Raintree: Oracle
Linda Windstead Jones
Harlequin Nocturne, Mar 1 2015, $5.75
ISBN: 9780373009404
After years of failing to control her always too
late to help others visions, PTSD sufferer Echo Raintree the “Prophet” decides
she needs help from an outside expert after her clan’s attempts failed. Thus she leaves her North Carolina Mountain
sanctuary for Cloughban, Ireland to plead with Ryder Duncan the wizard to train
her on how to turn her curse into a gift.
Struggling to find the remote village that GPS
fails to locate, Echo, after several wrong turns, arrives in Cloughban. She enters the Drunken Stone Pub where at
first sight Rye knows the outsider will destroy his blissfully predictable
life. He wants this Raintree to leave
him and his eleven year old daughter Cassidy alone. After discouragement from the wizard, Echo
leaves the pub only to encounter and receive encouragement from Cassidy. When Echo reenters the pub, she collapses
into a visionary fit. As the “Stray” and
the “Princess” work on her affliction and at the pub, other visitors monitor
the pair while planning to use Cassidy’s skills for their evil intent. In love with father and daughter, the
Raintree Prophet risks her life to keep both safe.
After a several years hiatus, the return to the Raintree
clan (see Inferno by Linda Howard, Sanctuary by Beverly Barton and Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones) is a
charming romantic urban fantasy set in a terrific Brigadoon-like locale (though
Ireland instead of Scotland). What makes
the tale engage the audience is the fully-developed cast consisting of the
magical lead trio, the eccentric villagers, malevolent meanies, and in very
small roles her concerned clan.
Harriet Klausner
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