THIS WAS A DEFINITE BOOK WITH MANY STORIES THAT I COULD NOT PUT DOWN UNTIL I HAD READ THEM ALL. THE PLOTS WERE GOOD , THE CHARACTORS WERE BELIEVABLE, AND THE LENGH OF EACH STORY WAS RIGHT. WONDERFUL READING!

"Once Upon a Castle" is a fabulous anthology by four very talented romance authors.

In Nora Roberts' "Spellbound," Calin travels to Ireland and ends up at the front door of the bewitchingly beautiful Bryna. Together, in the culmination of a thousand year spell, these two must fight an evil sorcerer who can only be conquered by true love. Calin must return Bryna's love freely, or the evil sorcerer will triumph and all will be lost. This is written in true NR style and will have readers captivated.

Next is Jill Gregory's "Castle Doom," in which Arianne sets out on a mission to save her brother Marcus from his evil captor, Julian. She finds an ally in Nicholas, an old friend of her brother, and together they must fight the evil Julian in order to save Marcus and free the people from his tyranny. In the midst of their dangerous plight, Arianne and Nicholas unexpectedly fall in love. This story was suspenseful and romantic and highly entertaining.

In "Falcon's Lair" by Ruth Ryan Langan, Felicity travels from her home in America to Ireland to help Oliver, an old friend of her father, with a terrible curse. Something is not quite right in this majestic old castle and Felicity finds help from a handsome spirit (Gareth). With Gareth's help Felicity begins to see that this home is filled with betrayal and sets out to save Oliver and his son. However Gareth and Felicity fall in love and break the rules that govern Gareth to be together, for which there will be dire consequences. This story will touch your heart and leave you believing in magic.

The final story is "Dragonspell" by Marianne Willman and I think this one was my favourite (it's just so hard to choose because they are all so good!). Princess Tressalara, with the help of 2 sorcerer's apprentices and a dashing and dangerous rebel named Cador, sets out to reclaim her kingdom from the evil usurper, Lector. Tressalara joins Cador's rebel camp originally as Trev, a young boy, but Cador immediately sees beneath her plain clothes and dirty face to the beautiful woman beneath. Cador and Tressalara fall head over heels in love with each other and enjoy a wonderful romance that readers will love. This tale will sweep you away to the magical land of Amelonia and leave you feeling fulfilled and satisfied.

This is an absolutely superior anthology. If you enjoy a good "happily ever after" and a bit of magic then you will LOVE this book. All four stories are well-written and lots of fun. You will be sad to see this one come to an end!

Escape into these four wonderful tales of magic and romance. I stayed up late reading these four tales late into the night, making me very tired for my classes the next day. I would recommend this book to anyone, who like I, has never outgrown fairy tales and still dreams that a world of castles, princes, and those magical words "they lived happily ever after" exists.

Structural engineer Abra Wilson meets architect Cody Johnson and disagrees with his plans for the new resort they are both employed to build. They fall in love and learn respect for each other's abilities. The characters from "Loving Jack" pay a visit and it is fun to see them again. There is an exciting subplot about unscrupulous bosses and substandard building materials.
Excerpt from the back of the book:
"When Cody Johnson first caught sight of structural engineer Abra Wilson, he thought of endless possibilities. She had style and confidence-and was distracting as hell. She'd called his design an impractical piece of fancy, but then he'd always preferred frankness to subtleties.
Abra had met men like Cody before. They usually thought they could smile their way out of trouble, and this overconfident East Coast architect was no exception. She'd told him to back off, but he wasn't listening.
Friction was inevitable, but when sparks turned to flames of passion, could either of them take the heat?"

a good read. loved the relationship between natasha and the little girl. there is something to be said for the older books of Ms. roberts....nice indeed to fill an afternoon ::smile

Sexy Italian chef Carlo Franconi goes on a 3 week book tour to promote his new cookbook. With him on his travels is super- organized publicist Juliet Trent, who is determined not to fall for this latin lover type. Of course, she does and he finds the one woman he's been looking for all his life. Carlo visits his friends from the book, "Summer Desserts" and it is fun to read about them again. You will probably enjoy this book more if you have already read "Summer Desserts".

