Nora Roberts – Charmed

The third book in the Donovan Legacy series, published in 1992.
Genre: contemporary paranormal romance
Cover: nice, but my copy has a beautiful scene of the coast, with a gorgeous house on the cliffs overlooking the ocean.



Fascinating and irresistible, the mysterious Donovan cousins share a secret that's been handed down through generations - a secret that sets them apart from ordinary beings.
Charmed
She was all sunshine, light and serene enchantment - But Boone Sawyer had no idea, when he and his daughter moved next door to the exquisite Anastasia Donovan, that she was so much more than she appeared. Ana and Boone were drawn to each other with a fierce passion neither had ever known before. But Ana had secrets. . .secrets she was certain no man could accept. When a life - threatening disaster forced her to reveal herself, she had to face the fact that it could cost her the heart of the man she loved. . .


This is such a sweet story. Anastasia is the third of the Donovan cousins, and she is a healer and an empath. She is also a herbologist, and has a little online shop in things made with herbs. Lotions and oils, fragrances and teas. She was hurt very much by the man she thought to be in love with some years ago, and since then has kept her distance.
She loves working in the garden, growing her herbs and flowers, and harvesting them. To use her magical powers to make them work better, to help people heal.

And now, she has new neighbours. An adorable little girl named Jessie, who is six years old, and has a very naughty puppy called Daisy. The girl is a real chatterbox, and Ana cannot help but be enchanted by her. The girls father is not so happy with his beautiful neighbour, and the fact that she is chatting with his missing daughter. Other women have tried to find the way to his heart, or his wallet, by working on his daughter. He won’t be deceived again, but the sudden attraction for this woman baffles him. His wife has been dead now for 4 years, and his mother and in laws are nagging him to move on, to marry again, to give his poor motherless child a new mother. Which is the main reason he moved so far away from them. He can work anywhere he wants, as he writes and illustrates his own children’s books. And so Boone insults Ana, and he has to work hard to make it up to her. Of course there is Jessie who keeps hopping over to Ana, and Daisy the dog who makes her fall while carrying a stack of pots for her new plants. Boone rushes over, panics when he sees the blood on Ana’s leg, and insists he takes care of it for her. Of course Ana, as a healer, can perfectly take care of those scratches herself, but when Boone starts treating her like his daughter, and tells her a fairytale to get her mind of the pain, she is captivated.

Boone wants nothing more than to carry Ana to her bedroom upstairs and make wild love to her, but they both are not ready for that. Sure, there have been women since his wife died, but nothing which implied feelings. And he knows Ana is not for just one afternoon. Especially not when she tells him she is still a virgin. They will have to take it slow, especially because Jessie is involved as well. She loves Ana already, and that goes both ways. But Boone is determined to seduce Ana, as he cannot stop thinking about her, and watching her from his deck while she is gardening.

Ana doesn’t want to start a relationship with Boone, before she can tell him what she is. A witch, an empath. Until faith intervenes, and she has to safe Jessie’s life. Boone can’t believe what he sees, and he cannot accept Ana in that moment either. And his harsh rejection of her, his fear, really hurts her as nothing else can. Can Boone ever make that up to her?

8 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian