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SPELLBOUND Deirdre Savoy BET/Arabesque August 2000 (4+) by Melanie Schuster |
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DEBUT NOVEL |
As
an aspiring writer, I always look forward to the debut of new writers with some
measure of anticipation—maybe to help me discover what makes a new author’s
work worth publishing. SPELLBOUND
contains all of the elements that make a story work—a memorable setting, an
appealing hero and heroine, and an intense conflict. However, it is how Ms. Savoy skillfully weaves these elements
that makes SPELLBOUND the major achievement it is,
establishing her as an author of immense talent.
Ms.
Savoy possesses what Gwen Osborne of THE
ROMANCE READER calls “voice”—that special quality that defines a
writer’s uniqueness. It is hard to believe that SPELLBOUND
is Ms. Savoy’s debut publication, and at the end of reading it, I was truly
amazed at the skill demonstrated by Ms. Savoy.
One
of the strengths of SPELLBOUND
is the sense of
place that Ms. Savoy creates. Marta’s
Vineyard becomes a vivid vibrant place that is described with such detail and
care that I felt as I were actually there.
This quality is established from the beginning when heroine, Ariel, is on
the ferry crossing over to Marta’s Vineyard.
The small
ship rocked in tune with the ocean, lulling her into a hazy nostalgia for the
island that has been her childhood home. The
clay cliff of gay Head, the little lagoon by the State Lobster Hatchery, the Old
Scholar’s Graveyard—all her special places.
Ariel opened
her eyes, letting out a long contented breath.
Coming here was like a respite from everyday life.
The air was clearer, the stars shone brighter, the glass was
greener—there was grass period.
The
developing relationship between the hero and heroine is also handled with skill.
From the beginning, Jarad Naughton is attracted to psychologist, Ariel
Windsor, but soon realize that she’s afraid to love because of failed
relationships in her past. Jarad’s
courtship of Ariel is, therefore, one that is not easy, and his determination to
teach Ariel to love and trust again makes him the perfect hero.
Ariel and Jarad are definitely two of the most appealing romance couples
of 1999.
There
is so much more in SPELLBOUND that demonstrates Ms.
Savoy’s skill—the witty dialogue, the attention to detail in description,
the wonderful secondary characters, but to define these in detail would be to
take away some of the reader's enjoyment. On the surface, there is a
lightheartedness about SPELLBOUND that is deceptive
and almost makes the book seems simple—a book which is, in fact, not only a complex character
study, but one that looks at the importance of love and trust in any
relationship.
With
SPELLBOUND, Ms. Savoy makes an auspicious debut,
and has already established herself as an author to watch. She demonstrated why she is
deserving of the BEST NEW AUTHOR titles she has
been awarded by both the reviewers and readers of ROMANCE
IN COLOR. Her work posses a
unique freshness that has placed her on my list of
authors-not-to-miss.