The Penwyth Curse

Coulter departs from her latest immersion in romantic suspense to revisit her romance-writing past, venturing all the way back to 1278 to bring back characters from her popular Song series. In this tale, Sir Bishop of Lythe's reward from King Edward I of England for saving his daughter's life is the keep of Penwyth and, with it, Merryn de Gay for a wife. Merryn is the granddaughter of the present lord, and her dowry is a curse: any who weds her will die. She is just 18, and already four husbands have died just after their weddings. Bishop is to be her fifth. He knows that he cannot announce that he's Merryn's intended when he arrives at the keep, so he tells the lord that he is a wizard sent by the king to end the curse. This story is a perfect cover because, in fact, he has always known things that he shouldn't know, such as when it will rain. Strange occurrences begin to happen when Bishop takes Merryn on a trip that turns into a quest to solve and dispel the curse. He starts to have dreams that may not be dreams but visions of actual events that occurred in the distant past between a very powerful wizard and a witch. Their courtship seems to mirror his and Merryn's, complete with lusty interludes. Ultimately, magic of all kinds makes this romance an enchanted tour de force that will please Coulter's longtime readers. Patty Engelmann