<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: amusing fantasy romance
Review: In Dominion, a female, even a royal relative, has no need to read so is never taught so. Education is limited to what a woman can do for her mate. Being a first cousin to the King has not helped the spirited Kaia Kurinon gain anything but the accepted female learning. However, at eighteen her élan and capers becomes unacceptable for a marriageable woman so in punishment for her latest antic the nuns exile her to a monastery. There she meets Merlin the talking dog who claims he can help her travel to a future where women are educated alongside men and control their destiny.Kaia accompanied frustrated scientist Brother Absalom flee to the portal, the standing stones in the Western Isles. Princesses cannot shirk their duty, so Eben Dhion is sent to bring her home. Kaia has loved Eben for years, but her feelings remain unrequited as he thinks of her as his misbehaving younger sister. He catches up with her on the island of Ataxi, but first must defeat his enemy, Ranulph before he can try to understand why he suddenly needs Kaia safe as his wife. The second Dominion novel (see SHE WHO LAUGHS LAST) is an entertaining often-amusing fantasy romance starring two delightful lead protagonists especially the feisty Kaia. Secondary characters like Merlin living by going back in time augment the tale by adding the depth needed for two vastly different final confrontations, that between Eben and Ranulph and between Eben and Kaia. Fans who take the Arthurian legend as gospel will want to pass, but those who appreciate a wonderfully humorous spin that will keep readers laughing will devour this fun tale. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: This book is so much fun...
Review: Lady Kaia was definitely a woman ahead of her time. Long before Sadie Hawkins, at the age of three, she was proposing marriage to the man of her dreams, Eben. Although the older "man"(14) dismissed her as a little girl's affections, there was still somewhat of a bond between them. It was Eben who found himself rescuing Kaia from one scrape or another until the day she was sent to a convent in hopes of gaining a more serene nature. Rather than serenity, all Kaia gained was boredom, which she attempted to relieve in rather outrageous ways. Just before she is to be sent home, Kaia meets a very unusual "person"; a talking black hound. The hound is Merlin, in disguise. Together with an elderly monk, Kaia sets off on a quest to the stone circle that will take them to the future, a world of flying people and pizza pies and women's lib. When news of her escape gets back to the her relative, the king, Eben is dispatched to retrieve Kaia, the monk, and Kaia's best friend and Eben's squire who have gone in pursuit of the delinquents. Kaia leads them all on a merry chase, barely eluding capture by Eben, only to be taken by Eben's worst enemy. When Eben at last catches her, he realizes losing her would be the worst thing that could happen to his heart, but hasty words could ruin the romance and send Kaia on a one way ticket to the twentieth century. **** Even if you don't like paranormals or historicals, this book is too much fun to pass by. Subtle tribute is paid to the premier Arthurian chronicler of the last century, TH White. Ms Klassel's Merlin is among the best Merlin of all books. I'd like to see him again. Although this is an offshoot of She Who Laughs Last, reading it is not critical to following this book. **** Amanda Killgore for Huntress Reviews.
<< 1 >>
| 
