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library_mama) wrote2007-09-28 10:43 am
library_mama) wrote2007-09-28 10:43 am
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A Kiss of Fate
Well, the cover sure cued me in even if the title hadn’t… I picked up this book not for a romance, but because the series was in a short list in Booklist called, “Heroines Who Kick Butt.” And how could I resist that?
A Kiss of Fate by Mary Jo Putney Great Britain, early 18th century. Gwynne Owens is a young member of the secret magical group called the Guardians, who use their magic to preserve the peace as much as possible. She herself doesn’t have any sign of power, but is a librarian and a serious student of Guardian lore. When the action begins to heat up, she is a young and wealthy widow, living with her much older Guardian sister-in-law. Then she meets Duncan Macrae, a powerful Scottish weather mage. Their attraction is both powerful and frightening to Gwynne (nothing like a few lightening bolts to heat things up), and an early kiss leaves her with vivid visions of violent destruction. She wants to run the other way as fast as she can, but the Guardian Council senses that she will be crucial to balancing Duncan’s power during the gathering uprising in Scotland. After a hasty wedding, the pair is off on a short wedding tour on the way to the Macrae manor in the lowlands of Scotland. And now Gwynne’s power is awakened – truly high levels of seduction, charm, and persuasiveness, with some pretty good future reading to boot. Just quiet female powers, really, she thinks – will they be enough to keep Duncan from adding his power to the uprising and causing the rivers of blood in her visions? Though the Guardian premise seems promising to me, magic in Scotland during the ‘45 says Outlander to me. That series really sets the bar as far as combining adventure, romance and magic, even getting kudos for appealing to both genders, and this one can’t quite meet it. Kiss of Fate a fine book, a little heavier on the romance than the adventure, and a lot more sex than your average romance, due to the heroine’s special powers. It still has a scholarly and adventurous seductress, and a kilt-wearing man whose kisses cause storms. If these are up your alley, give it a try.
A Kiss of Fate by Mary Jo Putney Great Britain, early 18th century. Gwynne Owens is a young member of the secret magical group called the Guardians, who use their magic to preserve the peace as much as possible. She herself doesn’t have any sign of power, but is a librarian and a serious student of Guardian lore. When the action begins to heat up, she is a young and wealthy widow, living with her much older Guardian sister-in-law. Then she meets Duncan Macrae, a powerful Scottish weather mage. Their attraction is both powerful and frightening to Gwynne (nothing like a few lightening bolts to heat things up), and an early kiss leaves her with vivid visions of violent destruction. She wants to run the other way as fast as she can, but the Guardian Council senses that she will be crucial to balancing Duncan’s power during the gathering uprising in Scotland. After a hasty wedding, the pair is off on a short wedding tour on the way to the Macrae manor in the lowlands of Scotland. And now Gwynne’s power is awakened – truly high levels of seduction, charm, and persuasiveness, with some pretty good future reading to boot. Just quiet female powers, really, she thinks – will they be enough to keep Duncan from adding his power to the uprising and causing the rivers of blood in her visions? Though the Guardian premise seems promising to me, magic in Scotland during the ‘45 says Outlander to me. That series really sets the bar as far as combining adventure, romance and magic, even getting kudos for appealing to both genders, and this one can’t quite meet it. Kiss of Fate a fine book, a little heavier on the romance than the adventure, and a lot more sex than your average romance, due to the heroine’s special powers. It still has a scholarly and adventurous seductress, and a kilt-wearing man whose kisses cause storms. If these are up your alley, give it a try.
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