Fabulously fantastic tales

REVIEWS BY SANDY HUSEBY

Feeling Grinchy because holiday decorations are everywhere and you haven't even had your Turkey Day yet? Let Debbie Macomber put you in a festive frame of mind with Shirley, Goodness and Mercy, the poignant adventures of three angels. These three intrude just a little bit -- or so they assure Archangel Gabriel -- into the life of Greg Bennett.

Isolated from everyone he should have ever held dear, Greg is attempting to redeem himself and restore his honor in the eyes of his family and friends. For years he had sacrificed everything for his northern California vineyard. Now those sacrifices prove fruitless as a deadly virus contaminates the crop. Also in the midst of a divorce from his third wife, Greg is scraping the bottom of life's barrel -- until he rediscovers his first love, Catherine, and the son he never knew he had.

Ultimately, Greg learns that it's never too late to set your life straight, and that the greatest gift of all is giving. This delightful Christmas tale from beloved author Debbie Macomber will be the perfect gift to give -- starting with yourself!


Wanting moor

In Nora Roberts's Jewels of the Sun, Jude Murray, seeking refuge from her troubles, abruptly gives up her academic life for an enchanted cottage in the faraway world of Ireland.

Jude intends only a summer's sabbatical to collect stories about faeries and ghosts from the villagers of Ardmore. But Aidan Gallagher, himself a world traveler who came home to run the local pub, sees in Jude a yearning for more than material for an academic treatise.

As Jude is seduced by the land, the tales, and Aidan's own magic, she must choose between the responsible life she left behind and the passionate life she sees with Aidan.

What good fortune for readers that Roberts is launching a trilogy with this Irish tale. Her writing is at its scintillating best when she draws readers into the lives of people like Jude and the Gallaghers.


A hairy situation

In Touch of the Wolf by Susan Krinard, Cassidy Holt, knowing that she's different from the rest of the vaqueros on the ranch, embarks on a search for her own kind. The orphaned daughter of a werewolf mother and human father, Cassidy is determined to leave New Mexico to find her mother's family in England.

In 1875 it takes a while to get to England, but Cassidy instinctually senses that her destined mate is there. When she finally meets him, however, she finds that he has other plans. The international leader of the loups-garous (werewolves), Braden Forster is all consumed by his commitment to the Cause, the preservation of the pure werewolf blood. This devotion conflicts with the powerful allure of Cassidy, and Braden betroths her to his brother.

Werewolf powers of deception, masquerade, and control drive the intrigue of this richly woven novel. The loup-garou and human sides of each character make their struggles both riveting and enrapturing. Krinard brings readers a masterpiece of legend and love.


Windswept

Fantasy writer Andre Norton, a master of the genre for decades, now offers the captivating Wind in the Stone. In Norton's glorious new story, the student sorcerer Irasmus concocts an evil campaign to enslave the people of the Valley.

This story is the second in a series, each focusing on one of the senses.

Hearing can be both of the ear and the mind. Cerlyn has the hearing gift, but Fogar is a captive tool of Irasmus. Cerlyn is determined to release her kinsman, Fogar, from Irasmus's control. Together, they must courageously struggle against dark power until the Wind once again sings in the stone and the Valley people are free.


Short takes

Step back into the colorful world of the "Dirty Thirties" in Dorothy Garlock's With Heart, where the land reeks of dusty dirt, and small-town scoundrels can't keep a good woman down. In 1938, Kathleen Dolan is a fresh face in Tillison County, Oklahoma, greeted by roadside hijackers and rescued by Johnny Henry. As she probes into the secrets of the town for her newspaper, the Gazette, Johnny's desire to protect Kathleen conflicts with his belief that he's not the proper man for her.

Garlock's vivid portrayal of the struggles of the Depression Era adds richness to her characters' own perils of the heart and the time. Bravo -- give us more!

After three tales of the L'Eau Clair family saga, Sharon Schulze tells the "first couple's" courtship in The Hidden Heart. At her father's graveside, Gillian de L'Eau Clair vows she will depend on no man -- certainly not Rannulf, who was supposed to have been her husband. In 13th-century Wales, a marriage contract is to be honored, which is something that Rannulf fails to do. But it is Rannulf she must rely on for rescue from Nicholas Talbot. And thus are dynasties -- and delightful stories -- begun.


Pick of the month

This month's picks end with the crescendo of Rhapsody by best-selling author Judith Gould. Even world-renowned classical piano prodigies like Misha Levin have their share of problems. Who to choose: Serena, the beguiling lover of his past, or Vera, the devoted wife obsessed with building his fame and his not-so-miniscule masculine ego? Cavort across the continents from Vienna to Manhattan to Japan with Gould's diverting tale.


Sandy Huseby reviews from her homes in Fargo, North Dakota, and lakeside near Nevis, Minnesota. She is online at SHuseby@aol.com.

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