Title: Celtic Love Knots VOLUME 6:
Beyond Green Man’s Gate & Bedding A Mermaid
Author: Ann Cory & Brenda Williamson
Published in September 2007 by Whiskey Creek Press - Torrid
Genre: Fantasy-Faerie Tale
ISBN:
Beyond Green Man’s Gate by Ann Cory
For Cernunnos, life in the garden kept him strong, and in return, he fed the world around him. His gated garden helped him deal with those things he longed for but could not have. Love was forbidden him, yet fate had a trick to play on the Green Man and his Garden of Forbidden Delights. He was the master of Nature, given the gifts by the Goddess to nourish and keep the lands fertile, lush, and growing. He was the Sacred Stag, the mighty Oak, and the embodiment of nature itself. Cernunnos had planted this special garden full of aphrodisiacs, beautiful bowers, and plantings from all the earth’s abundance, yet he was not allowed to love. Women came to his garden with dreams, the received the fulfillment their hearts desired and went, and yet he found no solace in their arms, just an aching loneliness until Ryanne.
Ryanne was seeking something special. She knew it was out there, and Quinn does not have what she wants, and she doesn’t think he could either, he is way to reserved in his tastes and actions. She cares for him, but she does not belong to or with him, in spite of his desires. Ryanne is looking for a man to inspire her, to love her without reservation. She wants a man who could carry her beyond the ordinary and take her to the heights of passion. Quinn was just not that man. She had dreams, and the man who could satisfy her carnal desires resided there. She also felt he was real, existed for her and her alone. On the day of the Spring Festival, Beltane, Ryanne leaves. She knows it will disappoint Quinn, but she has made her mind up, and she is leaving. While others dance and celebrate the new growth, she will be on her quest to find that special something in her life…
In entering the Green Man’s Gate, Ryanne leaves herself open to new experiences, and once there, she may not want to leave. For Cernunnos, having Ryanne there may mean a great loss, or she could be a great gift…
Bedding A Mermaid by Brenda Williamson
For Daire, the goal was always simple, keep the merfolk from cutting the nets. If he had to catch and punish them, then he would. He felt prepared for anything and everything to secure their catch, but there WAS something he was unprepared for, and that was the beauty his crew brought up from the sea. Daire thought he had seen all life could offer, been flirted with and coveted by the most beautiful women, and admired by all men. Still he’s restless, felt as though he was missing something important, and the feeling is getting worse. When the crew of his ship caught the mermaid, he is totally enchanted, enraptured, and felt his whole world tilt. She was a most beautiful creature, and he was stunned by his reactions. The mermaid was like nothing he has ever seen before, and she stirs something within him he doesn’t fully understand. As he has her released, he wonders if he truly has done the right thing, because his blood and body burn with desire and feelings he has never felt before.
Nerina is surprised to see the merman aboard the ship. She had not expected to see one such as he wearing the legs of a human, and working among them. Nerina is curious, and wants to know how he came to be on the ship. Is he there willingly or is he a slave? He’s a puzzle, and she has to solve it, but first she would thank him for releasing her. She’s constantly pursued, not courted, by another merman named Selk, and has been rebuffing his advances for a long time. Selk has often expressed and pressed his desire to mate with her. He wants forever, but Nerina does not want her forever with him, now she thinks she may know why. She is not now, and never has been attracted to Selk the way she is attracted to Daire, and her longing is only increased when she finds out Daire’s history.
Now the rest is up to her, and it is also up to Daire. The questions surrounding him and his birthright have been answered to her satisfaction, but what of Daire himself? For now, Nerina has to discover if her desire and her love is strong enough to survive what comes next. She must have the love, the will, and the persistence to bring him back to the sea where he belongs. Will he want to come back or has he spent too much time with the humans on land?
In this delightfully sexy anthology, Ann Cory and Brenda Williamson take you on a trip through the mists of myth and legend with pair of creative stories that tease and delight. From the beliefs of the ancient nature-based religions, Ann Cory gives us Ryanne’s tale, which is centered in the gated garden of the Green Man. In his garden of delights there is a place where all pleasures natural to living things can be found, and where fulfillment is only a request away. Now the only question is about love, and whether or not the Goddess will allow Cernunnos and Ryanna to love, or will he lose his godhood?
Then Brenda Williamson takes us to the Irish coast, to a place where the mists of time have produced legends of the Selkies, Mer-People, and the Sidhe. Here is where we find Daire, captured as a lad from the merfolk, charmed, and raised as human. It is a fate that has almost turned to legend among them until Nerina is captured by the ship Daire captains. She recognizes him as one of the MerFolk, and seeks to understand how and why he is so far from his true home. With her answers in hand, she is prepared to fight for the man she would have as mate.
This Celtic Love Knots VOLUME 6 Anthhology is only one of the many enticing titles available in September 2007 from Whiskey Creek Press’ Torrid Imprint. If you are one who enjoys the erotic side of romance, this is an anthology that will please as well as satisfy you with its depth of character, and spellbinding tales. If you are a first time visitor to the Torrid Imprint, it is an excellent beginning, and introduction to the line. If asked my opinion, I would definitely give Celtic Love Knots VOLUME 6 “a thumbs up” and “put it on the must buy list” recommendation. Two delightful stories from two great authors, and you can't lose.
Yours in good reading,
Rose!
Ann Cory Brenda Williamson
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