During their hidden wiccan ceremony Selene and her friends determined that the arrival of her soul mate would be preceded by signs including having him fall at her feet, the appearance of a comet and the certainty that he would not be able to live without her. What they didn't expect was an immediate fulfillment of their prophesy when a badly injured stranger stumbles out of the woods and lands in front of Selene. Without his memory Selene's mystery man is unsure of anything except the fact that he is in danger and that the blonde beauty who supposedly saved him may be the person who is trying to kill him.

Reading this book really requires one to have a strong suspension of disbelief. I'm not talking about the wiccan parts which appeared to be well thought out and researched, I'm more talking about the way the law enforcement portions are handled. I'm not so sure that even in a small town, if you're an adult the first thing the police chief says to a murder suspect is, "you know I have to call your mother." As the more prominent agencies become involved, the methods just get harder to believe. It was a pretty obvious ploy to bring in past characters from her other stories (none of which I've read) and really took me out of this story.

The main characters were well done and likable and I enjoyed the way the author slowly brought Cory's memory back into play. Despite the fact that this story takes place near the end of the author's "Oklahoma All-Girl Brands" storyline it really does stand alone although it may have been more enjoyable if I had read her first books as many of the characters were worked in here.

As this is a Silhouette Suspense series romance it is a short and quick read which would be good for a short trip or day at the beach. ( )

Maggie Shayne has certainly written better than this quick read. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice fast paced novel with lots of excitement. However I found the main character a little hard to relate to. There's being Wiccan or an interest in the occults and then there's just plain flaky and I'd have to say Selene Brand falls into the second category. She decides a man she doesn't even know is her soul mate based on signs she receives after a pagan ritual, falls madly in love with him for no o...more Maggie Shayne has certainly written better than this quick read. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice fast paced novel with lots of excitement. However I found the main character a little hard to relate to. There's being Wiccan or an interest in the occults and then there's just plain flaky and I'd have to say Selene Brand falls into the second category. She decides a man she doesn't even know is her soul mate based on signs she receives after a pagan ritual, falls madly in love with him for no other apparent reason other than those signs and takes wacky to a whole new level. In one scene this character decides to literally listen to the earth, as in lie down on the ground and put her ear to it, and of course while she's listening to dirt "talk" the bad guy catches her and takes her hostage. The character does have some redeeming qualities like a strong sense of conviction to her beliefs and an extreme sense of loyalty, but I was disapointed in the book because you usually find so much better with a Maggie Shayne novel. It's an entertaining read, but I think could have been greatly improved with a little more character development and plot depth. Definitely not one of Maggie Shayne's best. ( )

This wasn't bad. I was expecting Serena's story to be a little silly - especially with the blurbs I'd seen, about 'he falls bleeding at her feet and she knows he's her fate...'. But actually, as presented in the story, it does make sense. In fact, she says early on - in the first chapter, I think - something like 'I do believe in this stuff. But when it comes true like this, it still gives me the shivers!' Which is more or less what I would have said (minus the 'I do believe') in the same situation. They were _joking_ (more or less), whoever was listening... Then there comes the real stress of her being revealed as a Witch, and refusing to tell about the others in her coven. And all the various complications. Not to mention his amnesia, which was very nicely handled (especially the surprising facts out of him bits). I think the villains were seriously dumb - I mean, really, going a state away to attack someone in a crowd who might _possibly_ have seen or heard something that might be a threat to them? Even for the stereotypical criminal fretting over everything, that's overkill. The actual original crime was a real surprise to me, and so was the villain. And Casey was unreasonably lucky! But, yeah, an excellent story. I like the All-Girl Brands. ( )