Dark Enchantment

February 1, 2004
While in France to petition King Louis XIV to aid the exiled King Charles, Sir John Marstone stumbles upon a street urchin in a fight for his life. After saving the boy, he quickly realizes that he is a she--and no mere homeless waif. Indeed, she is noblewoman Catherine de la Fer, and her family is offering a reward for her safe return, a reward that would surely help in his cause. But otherworldly acts and creatures haunt them on their way to her home, and love threatens to sway him from his duty to his king. The world of the de la Fer family continues to develop in this sequel to " Night Fires" [BKL O 15 03], and just two books in, there are hints that this series may become a complex one of dark magic and faith reminiscent of a nineteenth-century gothic. Readers who have been searching for just such a unique historical paranormal will not want to miss Harbaugh's work.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)