reviewed this author. But I may have imagined that. Anyhoo, I’m glad I took a chance, because this was very entertaining, despite a couple of flaws.

Within the category length format, Marie Treanor was able to develop a great hero, an engrossing romance, and a fantasy world I wouldn’t mind visiting again. I wish the book had been longer, in fact, so that more time could have been spent developing the faux fifteenth century world of Costanzo and the romance, rather than on researcher/author heroine Esther’s present day life and the time travel bit. Esther seems a bit of a sad sack, saddled with a cardboard boor of a fiancé, wasting her life. Though she shows spirit, and made a calm foil for the mercurial Drago, it was hard to see what would have intrigued him, at first.

When Esther is pulled into the book she is reading, she finds herself face to face with the villain of the piece. Drago was a great character, and the reason I enjoyed the book so much. He has cultivated his mysterious, evil reputation to protect himself and his people. Drago is, in fact, a sorcerer, and he acts like a jerk at times. But his cutting wit and insouciance hide someone who is thoughtful, intelligent and feels deeply. And boy does he adore Esther! I fell for him hook, line and sinker. At times, the romance felt a bit rushed, but the chemistry and emotion was there. I just wish there had been more of him and Esther.

I liked him so much I was almost able to overlook the fact that he talked about rocking someone’s world. Almost. Now, this is a fifteenth century world created by a nineteenth century author, but “rock your world”? Really? And there were a couple of other astonishing anachronisms as well. I also grew increasingly confused by the time travel explanation. Towards the end, there’s a lot of bopping back and forth, and it was confusing and slowed the book down. I would have preferred a later resolution to the Drago/Esther romance, and less time spent on time travel and cardboard villains past and present.

Ultimately, I was able to overlook these issues, because I so enjoyed the plot, the settings and the romance. The backdrop of Esther’s literary research was interesting and a bit different. And the hero was great. The quibbles I’ve mentioned might bother some readers more than others, but I think it would be enjoyed by time travel fans. I would definitely check the author out again, because there was good stuff here, and it was kinda different, y’know? Not a bad way to escape for a few hours.

Grade: B-

The Summary:
Sometimes you can make your dreams a reality…

Stuck in an uninteresting job and settled in a safe but vaguely unsatisfying relationship, the only bright spot in Esther’s life is her writing. She’s fascinated by colorful life of her ancestor Margaret Marsden, a nineteenth-century Gothic romance novelist. A woman who mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

A weekend away turns into a hunt for clues when Esther stumbles across Margaret’s “lost” novel, The Prince of Costanzo. Though desperate to read it, every time Esther opens the book, she falls asleep—and headlong into amazingly vivid dreams about Costanzo.

But in this dream world where war, magic and poisoning are commonplace, nothing is as it seems. Least of all the supposed villain of the novel, the enigmatic sorcerer Prince Drago. She finds herself kidnapped to his castle and subjected to a seductive interrogation that curls her toes. As their feelings for each other grow more powerful, she begins to wonder…is he the real villain, or a hero who only wants to save his kingdom? All she knows is that now that she’s had a taste of Costanzo—and Drago—her real life troubles seem insignificant.

Until they come crashing around her, threatening to cut her off from the man she loves. Forever.

Read an excerpt here