Danni Condrey believed that she could have a nice quiet widow's life after her husband, Doug, died eight months earlier. She had a nice house and loved her job as a third grade teacher. But her life had only become more complicated. The phone was ringing all night long--with no one on the end of the line; the doorbell would ring and there would be no one there. At first Danni believed it was just some neighborhood children playing pranks. But the intrusions did not stop. There was also the tampering of the brakes on her car, as well as her tires being slashed. Everything had been reported to the police, but they thought her just crazy with grief over the loss of her husband.

Then one day an old man with stringy white hair walked up to her car and demanded he give her what he wanted. Danni did not know what he was talking about. She had never seen this man before and could not imagine what she had that he wanted. What Danni did not know was that the old man was a banished wizard who needed a stone that her dead husband had stolen a year before. The wizard upped the ante and thought to convince Danni to give him the stone by threatening her life. His first attempt was to try and run her off the road. Intervening to save her was Falcon Kendrick.

Falcon had been watching Danni from afar for some time. He was captivated by her. For some unexplained reason he just knew he had to be with her. This stupefied Falcon because when he had been leader of the Assembly of wizards, he had been totally opposed to wizards taking mortals as life partners. But there was no denying he wanted Danni. And he was bound and determined that no one would hurt her.

Rachel Carrington has written a book that is not only an intriguing love story, but one that takes us by surprise with plot twists at the end. This is a book that starts out a bit slow, but then like a roller coaster it plunges into a story that catches you up in the characters and their conflicts. Not to mention the ups and downs of their trying to come to terms with a love that cannot be denied.

Reviewed By: Kathy Martin
© September 2004