"An entertaining Time Travel with a wonderful hero."

When Devin Archer is hired by his dying Queen to go out and find the one person who has a chance of saving her, he does not know that in order to find this healer he and his shape-shifting pet will have to enlist the aid of a man with mysterious magical powers, fight an unknown malevolent being, and travel through time. And then to top it all off, just when he finds the woman, it turns out that the healer he is searching for has died and her daughter (and successor) knows nothing of her mother's past and is into denial about any powers she may possess. How will he ever convince this woman to travel back to the future with him and risk her life to save a Queen she has never heard of?

Talia Trahern is living a quiet life in the country running an animal rescue and adoption service. She does her best to ignore the fact that she is somehow "different" and can feel her animals' pain. Before her mother died they lived life moving from place to place, trying to hide her difference from others. She doesn't know that the fairy tales about Kings and Queens her mother told her as a child were actually true until one day she looks up to find two strange men who claim that she is the daughter of the long lost Royal Healer and that only she can save their Queen and her unborn baby. She doesn't believe them until mysterious things begin to happen and someone tries to kill her. And then there is the fact that she is beginning to feel an emotional connection to Devin that she has never felt before. Should she distance herself from him like she does from everyone else, or should she take a chance on him and trust this man from the future?

THE ROYAL HUNTER was an entertaining blend of time travel, high tech medieval court intrigue and wizardry. I especially enjoyed Devin with his tough exterior that he uses to hide the vulnerable man beneath. When he finds himself falling for Talia he is mostly bewildered and, not having ever known love, he doesn't recognize it for what it is. He is not your cold hearted hero who has sworn off love, he is a man who has accepted the fact that love is just not going to ever be a part of his life. He won't even admit that he cares about his shape-shifting pet, Ringer, even though he always keeps it with him. I found myself taking the time to re-read the parts where he was thinking of Talia and trying to convince himself that it was only lust he was feeling. Talia is a good match for him, having faced adversity of her own as a child. She doesn't think she is capable of doing what these men ask, but she reaches down inside herself and finds a strength she never knew she possessed. I highly recommend this one.

Reviewed by Janice Bennett
Posted October 19, 2001

Summary

A captivating story that mixes present and the future worlds, THE ROYAL HUNTER is the tale of a sexy bounty hunter from he future, assigned to find the one woman who can save his queen from death. Little does he know, his quest will lead him to the door of a young woman in present-day Connecticut. FIlled with Kauffman's trademark adventure and passion, THE ROYAL HUNTER is a thrilling romance.