Halloween Magic (Signet Regency Romance)

Sandra Heath so impressed me with her novel Lavender Blue, A Regency Gothic strong on pagan lore, that I rushed out and bought her backlist. And again, I am impressed. Halloween Magic is another strong tale of dark magick and things that go bump in the night. Once again, the lore surrounding May Day and Halloween are presented in a non-hysterical fashion, steep in lore and myths surrounding these pagan festivals.On Halloween, there was a terrible thunderstorm that plagued the small hamlet of Wychavon. The remote Shropshire valley had to forgo their usual All Hallows Eve celebration, as the country folk, hid in their homes as they shook from the thunder. In strike of lightning, The Elderly Admiral Villiers is shocked to look out his front window and see a beautiful woman suddenly appear from nowhere. She was gorgeous and very naked. He had the servants bring her into his home, and word quickly spreads through the village that she's a victim of amnesia and cannot recall who she is or where she came from. He calls her Judith after his mother, and gossip runs rampant, as a short time later, the village learns he is to marry the woman 1/3 his age. The shock is fed fuel, when scarcely two months later, the man is found drowned under very mysterious circumstances. Since he had no heir, Judith inherits his estate. Only Judith, knew precisely who she is - or rather was. She was Meg Ashton, a powerful witch, burnt at the stake two hundred years ago. The clap of thunder freed her spirit where it had been slumbering in an ancient stone called The Lady. Now she is set on punishing the descendents of those responsible for her being burnt. First on that list was Admiral Villiers. Next is Nicholas Montacute, the lord of Wychavon.On Beltaine - May Day Eve - she goes to cast a spell to bring Nicholas back from London, so she can plot his death. Only she dropped the seal she had stolen from his house. She had charged it with bringing Nicholas back and making him fall for her charms. Only when she dropped it, the seal ends up in Verity Windsor hands. Verity has slipped out to wash her face in the dew on Beltaine, and found the seal. By her possessing the seal, Judith's spell works - but instead of Judith being the object of Nicholas' affection - he returns and is suddenly obsessed with Verity.Verity has long worship Nicholas from afar, but felt it was a hopeless love. But suddenly, the handsome Nicholas declare himself taken with her. Only, true love shall not run smooth in this case, as Judith is furious that Verity keeps thwarting her black magick.It's a charming Regency Romance, with a strong feel for the period and the lore. Give the writer extra points for knowing a turnip is a pumpkin, and a pumpkin is a neep. Also, for the flawless Mutli-Point of View writing that shines, painting her story with the full rich textures of letting you know all the characters.

This isn't your mother's Regency romance, but that's okay, because you aren't your mother! But then again, given her creativity and her exceedingly inventive mind, anything is possible with Sandra Heath. For a while in the mid-90s, she ventured a bit away from the traditional Regency and into the paranormal and the sensual, and sometimes a combination of the two.HALLOWEEN MAGIC may well be the best of her books of this type. Drawing on a wide variety of folk-lore and other research, this entertaining look at a mad, bad witch would have been difficult, if not impossible, for a non-British native. Meg Ashton, accused of being a witch, was burned at the stake in 1618. Two hundred years later, she comes back to the area she had earlier inhabited, and sets out to wreak revenge on the descendants of those who were instrumental in her demise. Successful in her vendetta against the Villiers family, Meg next turns her attention towards Nicholas, ninth Lord Montacute.Goodness will always win out against evil, and the goodness here is personified by Verity Windsor, orphaned niece of the village magistrate. Inadvertently, Verity manages to intrude on nearly every spell being cast by the witch against the hapless Nicholas. Consequently, the innocent Verity finds herself irresistibly drawn to Nicholas, just as he is to her.HALLOWEEN MAGIC is a truly perfect--and VERY sensual Halloween treat. Whether by trick or by treat, be sure not to miss this one.