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~~When all
seems lost and mere mortals despair, love sometimes needs a gentle hand
to
guide it. The hand of fate delivers a
magical gift: a needle made of gold, designed to last through the ages.
From
woman to woman, it passes through generations, mending hearts as well
as cloth. Through the centuries and
against all odds,
the golden needle weaves a tapestry rich in laughter and tears as it
restores
hope, inspires faith, and sews the seeds of love in every woman whose
life it
touches. Meet the women and their heroes . . . and smile as fate takes
a hand
in making their dreams come true.~~
Through the
time spans of the 17th Century, to the 20th and 21st
Centuries, the past and the future is brought to the
readers present, as
they succumb to these eight extraordinary authors and their stories…
Katherine
Greyle takes us on a fast-paced and profound journey to the past of
King
Arthur’s England in “Between Heaven and Hell”. Best
friends, Kyner and Nascien, who King
Arthur names as ‘an angel and a devil’, are led by Galiene through the
mystical
Isle of Avalon on the quest for treasure.
The lovely Galiene must teach them to find peace and
the happiness they
crave. Who is doomed to their fate and who
shall find the truest treasure of all?
Candice
Kohl sweeps us back to 1160, England with the wonderful tale,
“Eye
of the Beholder”, when Grace of Oxley discovers a near dead
stranger
and takes him to her friend, Ada to heal him. Sir Cedric of Wotsfield is her sisters
betrothed and said to be a monster of a man, which Grace finds hard to
believe. With his new injuries to his
face, Grace
fears the rumours about him would be even more exaggerated, and though
certain Ada is using her magic on
him, Grace
asks her to take greater care with his wounds.
It is truly magic that saved Sir Cedric?
Can Grace let Sir Cedric go when he is completely
recovered?
Judie
Hershner pens an emotional tale, “The
Christening Gown”, set in 1694 New England.
Jonathan Hanley, recently widowed, can’t look at his
baby girl after
shutting himself off from love and happiness after losing her mother. But young Faith Barnhill, the baby’s nanny,
hopes and prays that Jonathan will come to realize that his daughter
needs him
and accept the love that surrounds him.
Faith just never thought her own prayers would be
answered when she
prayed for Jonathan to realize what is right in front of him.
Strength
and determination have met their match in Bonnie Hamre’s inspiring
tale, “All
That Glitters”, when newlyweds, Roseanne “Rosie” and Thomas
Jennings
set out along the Oregon Trail in 1853 in hopes of starting their lives
together. But the cruelty and the
hardships along the way show them both just what is most important in
life. Demands of new life, new married
roles and the hazards of the Oregon Trail come to a head and prove
to be no match for the Jennings.
Lucy Grijalva
enchants us with a story of new beginnings and healing with her
emotional tale, “The Golden Hour”. Marlene MacDonald
lost her first love to war, and has encased herself in the
protective wall she created to keep others from getting too close.
Jack Doretta, her old friend wants to prove to Marlene how good they
can be together. But can Jack find a way through the wall
surrounding the woman he loves with all his heart? Is there a
future for Jack and Marlene, especially when he could return to war
at moment?
“Ebony & Ivory” by Anita Lynn flows like
perfect
harmony with tears and powerful emotion, when Ruby Dollar shares the
news of
her pregnancy with her husband, Mark.
When they married, Mark and Ruby agreed that they
would have no children
together. Set in the early 1950’s in
Inglewood, California, where interracial
relationships
were fought over and couples were shunned, they had decided they would
never
subject an innocent child to a life of anger and hatred.
But Ruby now carries their child and Mark is
more upset than Ruby ever believed he would be.
What does the future hold for the Dollar Family?
“Sleepless Beauty” by Marilynn Byerly keeps
the heroine
awake, as well as the reader, in the intriguing world of virtual
reality in the
year 2040. Gates Longstreet is an
insomniac and she can’t take it anymore.
At a clinic that specializes in using virtual
reality and dream therapy
on patients, Gates undergoes many virtually fractured fairy-tales to
discover
what plagues her sleep. Can Gates find
the cure for what ails her? Is there a
Prince for this Sleepless Beauty?
“The Homecoming” by Alice Gaines Chambers,
propels
the reader even further in the future, to Earth 2500.
Alana and Garth Millerson live on an Earth
which is hardly livable and Garth wishes to journey to another planet
that has
yet to be determined as habitable. On
the new planet, there would be more benefits to living and survival. But Alana is afraid. An
artist who controls her images, she would
lack the control over what happens on the new planet and is afraid of
what will
become of them if they leave the planet they are on now.
Can Alana get past her fears, or will she
risk losing Garth?
Each story
in the By Fate’s Hand Anthology,
make a reader cry, laugh, and smile as well as sigh. Love is
profound, the needle
is the key and these authors weave magic of their own, with their great
writing
talents. The stories are in
chronological correlation from King Arthur’s England, to futuristic Earth. The needle created by the Three Fates is
symbolic in all the stories, guiding the heroines and makes things fun
for the
characters.
By Fate’s Hand is one of the most well
done
anthologies ever produced. The
consistencies
of the stories, the order of the journey the readers are lead on, as
well as
the intriguing theme of the needle, make this an anthology not to miss. All the authors shine with their writing
talents. From the Prologue to the
Epilogue, the flow of the stories and the authors' abilities to bring
it all
together, enriches the quality of this remarkable creation of love,
joy, magic
and its twists and turns.
I commend
all the authors for each of their stories and for bringing readers one
of the
greatest books full of true romance and magic, which they can enjoy
over and
over again. Just don’t ask me to pick a
favourite story among the eight…it would be impossible!
Reviewed by Tracey West
for The Road
to Romance
March 27, 2004
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