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Summary
Summary
Hiding mystical powers that assist his efforts to end hostilities between Scotland and England, clan laird Duncan Macrae falls for English widow Gwyneth Owens, whose own latent powers are released when she experiences foreboding visions.
Author Notes
Romance writer Mary Jo Putney was born in New York and graduated from Syracuse University with degrees in English literature and Industrial design. She served as the art editor of The New Internationalist magazine in London and worked as a designer in California before settling in Baltimore, Maryland in 1980 to run her own freelance graphic design business Her first novel was a traditional Regency romance, which sold in one week. Signet liked the novel so much that it offered Putney a three-book contract. In 1987 that first novel, The Diabolical Baron, was published. Since then, she has published more than twenty-nine books. Her books have been ranked on the national bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly. Most of her books have been historical romance. She has also begun writing fantasy romance and romantic fantasy. Putney has won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award twice, for Dancing on the Wind and The Rake and the Reformer and has been a RITA finalist nine times. She is on the Romance Writers of America Honor Roll for bestselling authors, and has been awarded two Romantic Times Career Achievement Awards and four Golden Leaf Awards. Her titles include: Dark Mirror, Dark Passage, No Longer a Gentleman, Never Less than a Lady, and Nowhere Near Respectable.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Adult/High School-An excellent historical romance with a nice touch of fantasy. The setting is Scotland during the unsettled time when Bonnie Prince Charlie tried to take the throne. Gwynne thinks that she is a mundane, an ordinary human, but she is well aware of the Guardians's mystical powers to cast spells and influence human events, albeit very slightly. When the powerful Guardian Council asks her to marry Duncan Macrae, she does not understand this request, but she obeys. After her wedding night, she learns that she is actually a powerful Guardian who receives her power after her first sexual experience. Conflicts develop as to how much help Duncan will give to Prince Charles. Putney is a master at describing the time period-the feuds, customs, and clan loyalty come alive with special flair. This story could be used to introduce mature readers hooked on romance to fantasy.-Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Love and magic prove to be comfortable bedfellows in this enchanting mid-18th-century romance from Putney (A Twist of Fate; The Bartered Bride), which launches a new series focused on the Guardians, a group of English and Scottish folk who possess supernatural powers. Gwynne Owens, daughter of an English Guardian, has grown up as a scholar of the group's lore, though she has few powers of her own. An early, platonic marriage left her a wealthy widow, and though she values her independence, she finds it hard to resist her attraction to Duncan Macrae, a Scottish mage who is adept at manipulating the weather. As Duncan aggressively courts Gwynne, the winds of war between England and Scotland grow stronger, along with the Guardian council's sense that a catastrophe is imminent. Gwynne eventually marries Duncan, but when the uprising of Bonnie Prince Charlie occurs, she realizes she must betray her husband, who has aligned himself with his countrymen. Putney plays out the consequences of their decisions until the very end, keeping readers enthralled all the way up to the inevitable coming together of hero and heroine. Their final love scene is a touch trite, but overall, Putney does a fine job of weaving magical elements together with actual historical events to create a rich, romantic tapestry. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
An English enchantress in love with a Scot, circa 1745. Gwynne, Lady Brecon, was briefly married to one of the elderly Guardians, supernatural beings who live among humans. Now, newly widowed and still young, she has come to understand that she, too, has magical powers, even though her mother was only a "mundane," as the Guardians call ordinary mortals. Her late husband loved Gwynne dearly, though he left her a virgin at his death. Her serene beauty, intelligence, and golden eyes now attract the attention of Duncan Macrae, a Guardian with the ability to call down storms from the heavens (or arrange for clear skies, should milady wish to go riding). Gwynne finds herself inexorably drawn to the darkly handsome man known as the Lord of Thunder, though she fears his strength and the strange energies that intensify whenever they meet. But she understands that marrying him is her destiny--and, oh! the sex! Heights of transcendent rapture alternate with blood-drenched visions of war, and then it's back to sublime passion and volcanic explosions of. . . well, it gets a little silly. Even Putney, a lyrical and imaginative writer with a talent for fantasy, can't make woo-woo cosmic sex sound particularly believable. And history keeps getting in the way: didactic dialogue explains centuries of conflict between England and Scotland, right up to Jacobites versus Hanoverians. The psychic powers possessed by Duncan and Gwynne come and go according to the needs of the plot, and these powers are also discussed at length in somewhat confusing detail. Empowered by her ever-growing supernatural wisdom and her realization that Duncan is doomed if he attempts to change the course of fate, Gwynne locks up her outraged husband. Will he forgive her for his missing the Battle of Culloden? Not Putney's best, but entertaining nonetheless. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gwynne, the daughter of an eighteenth-century librarian and widow of one of the powerful Guardians, has always wished she had inherited the Guardians' magical talents, but she is an excellent librarian and scholar of Guardian history. Gwynne is consequently overwhelmed when she meets Lord Ballister, a Scottish laird and the most powerful Guardian weather worker in generations. And he is instantly besotted. Wanting nothing to do with him because of the visions of bloodshed she has when close to him, Gwynne nevertheless agrees to marry him at the behest of the Guardian Council, and her wedding night reveals that she really does have a Guardian gift. Then their love for each other and dedication to the Guardian cause bring new challenges when Bonnie Prince Charlie arrives in Scotland. Skillfully entwining fantasy with historical romance, veteran writer Putney presents a multilayered tale that takes its time in creating an authentically detailed world in which the magically gifted work in secrecy. Entranced readers will be delighted to know that Putney has other books planned in this alluring milieu. --Diana Tixier Herald Copyright 2004 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Born into a legendary family of mages known as the Guardians, Gwyneth Owens believes that she has little inherited power. She does, however, have a destiny to fulfill. When the Guardian elders seek to forestall a coming disaster by invoking her Guardian oath and asking her to marry Duncan Macrae, Lord Ballister, the most powerful weather mage in the realm, she cannot honorably refuse. Although they are already attracted to each other, Gwyneth can't forget the single kiss from him that sent alarming visions of destruction flaming through her mind-or the sword that he held in his hand. Intelligent, compelling characters that appeal to both heart and mind, a brilliant blending of history and fantasy, and a beautifully unfolding love relationship combine to produce a magical tale. Building on the Guardians concept first introduced in her novella "The Alchemical Marriage" (published in the anthology Irresistible Forces), Putney puts a unique spin on reality, magic, and love and takes romantic fantasy to a new level. Putney is a New York Times best-selling writer and lives in the Baltimore, MD, area. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/04.] (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.