Once Upon a Dream [Mass Market Paperback]

"The Sorcerer's Daughter" by Jill Gregory. To free her captive father, Artemus the wizard, from Lisha, Willow must retrieve a necklace amidst the Perilous Forest. To protect and aid his cherished daughter, Artemus weaves a spell that sends the wrong man after the Necklace of Nyssa.

"The Enchantment" by Ruth Ryan Langan. Annie of Tyler Real Estate is the agent responsible for the Carrington estate sale in Maine. Ben decides to take one last look at his family home before everything is sold. Neither one expected the enchantment of love.

"The Bridge of Sighs" by Marianne Willman. Claire of San Franciscoss Sterling Galleries flies to Venice to evaluate the Count Ludovicci's Renaissance art collection. However, in Venice, Claire begins seeing visions of a doomed past that forecasts an equally nasty fate for Claire.

All four novellas are superbly written and are enchanting romance tales. Readers will feel the magic as the quartet of authors cast a spell on the audience.

Harriet Klausner

In Dreams by Nora Roberts Kayleen, who has never experienced true love, travels to Ireland and ends up, in a very unusual way, at a castle. Flynn, who has been cursed and trapped for five hundred years, finds the woman who haunted his dreams. It's passionate, magical, and mystical. How Roberts is able to create all these characters is beyond me, and the way she writes them is mystical in itself. It's a romantic lesson in the right kind of love -- another contemporary romance winner, of course.

The Sorcerer's Daughter by Jill Gregory Willow of Brinhaven's father, a sorcerer, has been condemned to a stone dungeon by someone with greater powers than his. The only way he can be freed is if Willow risks her life to find a great treasure. Her father sends help through a dream, but the attempt goes astray and she ends up dealing with Blaine of Kendrick, a mercenary solider who wants the treasure for a future bride. This historical read shows that sometimes mistakes can be a good thing when it comes to romance. This one has a fantasy-like flair to it.

The Enchantment by Ruth Ryan Langan Annie has a chance to sell a large waterfront estate. The fact that it's haunted intrigues her all the more. When she drives out to stay the weekend she experiences more than a ghost but was it all just a dream? It's a contemporary romance about taking the time to smell the roses and love reaching from the great beyond.

The Bridge of Sighs by Marianne Willman Claire is taking a trip to Venice to procure some art. A haunting dream and an ex-husband named Val follow her to the romantic city. Neither will leave her be until she faces the past and reveals the truth. It's a contemporary romance about opening one's soul to purge the pain in order to receive true love.

There was a definate lack of character development in most of the stories, but my main complaint is the lack of growing love. The characters in Nora Robert's "In Dreams," Jill Gregory's "The Sorcerer's Daughter," and Ruth Ryan Langstan's "The Enchantment" all fall in love in less than a week. Marianne Willman's "Bridge of Sighs" involves a recently divorced couple dealing with the problems that caused the divorce, so they of course had more of a history.

One of my favorite things about romance novels is that you see the character's love grow and their personalties evolve, but this of course cannot be done in less than 100 pages. However, all the stories were delightful, and a good deversion to read separately at different times, so not to be overwhelmed by their shortness. Definatelty a fun read when you have an hour or two to just relax and lose yourself in the world of dreams.