Dream Island

January 21, 2002
The fantasy realm of Akora, an ancient island civilization hidden from the world by its geography and its citizens, serves as the backdrop for this fanciful Regency-era romance, the first in a new series from Litton (Come Back to Me). Determined to travel to Akora with Lord Alex Darcourt, a half-English Akoran prince, and search for her missing brother, Royce, Lady Joanna Hawkforte stows away on his ship. She's discovered after she injures herself on board, but Alex, intrigued by her courage and beauty, tends her back to health and introduces her to the customs of his homeland. Despite Akora's party line on female behavior—that women should be submissive to their warrior men and treated like birds in a gilded cage—Joanna and Alex's sister, Kassandra, roam about Akora freely. In the midst of one of her wanderings, Joanna overhears two men plotting against the leader of Akora, Alex's half-brother. Fortunately, Joanna and Kassandra possess special psychic abilities that may help them rescue Royce and thwart the traitors' plans. Through descriptive and sometimes flowery prose, Litton (aka Maura Seger) conveys the fairy tale–like perfection of Akora, but her protagonists, who also seem pulled straight from a storybook, are only marginally developed. Indeed, this frothy fantasy is driven more by flashy and unlikely action than genuine romantic tension or character development.

February 1, 2002
Lady Joanna Hawkforte's brother is missing. With nowhere else to turn, she intends to make Lord Alex Darcourt help her find him. Alex is not only an English lord but he's also a prince from the mysterious island of Akora, where Joanna's brother was headed. After Alex summarily dismisses Joanna at one of the Prince Regent's many fetes, she stows away on his ship bound for Akora. Alex is stunned to find her on board; no woman from Akora would ever behave in such a manner. But Joanna is hard to resist; she's intelligent, brave, and poses a challenge. Set among the royalty of the Regency era amid the intrigue of the Napoleonic Wars, Litton's novel is appealing even though some readers may resist the unusual idea of a utopian island kingdom similar to ancient Greece. The key to its likeability is the cast. Alex and Joanna are interesting individually and together and hopefully will be seen again in future forays.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)