Circles of nightlife

REVIEWS BY SANDY HUSEBY

Enlightenment and hope battle the lingering darkness in a man's life in Kathleen Eagle's Night Falls Like Silk. Thomas Warrior, the artistic prodigy who appeared in Eagle's earlier book, The Night Remembers, has a lucrative career as a graphic novelist thanks to his well-known series starring a male/female character called Victor-Victory. But professional success competes with Thomas' inner demons—demons he's forced to confront when art dealer Cassandra Findley outbids him for a group of Lakota ledger drawings. The drawings become fodder for Thomas' artistry and the prize for a hidden stalker who believes he's Victor-Victory. When "Victor" kidnaps Cassandra's nephew, the circle of life sends Thomas back to his own family, where he must choose between his older brother Stony and the adoptive parents who rescued him from the streets. Eagle's unique novel blends life's gritty truths with poetic imagery.


Sweetness and light

Romance is in the air as Jenna Campbell meets her sweetheart—in cyberspace, of all places. In Debbie Macomber's The Snow Bride, Jenna takes off for snowy Alaska to meet her mystery man face to face. But her cyber-suitor is not what he appears, so Reid Jamison steps in, bringing Jenna to Snowbound, Alaska, where she is forced her to accept the truth.

Macomber cleverly complicates the plot with an online Lothario who refuses to give up easily, and with Jenna's multi-married mom, who can't believe her down-to-earth daughter is acting so impetuously. There's also a chorus of cranky old men who dote on the new—second—woman in town. Macomber spins another pure-from-the-heart romance giddy with love and warm laughter—a get-you-set-for-Christmas treat that's as yummy as divinity melting on the tongue.


Smoky Mountain high

Highland Games celebrate the clan rivalries and ancient challenges of the Scots. Lily Stewart and her family count on those games to keep Highland Falls, their Great Smoky Mountains resort home, thriving. With her father and his much-younger fiancée planning a wedding during the games, Lily has her hands full in JoAnn Ross' romantic escapade, Out of the Mist. When Ian MacKenzie arrives to film the games, Lily is caught up in rivalries she never anticipated. Ian secretly seeks the missing Brooch of Lorn, a family legacy his grandfather believes Lily stole while in Scotland. Ross weaves the search for the missing family treasure and the growing attraction between two creative spirits with aplomb in this charming romance.


Glitzy, glam-bam glorious

An aspiring novelist whose father is sitting on—and refusing to sell—some of the most valuable real estate in South Florida should have a prince of a guy at her side, bearing diamonds. Sure enough, boyfriend Brian does have a super gem for Tracey Sullivan, but it's mounted in a much more complicated setting than a mere band of gold.

In Judith Gould's glitzy-glam novel, The Greek Villa, Tracey's life exceeds the storyline of her own most vivid writing. When her father suddenly dies, Tracey discovers he kept more than property to himself—he also concealed the truth about her heritage. Pursuing the real story about her long-gone mother, Tracey seeks out the villa retreat of the woman whose image appears in her father's scrapbook. In faraway Greece, as she learns the truth about her parents, Tracey finds her spirits bolstered by Mark Varney, her agent. He refuses to settle for a gentlemanly 15 percent of her life. He's bound to have all of the spirited woman whose ancestry is as classic and fiery as that of a Greek goddess. Gould delivers a shimmering blend of global glamour and thrills that's as heady as vintage champagne.


Sandy Huseby writes and reviews from her homes in Fargo, North Dakota, and lakeside in northern Minnesota.

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