Reviews

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Phyllis Muhlhauser
Romance Book Cafe

Visions of Enchantment
by Mary J. Dressel

A beautiful, red haired woman consumed with grief is led through a portal in time and a new era begins. . .

She is found wandering the streets in dated clothing by a young woman named Beth   She knows only that her name is Eryn.  Her pictures are posted by the media.  When no one claims her she is taken in by Beth’s parents.  She marries Taylor Sterling and they have twin daughters, one who looks like her and the other who doesn’t resemble her or anyone in Taylor’s family. . .  After twenty years of marriage Taylor disappears without a trace.

While driving her daughter to college in another state, they encounter a dense fog, Eryn being intensely afraid of fog. . .

While looking for a place to stay, she notices an old book store, which she knows she will return to later.  They stop at a beautiful place called the Enchanted Inn.   As Eryn parks, she has her first encounter with the past.  She looks in the rear view mirror she sees a scene from a bygone era.  When she looks again, it is gone.  The owner of the inn is Uriah Prescot, a tall, handsome man with long blond hair and sparkling amber eyes.  Uriah is very interested in
Eryn.

The next day, she goes to Enchantment to the book store. She finds a book that foretells the future, saying she will be happy again and also a very old painting that looks as she must have as a young girl. . .  Emmet the book store owner is very secretive about his back room.  Could there be answers to her missing seventeen years?

On returning home, Eryn and Beth go through Taylor’s things in the basement.  Beth finds a picture she hides from Eryn of Taylor with a blonde woman on his lap.  They find that Taylor was planning a trip to Enchantment to purchase a book for Eryn at Emmet’s bookstore but Taylor never returned. . .  Eryn and Beth return to Enchantment and find the bookstore burned.  But who would have burned the bookstore and why?

Eryn goes back to the burned book store and finds an old picture album.  Eryn slips through the portal in time to 1882 and finds pieces to the mystery.  Eryn and Beth are on their way to the hospital to talk to Emmet when Beth’s car stops.  Uriah grabs Eryn and takes her to a cabin far out into the hills.  For weeks he talks to her, hikes through the hills with her, and at night she dreams of a man with amber eyes from another time.

Fill in the dots, answer the questions and the truth will be yours!

Ms Dressel has painted an intricate portrait of two diverse periods in time and a love that connects the two.   Definitely a  five star read.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ENCHANTMENT’S EMBRACE
Reviewed by Raakhee Suryaprekash for:
The Road to Romance
Hot passion as well as the “forever and always” love between the two main characters are characteristic of both “Enchantment” books. The three other couples (the younger twin Avis and Travis Van Tine, the older twins Alyce and Enchantment Inn’s handyman Cole Dawes, Eryn’s best friend Beth Van Tine and Dr. C.J. Lincoln) and their love stories add tremendously to the romance quotient of the book.
Halfway through the book, just when you think they’ve faced down their enemy, are married, and embarking on their happily-ever after…yet another old enemy resurfaces! Facing down this persistent enemy is harder and despite being less violent than Dalton, he is more dangerous for Eryn and Uriah. I’ll not spoil the suspense by telling you who it is …you’ve got to read it to believe it! Mary Dressel sure puts her characters through quite a rig-ma-role and tests the “always and forever” to its greatest limit! This love across time sometimes seems almost cursed. But after all the heartbreak the happy ending is that much sweeter.

Just as Uriah is hesitant to read the book True Stories written by Eryn’s time-traveling great grandfather to know what the future holds, sometimes one is almost scared to turn the page wondering what new heartache Dressel has in store for Uriah and Eryn. But the suspense is such that you can’t resist turning the page! And when you come to the last page you won’t mind all the twists in the plot so much since Uriah and Eryn are given the most perfect of the much-deserved happy ending. ENCHANTMENT’S EMBRACE is quite a romance! Perfect for when you doubt the concept of forever love, this book will make you believe once more.

April 14, 2009

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