Excerpt from the back of the book:
"An expert in the kitchen-and the bedroom-Carlo Franconi was more than willing to teach publicist Juliet Trent the secrets to his success. Juliet never combined business with pleasure, yet she was captivated by Carlo's outrageous boldness and charm.
But twenty-one days on tour with the world's sexiest chef was enough to stir any woman's emotions!"

Since I collected all of Nora Roberts' books a few summers ago, I am slowly reading her titles to make them last. But considering she writes three books a year, I will most likely always have a Nora book to look forward to. And once again as she has done in the past this author has entranced me with the first book in the Donovan series, Captivated.

When Nash, a Hollywood writer, needs help with facts for his next thriller movie, he seeks out the beautiful Morgana, known in the community to be a bona fide witch. But what he doesn't reckon with are her powers which he doesn't at first believe are anything more than pranks. And he certainly doesn't believe that her two cousins, Sebastian and Anastasia are anymore witches than their parents are either.

Like many of Nora's other series book, this one is light and entertaining and has me looking forward to reading the next title, Entranced.

Note - Although it says that this title is out of print, in 1999, the first three Donovan titles were published in one book called The Donovan Legacy. And at the same time the fourth book Enchanted about cousin Liam Donovan was also published.

So happy Wiccan reading and afterwards tell me you don't believe there is any truth in this paranormal tale.

This book was a welcome and unexpected relief from the hum-drum of most romances. The characters were vivid, and of course, much larger than life. The use of the Wiccan religion as a background was quite detailed and fairly true to life. Although, of course, most modern day Witches do not levitate when they kiss their prospective lovers. The trials and tribulations of our main character, Morgana, as she resists the lure of the obvious husband-to-be, Nash, are somewhat predictable in the independent female type line. However, the addition of her familiar, an Occult shop and the characters that accompany such a lifestyle add a charm and flair rarely seen in such material. The wrap-up include priceless and humourous views of what appears to be a haunted castle deep in Ireland. I can only say - Read It! And then, look for the others. Even now, I am searching for the other two titles in the Donovan Series.

Ms. Roberts is fond of baseball, as evidenced in many of her books, and many of those books are home runs if not real grand slams, but she struck out with The Stars of Mithra. Secret Star was the weakest of the weak series. Roberts generally creates such good heroes and heroines that readers will overlook lacks or errors in plot details, but hackneyed and/or unbelievable characters--and, in this installment, a downright silly one like Grace--point out the flaws rather than hide them. Among other things, Roberts needs to better research police procedure and little details like the fact that .38s don't have have clips, but most of all she needs to spend more time executing the game plan for a book and making sure she doesn't make an easy out, leaving readers stuck on base instead of running across the plate of a satisfying read. Nobody wants to see a major leaguer sent back down to the minors.

I truly look forward to reading each and every Nora Roberts book I buy. This one was no exception.

Grace is a very rich lady who does many good deeds. I had a hard time relating to her character. However, I feel that Nora Roberts does a very good job of developing it in pieces so that you can slowly get to know the full person behind the money. Seth is the cop working to solve a murder. The mystery and intrigue this book provides was wonderful.

I particularly liked the ending in this book. I thought it was fairly true to how I would act in a similar situation. (Would that I were so rich!)

Although this book can stand alone, the first two book in the star series will provide background on some of the characters involved. I would suggest that you read all three in order.

This final book was the best in the "Star" series. Grace is very wealthily, classy and upscale. Seth is a police Lieutenant. The ending to this book was like a fairy tale and was the perfect match. This series was great and I thought the combination made it all three were the perfect match A private investigator, a bounty hunter and now a cop. You will enjoy the series but do read them in order starting with Hidden Star. Enjoy!

