Potter #7. The end of an era. The best of the series. What else can I say?? I didn't really like the middle books in the series, between #3 and #6. I absolutely feel editing and pacing was drastically necessary for those books. #7, though, was a total package as far as I'm concerned. It goes without saying that it doesn't stand alone. Read a series synopsis first, but this one is well worth the effort. Go forth and read it.
Written by Christine Feehan and published by Jove in 2006, Dangerous Tides is the latest installment in the Drake Sisters series. I've also posted my thoughts on the last Drake Sisters novel I read. The next installment, titled Safe Harbor, is due out June 27 this year according to Ms. Feehan's website (link in title above).
Dr. Libby Drake is a physician, a woman unsure of her femininity and beauty, a woman who finds intelligent men a huge turn on. Nerdy intelligent men, I mean. Very few women I know find ignorance or stupidity sexy. She has had a lifelong thing for Tyler Derrick, a 'brilliant' scientist- to use Libby's description. Tyler likes her, but doesn't believe in magic. He's so distrustful of her family he tells her to her face that they are charlatans, and he plans to 'prove it to her.' Despite being offended, Libby helps Tyler and their relationship grows.
Unfortunately, someone threatens Libby and/or Tyler. Who might this person be? What motivates them? How can Tyler be such a 'brilliant scientist' but not see his nose before his face? Needless to say, I figured this part out early, but I really found Libby and Tyler fascinating. She sees him pretty clearly (and loves him anyway) and is willing to watch/wait for him to work through his emotional and family issues. Tyler is an all or nothing kind of guy. Full throttle intensity in everything he does- research, hobbies and personal life. So it made sense to me that when he finally committed to Libby and understood that her family is all important to her, he does so wholeheartedly.
As I've mentioned previously, I read this series primarily for the sisters' interrelationships & this book certainly showcases that. Libby and Tyler and their growing commitment are wonderful to watch as well.
This was published by Ace in 2004. James A. Hetley has a webpage, but it appears to be down right now. The link in the title is to an interview. The Summer Country a dark alternate reality/urban fantasy set in contemporary Maine and in a rural alternate world, the Summer Country of the title, where magic and magical beings of all descriptions are the modus operandi.
Maureen and Jo Pierce are sisters living in a tiny town. One night Maureen gets accosted by one stranger and rescued by another. Her rescuer, one Brian Arthur Pendragon Albion, has some fantastical tales to tell. Unfortunately for Brian Maureen isn't the type to give a guy any slack and she tries to send him on his way. Unfortunately, weird things begin to happen to her from that night forward. Maureen gets 'magiced' across the boundary into TSC. Turns out, the majority of the dominant beings in TSC are sterile. Only a select few are fertile- thus they are dying out & are indesperate need of fresh blood. Maureen and Jo happen to be magical beings despite being raised as ordinary humans and are completely illiterate in the ways and means of TSC. Thus, Maureen (but not Jo) is needed to infuse fresh genes into TSC. What happens to her there is the thrust of this story.
Maureen reminds me of Christine Feehan heroines- deeply damaged by childhood trauma, chip on her shoulder, prickly, yet vulnerable too. Maureen is only 28, but has a long history of severe alcoholism & serious mental disorders behind her. Her past history made parts of this novel hard to read, but I thought her issues were senstively handled as is her relationship with her sister. I had some problems with how her emotional and mental state was described toward the end of this novel, but the saga continues in the next installment, which is titled The Winter Oak (already available). I'm hopeful Mr. Hetley will continue with the complexity and depth of Maureen and Jo's characters and I hope he will resist temptation to wrap up these novels into neat little packages with every last little string tied and tucked in.
