Nearly always, it is a good thing when a successful author sets up a premise on which a series can be built. Sometimes it is an engaging set of characters who continuously get into a series of adventures (Nancy Drew), or an investigator who investigates the scene of a crime (Sherlock Holmes). In Melissa Schroeder's Sweet Shoppe series, there is a magic candy maker whose confections allow hidden fantasies to be fulfilled. Kind of a high calorie, high carbohydrate fairy godmother.

In Her Wicked Warrior , unassuming Paige Turner (haha--how's that for a heroine's name?) is having erotic dreams she doesn't remember. Paige is a librarian with a less than thrilling life, and a less than thrilling fiancé, Jeremy. On the day she catches him having sex with one of his students, she dazedly succumbs to a wicked batch of Irish Whiskey Truffles and she wakes up naked and in bed with a black haired Celtic lover who insists he is Paige's soulmate.

Nevermind that she's just a twentieth century southern girl from an old family and he is a medieval Irish warrior plucked out of time. Nevermind that she thinks he's crazy, and he doesn't believe that warriors love. Nevermind that she already has a fiancé, albeit a whiney one who just wants her for her name, connections and, not to mention, her research skills. It's obvious that these two are made for each other--if they can just see eye to eye.

There's a rub to the magic--it is only permanent if both lovers believe. It's a well-designed scenario which Ms. Schroeder will be able to revisit as frequently as she wishes, as long as she brings sympathetic characters like these to the table. Her stories are always fun to read. She manages to present miserably lonely characters, but she writes them with just enough of a comic edge and a sense of the slightly ridiculous that you trust fate will overcome their obstacles (and probably in a funny way) .

Her Wicked Warrior is no exception. It is a frisky lark with an oversexed he-man, who manages to bring out the nymphomanic in a sadly neglected librarian whose low self esteem absolutely does not let her see herself with the same eyes as Seamus. A Paige Turner indeed. Irresistible chemistry, impossible to put down. Fun stuff.

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Copyright 2006