Do You Believe? [Mass Market Paperback]

If you are looking for the Ann Lawrence of LORD OF THE MIST, LORD OF THE HUNT, VIRTUAL DESIRE OR VIRTUAL WARRIOR this in not her. I adored the above titles but this is a different type of novel. I am not saying it is not good just not as good as those others. This is more of a gothic type romance.

Rose Early has come to England to find her sister Joan who has gone missing. Both are photographers, Joan is compiling a book about the churches in England. Rose arrives in Marleton Village to find that her sister has not been seen in several days.

Vic Drummond is a writer, he lives in Marleton and has had a few interludes with Joan. But after he meets Rose he realizes she is not like her sister. Eventually he falls in love with Rose as they hunt for her sybling.

There seems to be a great deal more going on in the church than prayers. The ghosts of monks appear to Rose and she begins to see evil in and around the vicar, curate, and several members of the parish. Something evil is in the church and has set its thoughts on Vic. Togather they must fight against the evil not only in the church but in themselves.

This was an OK read, Vic and Rose seemed to fall into bed alot and the pace was alittle slow. However, the last few chapters went faster and finally explained what was going on. NOt one of her best but not the worst either, if you like Gothic, you will probably enjoy it.

Rose Early owns "Early Photography" in Pennsylvania, USA. Her sister, Joan, specializes in coffee table books. Last heard, Joan was in the English Cotswolds, a quiet Marleton village. Joan's current project is a book on religious art, commissioned by the Cotswolds Diocese of the Church of England. All was fine until Joan's emails became strange and then ceased all together. Rose travels to England, worried about her sister, but Joan has disappeared. Knowing that Joan met with the famous horror writer, V.F. "Vic" Drummond, Rose begins her search with him.

Vic and Rose become a couple, but he is lying (by omission) when it came to what Joan was doing whenever he met with her. But the truth will come out, sooner than expected. The local residents protect their own and keep Rose at bay until Vic shows everyone how much he has come to care for Rose. Then they embrace Rose into their shops, pubs, and town. However, the church is a different story.

Rose and Vic soon discover that Joan had been fascinated by All Saints Church, which dominates the village, and the famous tapestry that resides within it. But something totally evil also dwells in All Saints Church. Something that has slowly seeped into every stone and crevice over the last thirty years. It affects everyone that enters its doors ... and it is now spreading outside the church, even into London! Rose and Vic cannot dismiss all the eerie things that are happening, no matter how much they wish they could. Dark dreams leave scratch marks upon them that never seem to heal. (Something right out of an "Elms Street" movie.) Vic's deceased aunt keeps typing messages in his current book's file. No matter how many times Vic deletes the texts, they keep coming back. But the worst things are the demons with the red, glowing eyes!

**** This combines many genres. I noticed Super Natural Romance, Thriller, and Horror mostly. About half way in, the love scenes begin and they are H-O-T, very explicit! Consider yourself warned. Quite a bit of English slang is used. Most of it is used in such a way that readers who do not live in England will still easily understand what is being said. For example, the slang "not on" means "wrong". However, once or twice I found myself unsure. Do I recommend this novel? Oh yes! To fans of many genres, especially Dark Romance. This work of art may keep you awake at night. ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Since the plotline has been synopsized to death by other reviewers, I'll spare you that and go right into what I found to be the downfalls of this merely average story.

First off, the first two-thirds of the story just meander--read plod with agonizing slowness--along without saying much of anything. The two main protagonists meet, and not a very stellar first meeting at that, and within a very short time, even by romance standards seem to fall into bed together...a lot...and more often than not don't even make it to the bed. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, but there wasn't really a whole lot of romance about it, just a thin plot thread, very weakly explained by blaming much of their lust on the inherent evil they're up against, to push the two of them together.

Secondly, what was up with Vic constantly calling Rose 'mate'? Yes, it's a way of saying 'friend,' but really, couldn't Ms. Lawrence invest in a thesaurus and shake things up a little? I know I'm sounding exceedingly petty here, but it really got monotonous over the long haul, especially since they were shagging their little hearts out every couple of pages it seemed and yet there he was calling her 'mate'. Considering the nature of their relationship, her name or even some sort of endearment would have seemed much more appropriate.

And lastly, most of the other characters in the book just seemed to blend together, I wasn't always sure who did what or who was talking to who, and what's more, I couldn't bring myself to care. The book jumped around from different characters/ situations and dropped little blurbs to keep reminding you that the tapestry in the church was bad, and so, most likely, was everyone who attended the church on a regular basis.

Now, other than all that, it's a really quick read, if you don't mind plodding through the early part or choosing to do as I did and start scanning through the really dull, redundant parts. I did find the climax to be entertaining, but when I closed the book I knew I'll most likely forget everything about it within a few days.