The Last Mermaid

Informationen zum Autor Shana Abe Klappentext Shana Abé has entranced countless readers with her passion-filled novels of adventure, intrigue, and romance. Now the author of The Secret Swan delivers a gift from the sea: three hauntingly beautiful tales connected by a legend, a locket, and a love beyond time. 531 a.d.: The tiny island of Kell is said to be enchanted, inhabited by an extraordinary creature who comforts shipwrecked sailors passing into the next world. Prince Aedan of the Isles believes in no such nonsense—until he awakens on Kell itself and meets the sensuous siren who rescued him from the sea. 1721: Ronan MacMhuirich, Earl of Kell, is the target of an unlikely assassin: Leila, a mysterious woman from an exotic land. But his irresistibly beautiful would-be slayer is in just as much danger as Ronan when she falls for this man with a magic of his own. 2004: What do you do when you inherit a Scottish island you never knew existed—and find yourself pursued by a handsome stranger who wants to buy it from you? That's what happens to Ruri Kell when she accepts Iain MacInnes's invitation to visit her birthright, and listens to a proposition as sinfully tempting as everything else about him. Three seductive love stories, three passionate couples, all linked by one of the most romantic myths of all. Chapter Three Leila walked quickly out of the ballroom and into the violet dusk of the garden. She was moving because she had to move; she was walking because she could not stand still. People were turning to look—slow down, slow down. She did not need attention now. Glancing figures in the shadows, phantom faces, the glitter of diamonds like fireflies in the dark. But she did not slow. Her heart was racing and her hands were trembling. She felt rather ill, as if her corset had been cinched too tight. Of all the queer notions, of all the nights to come undone— She could close her eyes and still see him. The man in the ballroom, the stranger watching her . . . She’d never seen a man so truly, fiercely handsome. She’d never seen a face like his, clean carved lines and smoky shadows, the glint of his lashes and eyes of such devilish deep blue. He might have stepped to life from a Renaissance portrait, a painted prince of sapphire and gold, jeweled colors over jet. She had been turning, preparing to traverse the room yet again, and then . . . Then she had seen him, by himself across the chamber, leaning against one of those ridiculous pillars with his arms crossed, unsmiling. A short wig and tailored elegance; he was done up in black, no velvet, no gaudy lace, watching her with utter concentration. As if he knew her. As if she knew him. And the oddest chill had come over her, a most peculiar weakness in her limbs. For an instant—suspended there in sapphire— The gravel was noisy, just as she had predicted. Leila rounded a corner, heard voices, and instinctively turned the other direction. She needed air, that was all. A few minutes in the November calm to find her composure, to breathe and think and remember who and what she was. She found a gazebo of whitewashed lattice, a vine of barren ivy buried through it with lavish devotion. There was a bench inside, almost lost to the night, no one about but crickets and owls. She sat down gratefully, peeled off her shoes, and began to massage her sore feet. Che would follow soon. She needed to consider what she’d say. I’m fine. It was too warm. Too many beaus. Too many eyes. I’m fine. Fine. The cold air was like truth, a hard burn in her chest. She inhaled deeply, as much as she could hold, letting it out again in a silent hiss. Silly chit, to lose her head over gold-tipped lashes and a square jaw. The chant of the owl grew louder and then soft; lovers’ whispers sidled by, not very near. And then, beneath the ghostly refra...

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Shana Abe, Shana Abé
• Editore: Bantam Books USA
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 01.06.2004
• EAN: 9780553584974
• ISBN: 978-0-553-58497-4
• Pagine: 592
• Dimensioni: 107 mm x 173 mm x 30 mm
• Categoria: Narrativa > Romanzi