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"Shannon's potent blend of Egyptian myth, simmering sensuality, subtle wit, and imaginative storytelling will cast a spell of its own." -- Booklist
Arielle Blaylock has always been fragile in body but not in spirit. Her over protective father lost his wife to strange, febrile dreams that seemed to manifest themselves in ghastly wounds that appeared from nowhere. He's determined not to lose his daughter to the same bizarre ailment, so he hires famous detective Shelley Holmes to help exorcise his daughter's demons.
But the strange cats that inhabit her dreams are not demons to Arielle. With every new vision, they become kindred spirits. In the dream world, Arielle is powerful, athletic, perfect in mind and body...why should she want to awaken to feeble reality? She knew one creature was good and one was bad, but both were alluring. And why did the legacy from her mother, an amulet of the Egyptian cat goddess Bast, comfort her so even as it seemed to make her dreams more erotic?
As Shelley helps Arielle solve the mystery of her birth, doing all she can to save her charge's life in the process, Shelley will also meet a man who will be the first to truly test her mettle. He will know her, and come to love her, for what she is, but Shelley's indomitable independence will rebel against him and her own feelings as she battles both her own emotions and the dark forces that strive to carry Arielle away. But it might be too late for both of them to escape the allure of the spirit world...Have both their fates been writ large in the Egyptian Book of the Dead in Arielle's study?
Arielle Blaylock has always been fragile in body but not in spirit. Her over protective father lost his wife to strange, febrile dreams that seemed to manifest themselves in ghastly wounds that appeared from nowhere. He's determined not to lose his daughter to the same bizarre ailment, so he hires famous detective Shelley Holmes to help exorcise his daughter's demons.
But the strange cats that inhabit her dreams are not demons to Arielle. With every new vision, they become kindred spirits. In the dream world, Arielle is powerful, athletic, perfect in mind and body...why should she want to awaken to feeble reality? She knew one creature was good and one was bad, but both were alluring. And why did the legacy from her mother, an amulet of the Egyptian cat goddess Bast, comfort her so even as it seemed to make her dreams more erotic?
As Shelley helps Arielle solve the mystery of her birth, doing all she can to save her charge's life in the process, Shelley will also meet a man who will be the first to truly test her mettle. He will know her, and come to love her, for what she is, but Shelley's indomitable independence will rebel against him and her own feelings as she battles both her own emotions and the dark forces that strive to carry Arielle away. But it might be too late for both of them to escape the allure of the spirit world...Have both their fates been writ large in the Egyptian Book of the Dead in Arielle's study?
356 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 3, 2006
4 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Colleen Shannon
19 books48 followerscolleen1011@gmail.com
Colleen Shannon's ancestor signed the Texas Declaration of Independence and her West Texas roots give her the optimistic yet inquiring viewpoint that she tries to reflect in her books. Believing in the redeeming power of love, the benefits of knowledge, with a bit of sprituality included, are the elements she most enjoys in books and that's what she tries to write. With a bit of humor thrown in for spice!
The strength of her first book for Berkley many years ago led to her nomination by Romantic Times as Best New Historical Author. She went on to win and/or be nominated for numerous other awards, including a Kiss Award for all three heroes of her Fairy Tale trilogy which she wrote for Dorchester Books.
She recently sold three Ranger series books to Lyrical Press. #16 Foster Justice debuted December 2014, and its stand alone sequel #17, Sinclair Justice, will be released in July 2015. The third series book will be released sometime in 2016, tentatively titled Austin Justice. They are her first published romantic suspense-- contemporaries about Texas Rangers.
Colleen Shannon's ancestor signed the Texas Declaration of Independence and her West Texas roots give her the optimistic yet inquiring viewpoint that she tries to reflect in her books. Believing in the redeeming power of love, the benefits of knowledge, with a bit of sprituality included, are the elements she most enjoys in books and that's what she tries to write. With a bit of humor thrown in for spice!
The strength of her first book for Berkley many years ago led to her nomination by Romantic Times as Best New Historical Author. She went on to win and/or be nominated for numerous other awards, including a Kiss Award for all three heroes of her Fairy Tale trilogy which she wrote for Dorchester Books.
She recently sold three Ranger series books to Lyrical Press. #16 Foster Justice debuted December 2014, and its stand alone sequel #17, Sinclair Justice, will be released in July 2015. The third series book will be released sometime in 2016, tentatively titled Austin Justice. They are her first published romantic suspense-- contemporaries about Texas Rangers.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 24, 2016
This was truly a weird book, but I don't think it was the strangeness (exactly) that kept me from liking it. Arielle was rather a bore and slightly Mary Sue-ish, while Seth was strange and not quite likable; but most of all, the book was boring. I don't know how with all the convoluted ideas this story had, but it was. With the exception of Shelley and Ethan, I didn't like anyone, and their romance was by far the better one. Too bad it was secondary to Arielle's and Seth's. And even though I like things out of the ordinary, the plot didn't do it for me and was a bit too odd. I'm beginning to think that Colleen Shannon's books are not for me, even though I really enjoy Shelley's character - too bad she's always investigating the supposed main love interests, because she is so much more interesting than they ever are.
June 2, 2022
It was a fun little story with a lot of seductive cat shifters and a bonus romance with detective Shelley Holmes.
July 2, 2016
An entertaining beach read, light enough for the distractions of travel. A very unique blend of mystical, mythical, historical/period romance with some mild horror elements, werewolves and such. Some of the dominance games in the romance are quite trite and wearying for me. I would love to find a novel in the Romance genre that doesn't make me squirm when it comes to gender roles and clichés. Is it time for Feminist Romance? Maybe that is a book I need to write. I wouldn't recommend this one.
September 8, 2012
This book was very interesting in the beginning...
I wanted to keep reading to see what was going to happen...
However it was just weird and the ending was obvious and
disappointing to me... I don't really like romance novels...
In my opinion they tease too much and "it" is over much too
quickly.
I wanted to keep reading to see what was going to happen...
However it was just weird and the ending was obvious and
disappointing to me... I don't really like romance novels...
In my opinion they tease too much and "it" is over much too
quickly.
December 10, 2013
I really liked this book. Lots of historical information within, but the characters were absolutely fascinating. The writing style was certainly unique, and I loved the way that the drama unfolded. The main character was quite interesting.
The only bad thing I have to say about this book was that I flew so rapidly through it that I wish it was longer than it is!
The only bad thing I have to say about this book was that I flew so rapidly through it that I wish it was longer than it is!
January 11, 2010
I've always liked anything having to do ancient Egypt or the mystcism of cats. This book provided a lot of eyptian history, including and old myths and legends I didn't know about, keep in mind I don't know how much of this fact. But it was still fun to read about!
December 28, 2016
I tried, I really did. The concept of the story was great and I don't know if it is my book funk or what but I could not finish this. I am going to keep it and try again in a different setting, but right now - um not so much
November 18, 2009
a fair read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews