Catherine Wyndham is a modern-day woman whose biography could read like the best of personal ads: "Twenty-something, blonde hair, blue-green eyes. Likes long walks on the beach, intimate conversation, and rescuing stray animals. Looking for a Prince Charming to make my life complete. Also happen to turn into a cat after dark." All right, so maybe her ad wouldn't read like everyone else's. Still, she's nothing if not persistent.

Catherine had the fortune of being born into wealthy, royal family, the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wyndham. She also has the very bad misfortune of tangling with a witch named Hezabeth. When Catherine sets the witch's mistreated cat free, she's repaid by being cursed-in the worst way possible. And, by the way, this all occurred over two hundred years ago.

Shirley Jump has always had the ability to reel me in with the first sentence of each of her books, refusing to release me until I turn the last page. KISSED BY CAT is no different. Ms. Jump takes a story that without the magic would have been just another modern-day romance, and turns it into an out-of-this-world fairy tale.

Catherine Wyndham is a woman cursed. In a style reminiscent of the classical movie Ladyhawke, she is a thoroughly modern woman during the day, and a tree-climbing, dog avoiding, black cat at night. When she's rescued one evening by brown-eyed, animal loving veterinarian Garrett McAllister, she curses the fates that have once again thwarted her quest to live a normal life.

As a woman, though, Dr. McAllister is definitely someone worth getting to know. And as emotions churn, and hearts flutter, Catherine knows that sometime in the very near future she's going to have to tell Garrett exactly why she never seems to be available after sundown. For all these years, she's waited for a man who could break Hezabeth's spell-a man who would love her, as both woman and cat. Could Garrett possibly be that man, or will he go screaming for the men in white coats when he hears her outrageous story?

I loved KISSED BY CAT. The premise is wonderful, the dialogue witty, the emotions strong. Ms. Jump has once again turned a night of reading into a pleasurable experience, and I highly recommend this book to all lovers of magic and romance. ( )