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Once upon a fantasy
REVIEWS BY SANDY HUSEBY
By Mercedes Lackey Luna, $24.95 432 pages, ISBN 0373802021
Who's your daddy?
By Patricia Potter Berkley, $6.99 432 pages, ISBN 0425193861
The games people play
By Jayne Ann Krentz Putnam, $24.95 416 pages, ISBN 0399150730
Sandy Huseby writes and reviews from her homes in Fargo, North Dakota, and lakeside in northern Minnesota.
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In fantasy, myth and fairytale, mighty forces of good and evil do battle while sweet young things quietly
await their fate—the happily-ever-after prince. Not so. In Mercedes Lackey's wry and scintillating
take on the Cinderella story, The Fairy Godmother—the
beginning of a new fantasy line from Harlequin—romance is a vital part of the making of a godmother
worthy of her rank. Elena Klovis, the once-put-upon heroine, accepts an offer to become an apprentice
to Madame Bella, the local fairy godmother. She enters a new realm of fairy folk, elves and brownies and
drinks dragon's blood to understand animals' speech, taking in her own hands the power to fight evil
and help others. Elena's determination to control her fate faces yet another test when she confronts
tradition to marry Alexander. Lackey's tale resonates with charm as magical as the fairy-tale realm
she portrays.
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Her mother's last request—you have a sister, find her for me—sets Meredith Rawson on a dangerous
journey into the past that could endanger her own life in
Patricia Potter's Cold Target. Meredith's quest opens old family wounds
and unleashes deadly efforts to stop her. The New Orleans attorney discovers her politically connected father may
be part of the cover-up of her mystery sister. Detective Gage Gaynor becomes her unintended ally. Their search must
range beyond the steamy environs of New Orleans because Meredith's long-lost sister, Holly Ames, unaware of her
heritage, knows only that her husband has attempted to have her killed. Fleeing with her son to Arizona, Holly
overcomes her fears to entrust their safety to Sheriff Doug Menelo. The two sisters' separate lives come together
as Potter weaves suspense and emotional drama in rare form in this fascinating novel of corrupt power on a collision
course with family honor.
Adjusting to marriage could be challenge enough for two world-weary people, but Zoe Luce and Ethan Truax have a knack
for seeking out suspense-worthy challenges in Jayne Ann Krentz's
playful Truth or Dare. Zoe's brief tenure in a private psychiatric
hospital hasn't shaken her psychic abilities, but her uncertainty about her impetuous marriage to Ethan now
has her rattled. Each is determined to protect the other from an unknown adversary who seems determined to prevent
anyone from learning the truth about Whispering Springs' revered cultural icon, Walter Kirwan, and the whereabouts
of his missing manuscript. Krenz's judicious sprinkling of fascinating detail—everything from feng shui
interiors to middle-aged vitamins—adds zest to this thoroughly enjoyable romp through life and death in
the cobwebby shadows of sunny Whispering Springs.