Star of the Morning

When the King Adhemar of Neroche loses his magic, his brother Miach, the Archmage sends him out to find one person who would be able to wield the Sword of Angesand and hopefully save the kingdom. Not hearing from Adhemer for months, Miach finally finds him traveling in disguise with a band of mercenaries lead by a beautiful woman who hates magic yet might be destined to wield the magical sword.

Morgan is a practical woman who has no idea of her beauty and has absolutely no use for magic. The only reason that she is even traveling to Neroche is that her foster father charged her with delivering a pesky magical dagger, that will not shut up, to the King of Neroche. So she plans on delivering it and getting back to work as quickly as possible. However it appears as though fate and love have other plans for her.

STAR OF THE MORNING by Lynn Kurland is a delightful gem of a book that is so much fun to read that readers will have a problem setting it aside and when reaching the cliffhanger ending, waiting impatiently for the next in the series to come out. Ms Kurland has graced us with a fantastical world that is described in such detail that this reviewer felt that she was taking the journey right along side with Morgan and Miach.

The characters are so multidimensional and real that they quickly go from being acquaintances and become friends though this reader wanted to wring Adhemar’s neck more than once. Just goes to show that even kings should be disciplined when they are children. The conversations between Morgan and Miach when she thought that he was just a farmer with a touch of magic are particularly enjoyable. Miach is very good at the verbal two-step.

This reviewer highly recommends STAR OF THE MORNING to any readers who enjoy fantasy with a dash of romance thrown in. This is one book that is as good at taking the reader away as Calgon.

January 2007