Nora Roberts is a truly gifted writer. What I love about her stories is that they stay so fresh in my mind, even after having read some of them several years ago. I can only pray that I'll be able to forget this one. Unfortunately her gift of description was used to describe in great detail pure evil, Satanism, rituals and enough perversity to give me a nervous stomach to contend with. I have read more Romantic Suspense than I can count, but this book in no way falls under that category in my opinion! It should be in the Occult section. I can't even recommend reading it for the love story because it's so lacking. I would say about ten percent of this book dealt with a great couple that I would have liked to read more about. The last conversation between the hero and the heroin leaves you hanging abominably. And the "twist" at the end was terrible, and ridiculously unbelievable. I can't even believe that I'm saying this about a Roberts book, but I strongly advise skipping this one. It's not worth the sick feeling that I hope soon fades.

For great Romantic Suspense I recommend every other Nora Roberts, Susan Anderson, Cherry Adair, Lauren Bach, Jane Graves, Linda Howard, and "To Trust a Stranger" by Karen Robards.

This is one of the few "romance" type books I have read. I really enjoyed it, it kept me interested throughout the story. The characters were pretty likable, but I would have enjoyed more development in that area. The ending was a COMPLETE SURPRISE!! I did not see it coming! I have purchased Montana Sky and Sanctuary for future reading. Being from Maryland, I had heard about Nora Roberts, but had never read her. I think I was missing something, to be honest. I recommend this to anyone wanting a diversion, a little bit scary, with some romantic suspense. A winner! I also recommend the wonderful Barbara Michaels, and Kay Hooper.

Kathleen

Nora Roberts has outdone herself! Divine Evil is one of the best romantic suspense novels I've read. Although it's packed full of grotesque imagery and revolting rituals, I would recommend this book, especially to anyone who loves horror and high suspense. If you're faint of heart, however,pass it up -- it's graphic, violent, and will give leave you with nightmares.

I found this book to be mildly entertaining but not as good as the last two books in "The Donovan Legacy". The hero, Liam, is a witch who has the ability to shapeshift, and spends much time in the early chapters in the shape of wolf. In this form he keeps company with Rowan, a confused woman who's in the woods "searching for herself". When Liam revealed himself to her I was hoping she'd be a lot more angry with him! He had watched her undress, bathe, sleep, and he slipped into her mind to dream with her. Perhaps this book would have gotten 1 more star had Rowan been less mild a heroine. She herself refers several times to how she has no pride -- that's for sure! But all in all the book is a worthwhile read if you have already read and enjoyed the other Donovan books.

As a woman so often ruled by her family, never making any choices for herself, Rowan Murray ventures to a cabin in the woods in search of solitude and time to evaluate herself and her life. She's surprised to find she feels more at home in the tiny cabin surrounded by the beauties of wilderness than she'd ever felt in her home in the city. Then she meets Liam Donovan-the owner of a cabin a few miles through the woods from hers. Suddenly he's with her in her thoughts, her dreams, and as a relationship begins to flourish his effect on her sends her sailing to a fantasy world. But there are many things about Liam Donovan that Rowan is unaware of. Particularly his heritage. As the story unfolds, Rowan learns of this heritage and that of her shocking heritage as well.

While this is the first book from THE DONOVAN LEGACY series that I've read, I can assure you I will be reading more. The story behind ENCHANTED is one of fantasy nestled in a sweet romance. Shape-shifting witches, magical powers, and secrets hidden in the past keep you turning the page demanding to know more. The description of each scene brings the story jumping off the pages to life, making you feel as if you are truly experiencing the moments rather than simply reading about them. A very delightful read.

