Shari Anton, Midnight Magic

Midnight Magic

Shari Anton

Warner, Dec 2005, $6.50, 368 pp.

ISBN: 0446614661

In 1145 Alberic of Chester kills William de Leon in battle; William's father Hugh also died in the skirmish. Afterward the victorious King Stephen knights Alberic, gives him Castle Camelen, formerly owned by de Leon, and directs him to marry one of the three surviving daughters.

Alberic arrives at Camelen, but is not welcomed by any of the former Liege's daughters. Especially hostile is ten year old Nicole, who tries to assassinate him for killing her brother and the middle daughter Gwendolyn, who stands up to him. The oldest, Emma, shows courage as she refuses to allow debilitating headaches to keep her from performing her duty to honor her father and brother. Heeding his King's advice, Alberic selects Gwendolyn, who insists she is betrothed to Madog ap Ideal; he plans to send Emma to court and Nicole to a monastery. As Gwendolyn observes how honorable Alberic is, and that the "Arthurian" ring taken from her father will not come off his finger symbolizing true love, Madog plans to attack what he claims is his property, even if innocent lives die.

MIDNIGHT MAGIC is an enjoyable medieval romance in which the ring provides a fresh look at true love, in spite of the denials of the heroine. The storyline provides a taste of the English civil war, in which nobles chose between Stephen and Maud without making the losers in this case (William and Hugh) into ogres deserving death; in fact based on the behavior of the three sisters, their male family members treated them with respect as Alberic does too, at least with the older pair. Shari Anton provides a fine historical tale that readers will appreciate.

Harriet Klausner