BE MINE TONIGHT

Author: Kathryn Smith ISBN: 0060848367 6/2006 PARANORMAL/HISTORICAL Publisher: AVON
Time Period: 1899 - Cornwall

I am called Chapel... For nearly six centuries I have roamed the night, a mortal man no longer. Would that I could undo the past—when I entered the sanctuary of the Knights Templar to wrest from them the Holy Grail, only to discover the chalice I raised to my lips was not the sacred relic but a hellish cup of damnation. Now I shun the day and all things human, driven by an ungodly thirst. And yet... Never have I known a maiden the like of Prudence Ryland, whose beauty and spirit awaken a heart I feared long cold and dead. But her young life is slipping away, and she also seeks the deliverance of the Grail—unaware that the cost of her search could be her soul. I must help Prudence, for in six hundred years, no other woman has stirred my passions so. But dare I tender to my beloved that which she most desires—the sensuous "gift" of forever that is both rapture and a curse: my immortal kiss?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I am absolutely in love with Kathryn Smith's, BE MINE TONIGHT. I still cannot believe what a heart wrenching and utterly stunning book it is! I couldn't put it down, which is why I have such a headache today.

BE MINE TONIGHT mixes in many factors involving religion and fate, with what people want to believe and what they are forced to believe. It's deep without being preachy, and has an edge to it to keep it interesting. The fluency of the writing and the characters inhabiting the pages are flawless. And the plot! Well, some segments still have me sniffling. It's groundbreaking by means of delving into a subject—the heroine has ovarian cancer—that still remains hushed and devastating today. Truly, this is some book.

I have to mention, since apparently I am still petty like that, the front cover puts me off a bit, and how I wish it didn't because it houses such a wonderful read. It's not a bad picture, it just doesn't represent or fit the unexpectedly unique paranormal inside.

Anyway, though this is fast becoming one of my favorite types of story—a paranormal set in a historical time period—few have done it so well. Rhonda Thompson comes to mind, but that is about it. At least when it comes to this type of book I now have someone else to look forward to.

Shannon Johnson