"Enchanted" is the fourth book in Nora Roberts' "Donovan Legacy" and it is exactly as its name suggests, enchanting. It is a lovely tale of fantasy and romance, and of finding the truest magic in the heart.
Rowan Murray has finally made a decision for herself and escaped from her smothering life in San Francisco to a friend's cabin on the Oregon coast. Rowan immediately feels more at home in her new surroundings than she ever did in the city, and for the first time in longer than she can remember, she begins to listen to her heart.
Rowan falls in love with the place she is calling home, and notices almost every day a sleek and gorgeous black wolf watching the cabin (and her) out of his golden eyes. She also meets her dangerously handsome and mysterious neighbour Liam Donovan. Rowan and Liam have an immediate and intense response to each other, which continues to grow as they become friends.
But Liam Donovan is filled with indecision. The innocent and beautiful Rowan makes his blood run hot and his body yearn, but he feels he has no right to take advantage of her at such a vulnerable time in her life. He also knows his honour is such that he will not allow their relationship to progress much further, until she knows of his special heritage and the gifts that come with it.
Will Rowan be able to accept Liam for who he is once she knows the incredible truth? And will Liam be able to open his guarded heart and offer Rowan the one thing that really matters?
Read it and find out.
I really loved this book. Nora Roberts has crafted a sweet and whimsical tale of magic and destiny and love. The story is refreshingly original and the romance between Rowan and Liam is fresh and fun. I thought Liam was a great hero, stubborn and brooding, but yet with a soft and loving heart. He's not in the least bit creepy, and all that's necessary to realize that is a bit of imagination. This is a story of magic - it's not supposed to be realistic - who would want it to be? So when you read this book, suspend your disbelief and just enjoy it. I guarantee this magical, fanciful tale will sweep you away and leave you sated and happy!

I've read most of Roberts' books, but this one wasn't quite up to par. The characters aren't as well developed as in her more recent novels, and in general the book is just much more conventional and clumsily written. I could see all plot developments from a mile away, and the all the cliches made me physically ill. This was, of course, her first (?) book, so all of the clumsiness is understandable. But I'd stick to more recent novels - if you like Irish themes, try Jewels of the Sun and Tears of the Moon. These are books in which Roberts' ability to create unique, entertaining, and sympathetic characters who interact in vivid settings really shines through.

No, it's not Roberts' best -- but IRISH THOROUGHBRED is still enjoyable, and very worthwhile for a look at the evolution of a writer! Check this one out back-to-back with its sequel, IRISH ROSE (written some 7 years later), and you'll see how much Roberts grew in that time. IRISH THOROUGHBRED's main character Adelia is a plucky girl, but IRISH ROSE's Erin is more of a grown woman. Then sit back, hold on to your hat, and read steamy IRISH REBEL, published in 2000. It gives us Adelia's daughter and the man she falls in love with, going head-to-head as equals and as lovers. Adelia develops as a stronger character in the subsequent books as well. The reviewer who appears below me (Wendy Meade) is right when she calls IRISH THOROUGHBRED conventional, but it WAS Roberts' first published book, and those WERE the conventions of romance novels when it was written. (Check out those Harlequins of the '70s!) We've come a long way, baby, and Roberts is one of those who helped contemporary romances get to where they are now. IRISH THOROUGHBRED also began Roberts' tradition of lovable Gaelic characters, especially Adelia's Uncle Paddy. The polish may not be there yet, but the warmth is, and that's what keeps us coming back for more of her books 20 years later!

"COME TO AMERICA. YOUR HOME IS WITH ME NOW." Adelia Cunnane's uncle had written her. So Adelia had left Ireland to join him on what he had discribed as the finest horse farm in Maryland. Adelia agreed with her uncle about the farm. But what should she think about its owner, Travis Grant? She knew she could master his strongest horse. She had seen his eyes soften at the birth of a foal. Yet his lips on hers demanded a submission she wasa not yet ready to give- atleast not until he had spoken the words she had to hear.

this book is a simple, short love story. there isnt much depth to it but i did enjoy it. one has to remember that this is one of the earlier books writen by nora. you can see the major improvment in her writing skills as well as character depth. it is a quick read and one that leaves a smile on your face. sometimes thats enough ::smile

I enjoyed this novel much more than the other reviewer. Vance Banning, the wealthy president of a large construction firm, feels burned out and buys a cabin in a secluded area for a long vacation. His neighbor is lovely Shane Abbott, who thinks he is an out-of-work carpenter. Shane feels sorry for him and keeps trying to find paying work for him! Very cute story.
Excerpt from the back of the book:
"Wealthy Vance Banning needed a rest from the rat race and from gold-digging women, so he settled in a rural retreat and said he was an out-of-work carpenter. Vance was certain that would stop his beautiful neighbor from getting too friendly! But he had no idea how persistent Shane Abbott could be when it came to giving a helping hand-or a loving heart."