HIS DARK KISS

Author: Eve Silver ISBN: 0821779672 11/2006 HISTORICAL Publisher: KENSINGTON/ZEBRA
Time Period: 1800's Wales

SAINT... Set high atop a hill, Manorbrier Castle is shrouded in darkness and savage rumors: No servant has ever survived for long... Stay away from the Round Tower.. There's death there... And then there is the dark lord of the manor himself... a monster, they say, and a murderer... SINNER... Emma Parrish isn't easily frightened by hearsay. She's escaped a far worse fate in order to take a position as governess at Manorbrier. Caring for Lord Craven's young son offers her a last chance to build a life for herself. She will not flee, even when she feels eyes watching her, hears strange, haunting laughter—not even when she is tempted by the alluring pull of Anthony Craven's seductive, dangerous beauty... ....OR COLD-BLOODED KILLER? A whisper of evil crawls through the shadowy halls and locked rooms of the crumbling estate. At night, Emma sees a mysterious light coming from the Round Tower. She has been warned never to set foot inside it—just as she has been warned not to fall for Lord Craven's wicked charms. But some curiosities—and deepest desires—must be satisfied. And as Emma draws ever closer to a man she cannot resist or deny, she moves nearer to the terrifying truth of his darkest secrets...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Ms. Silver has fine tuned the art of combining spine tingling suspense with a hot and sensual romance. Murder and intrigue abound, while leaving you guessing who should be feared, right up until the last chapter of HIS DARK KISS.

No matter how many times Emma Parrish tells herself to stay far away from Lord Anthony Craven and his tortured soul, she cannot resist the yearning she feels whenever she is in his presence. With his dark good looks and his dangerous brooding character, he is the exact type of man all mama's warn their innocent daughters to stay clear of. And Emma knows all too well what could happen if she does not heed this warning. She herself is the product of her mother's foolhardy fall into the arms and false promises of a man of nobility. She has seen her mother shunned, and she has been labeled "bastard" the whole of her life. But she seems powerless to resist the lure of Anthony's dark good looks and heavenly body, his compassionate nature for those in need, and his unconditional love for his young son Nicholas. She has heard and dismissed the vicious rumors regarding Anthony, but when she starts to witness disturbing events at Manorbrier Castle, can she still believe all that is said about the castle's dark lord is just hideous gossip? Or can she possibly trust her heart and life with this man, and somehow help him conquer the nightmares of his past? And when the danger finally spreads to the lord's son—a little boy she could not love more, even if he had been born from her body—can she make the right choice and protect him at all costs?

With my first taste of Ms. Silver's talents, I have made room for her on my keeper shelf, and I intend to read her previous novel, DARK DESIRES. If you are a fan of gothic romance, then HIS DARK KISS by Eve Silver is a must read. It will leave even the best detectives guessing, right up until the end. The suspense is riveting, and the passion electrifying! Thoughts of this magnificent gothic love story will haunt the reader long after the last page is read!

Deana Monteleone