"Holm Holly's long awaited story!"
Robin D. Owens has done it yet again. She's drawn
us into her world of Celta with another story that is
equally as intriguing as the two previous ones in this
series (HEARTMATE and HEART THIEF). This is the long awaited (at least by me) story of
Holm Holly. We met Holm in HEARTMATE, the first book in
the
series, as a friend of T'Ash. Holm is heir to a long line
of duelists. He and his family enjoy fighting and make it
their life's goal to learn as much about fighting
techniques and weapons as they can. Mayblossom Larkspur Hawthorn Collison (Lark) is a
healer. Not only is she a healer but she's also a
FirstLevel healer. Her family and the Holly Family are
also
feuding. She's not sure why because she broke ties with
her
family years before when she married a Downwind Healer who
was killed in one of the duels caused by the feud. Holm never knew he had a heartmate before but
suddenly it is revealed to him who his heartmate is when
his parents push for his marriage. Unfortunately for the
families, Holm's heartmate is Lark. Now to convince Lark
of this fact without telling her outright, as is the law
of
Celta, and to explain to his family who his heartmate is
will be a challenge, but one that he readily accepts. He
has
no way of knowing how hard this challenge will be. To
complicate matters even further, Holm and Lark receive
matching kittens, Phyll and Meserv who are children of the
incorrigible Zanth from HEARTMATE. This story, like her other two, could not be put
down. There was nothing about this gritty no nonsense
book
that I didn't like. This one isn't like the other two
books. It's much more realistic and the challenges that
Holm and Lark face only make them ready to face their
future when the time comes. All of the characters who I
enjoyed reading about in the other two books are in this
one as well, which makes it even more enjoyable! I say to
Robin D. Owens, "Keep them coming! I'm waiting!"
Reviewed by Kathy Boswell
Posted January 11, 2004
SummaryHealer Lark Collinson hates the street dueling that is a
way of life among the noble families on Celta—it was
just such a skirmish that killed her Healer husband and
left her a grieving widow. The last thing she wants is to
love a man to whom fighting is a way of life—a man
like the brashly confident Holm Holly.
All it takes is one brief touch for Holm to know that Lark
is his HeartMate, though wooing her will be his greatest
challenge. For not only does she despise everything he
represents, but the long-standing feud between their
families has exploded into even greater violence. Their
destiny has been revealed...but at what cost to their own
hearts?
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