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One man’s journey of discovery becomes a warrior woman’s initiation to a decadent world of sensuality and desire. While the fate of a fractured Roman empire lies in the hands of a man torn between his religious vows and his thirst for adventure, a former gladiatrix finds herself experiencing feelings for a man she does not want, and cannot have.
Marcus Rowan Aurelius would leave his home in Britannia to travel to the seat of his heritage and his destiny – the great cities of Rome and Constantinople. Swept into the corrupt world of Roman politics and intrigue, Rowan finds himself the reluctant protector of an Egyptian woman who seems able to invade his mind. Refusing to admit the exotic beauty stirs desires long denied, Rowan suspects sorcery to be at the heart of the inexplicable bond between them, and his own instant, burning attraction.
Cassia of Alexandria, Serpent of the Nile, has survived her Imperial slavery by training, instinct and reflex. As a female gladiator, she is both acclaimed as a champion and reviled as a witch, for Cassia is a follower of the Egyptian goddess of the Underworld – the ancient Cult of Isis.
While the world falls away, Cassia and Rowan connect, beginning a stormy relationship that must weather the perils of travel and the threat of treachery. Spies and assassins, plots and conspiracies – all must be revealed and unraveled amid the crumbling glory of ancient Rome. Rowan is forced to choose between the strength of his loyalties and the heat of his desires; while Cassia fights the two mightiest opponents she has ever faced – another man’s God, and her own secret longings.
Starting life over again in a house where a murder/suicide has been committed was hardly Jody Hanover’s idea of a great beginning. Discovering that a place may be haunted by past tragedies is not the stuff a once-battered woman dreams of. Spectral sightings, strange occurrences, and bumps in the night belong to the world of nightmares.
Twenty-nine year old Jody left behind a restraining order and a bad seven year marriage to return to her hometown in Oregon. Waiting in Medford are Jody’s three sisters, a new home, and a new job in her chosen field of computers. The last thing the skeptical young woman expects to find is a house full of angry spirits and a cheerful, handsome veterinarian who tempts her desires and tugs at her heart.
Could Adam Jamison, the downstairs neighbor who shares her split-level rental, be terrorizing Jody with the spiritual world for resisting his advances? Or, as Jody’s reluctant research intriguingly suggests, is her home haunted by the ghost of a man killed by his lover for his infidelities?
The peaceful safe haven Jody dreams of finding slowly becomes a frightening place where phantom doorbells ring, doors unexpectedly open and phones unplug themselves. When a former neighbor comments on the “gory” history of the house, Jody refuses to listen. But when a male spirit is seen in the dead of night, Jody learns of the murder/suicide, and turns to her sisters for help.
A tarot card session and a psychic reading with Jody’s metaphysical sister, Grace, prove to make matters worse. Supernatural events begin to occur more frequently and become more menacing. A stubborn Jody refuses to accept a threat from the paranormal, until she discovers an eerie coincidence – her sophisticated older sister, Toni, once briefly dated the murdered man.
Ten years earlier, Parker Hampstead was considered a young and up-and-comer in Medford, Oregon. A successful businessman, from old money and a respectable family, Parker was the handsome playboy type. He was seen frequently in all the right places, and played fast and loose with the women. As Toni’s memory served, he had been killed by one.
Armed with this knowledge, Jody searches through old newspapers at the public library, learning the details of the crime and gaining insight into both victims. When she finds that Parker Hampstead was killed in a fit of passion by a woman who had given up her children in hopes of marriage to the sweet-talking man-about-town, Jody unexpectedly finds her sympathies with the murderer. The poor, desperate woman discovered her lover was unfaithful, came to the house and shot him through the head and heart, then committed suicide.
As unnatural events combine to shake Jody’s faith in reality, a reluctant attraction to the downstairs neighbor pulls her into a romantic relationship that troubles her almost as much as the strange occurrences in the house. Adam Jamison’s kindness and concern for her well-being could well be Jody’s undoing, whether to her bruised heart or her very life. Can she trust that Adam is what he appears, and take a chance on love. . . or could her refusal to face her fears in one world leave her victim to the passions of the next?
As Jody’s feelings for Adam grow, the disturbances within her home increase -- until she begins to wonder at the coincidence. The unexplained death of a beloved pet convinces Jody the threat is genuine, and that her own life may be in danger if she surrenders to love. Someone wants to keep her away from Adam. Has a ghost from the past laid claim to her, or has Jody’s personal past – and a possessive ex-husband –caught up with her?
No longer willing to be a victim, a determined Jody sets out to discover if she is being harassed by a spirit, or stalked by a flesh-and-blood evil. What she finds is that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and her unearthly female enemy is a rival beyond rage or reason. Jody’s presence in the house and her blossoming feelings for Adam have awakened something that has not spent its furious energy.
Enlisting the aid of a local paranormal investigations group, Jody and Adam join forces to cleanse the house of its negative energy, and in the process, cleanse Jody of her lingering fears about love.
Are ghosts spectral remnants of strong emotions, or are they restless spirits angry at the living? Do our own personal demons confuse us so much we cannot tell the difference? These are the questions Jody Hanover must deal with, and only she can determine how to live with the answers.
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