THE STAR WITCH

Author: Linda Winstead Jones ISBN: 0425201287 2/2006 PARANORMAL Publisher: PENGUIN PUTNAM/Berkley Sensation

Some say the Circle of Bacwyr is a myth—and practical Isadora, a young, widowed attendant to the Empress, numbers among them. But for Captain Lucan Hern, the powerful Circle is as real as the daggers he hides under his clothing. The warrior was raised solely to find—and capture—the elusive Star of Bacwyr. But his teachers never told him exactly what it was. They only made one thing dear: Stay away from witches... Sounds easy enough. Then Lucan meets Isadora, a decidedly different kind of beauty. She is oblivious to his attraction—while he is equally oblivious to the fact that she's a witch. And he believes her ring is the Star he's been searching for. Isadora has slept in a cold bed these long years—but the arrival of this gorgeous creature sets her body afire. And after a lifetime of searching for the Star, Lucan all but forgets it, waiting for Isadora to give herself to him freely, when he will take her beyond her wildest dreams...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

For someone who is relatively new to the genre of paranormal romance, I am finding that I have absolutely loved what I have read so far.

Lucan Hern travels to the city of Athes in search of one thing—The Star Of Bacwyr. When he spies what he thinks is that very thing on the finger of beautiful Isadora Fyne, he vows that he will do anything in his power to get the ring, and then go home to the Circle of Bacwyr and become the Prince of Swords. Lucan is every woman's dream man. He is not afraid of a good old-fashioned fight, and yet he will not instigate one for no reason. He is loyal, honest and good-looking, and before the end of this book I was totally in love with him.

Isadora is a witch. Lucan hates witches with a passion. To bide her time until she can free herself from the emperor and empress that she is enslaved to, she decides that Lucan is just the man to show her how to feel again after the tragic death of her husband—all the while disguising the fact that she is a witch. She is terrified that she will fall in love with Lucan before the curse that has been placed on her and her sisters is lifted—a curse that condemns any man who loves one of them to either die, or turn from them.

THE STAR WITCH is an enthralling book that had me wishing it would never end. Linda Winstead Jones has got a new fan in me, and I will be sure to look for others of her books in the future.

Kristal Gorman