House of Dreams

September 4, 2000
Confession, depression, possession and sexual obsession drive this story of contemporary sibling rivalry and ancient betrayal. Joyce (The Third Heiress) spices up her latest romantic suspense novel with the ghost of an enraged 16th-century countess, intent on wreaking vengeance on the two families responsible for her early and unjust demise. As the narrative opens in the present day, Cassandra de Warenne, a 32-year-old historical novelist, is unaware of the curse. Living in the family manse in bucolic East Sussex, England, with her aunt, Lady Catherine Belford, Cass has been raising her seven-year-old niece, Alyssa, daughter of Cass's beautiful, jet-setting younger sister, Tracey, who works for Sotheby's in London. When Tracey arranges a dinner party at the estate to display a 16th-century ruby necklace to potential buyers, one of the guests is Antonio de la Barca, a renowned professor of medieval studies, who believes the necklace belongs to one of his ancestors. Cass is surprised by her intense attraction to Antonio, and troubled because Antonio is Tracey's boyfriend, though it's obvious that they have nothing in common. But Antonio's role in the drama becomes far more complex when Aunt Catherine reveals a shocking family secret, and begs Cass to keep Tracey and Antonio apart lest disaster befall them. It seems the two families have been linked for centuries through Isabel de Warenne de la Barca, who was married to a Spanish nobleman in 1554 and burned at the stake on Tower Hill as a heretic a year later. Eventually, the entire de Warenne and de la Barca families gather at Antonio's family castle in Castilla, where, more than four centuries after her death, Isabel is still deviously manipulating everyone into a setting for disaster. Nicely textured characters and medieval court intrigue allow the reader to disregard a few loose ends and savor suspense that ends in romance.

August 1, 2000
An English estate and a haunted castle in Spain provide scenic backdrops for best-selling Joyce's tale of two sisters, Tracy and Cass de Warenne, in love with a professor of medieval studies, Antonio de la Barca. When the affair between drop-dead gorgeous jet-setter Tracy and Antonio sours, the dashing Spaniard concentrates on Cass, a self-effacing romance novelist with a penchant for history. Strangely enough, their family trees are intertwined, spanning centuries of intrigue, revenge, and mysterious deaths. Once Joyce delivers her characters to Antonio's remote ancestral home, the stage is set for a beautiful ghost to take possession of her unsuspecting victims. Intent on making up for the suffering she endured long ago, Isabel wreaks havoc on the descendants of all whom she counts as enemies. With myriad twists and turns, much bloodshed, and plenty of passionate embraces, Cass and Antonio triumph over the unearthly obstacles threatening their happiness. And Isabel's spirit finds peace at last. ((Reviewed August 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)