Spellbound [Mass Market Paperback]

The Djinn live in a desert land called Kaf. But events in the Djinns' lives keep drawing them to Terra - earth. In an intricate tale, Zayne is the Minstrel of Kaf. But not merely a musician, he is the Keeper of the very essence of Kaf. Through his music he conjures rain, protects the land to live in harmony, or could destroy it. So naturally, it is vital he maintains balance and imbues Kaf with those powers or the Djinns' very world could be destroyed. There used to be more than one Minstrel to Kaf, but deaths claimed the other two, so it falls on Zayne's shoulders to bear the weight of Kaf's very existence. However, he is very worried. Time has come for him to take his mate, a female who gives his male nature gentleness and keeps him in balance. A woman with a voice that matches his own, so they may sing together for the security of Kaf. Since he needs this mate, his music has become unstable. He does not know why, but there is suddenly magick in him - Terra magick - not ma-at - the magick of the djinn, and the two cannot exist together. He uses a conjuring spell to locate the woman who is to be his zaniya, and the face that appears is Madeline Fairbanks, a woman from Terra.

Madeline has her share of problems in her life. She is about to lose her job to a odd ball writer, because she cannot appear in public. What good is a PR person when they cannot make announcements about a writers work? Worse, he says she is dull looking, needs to get stylish. She has till the Summer Festival of St. John's Eve to become fashionable, get over her stage fright and obtain him an interview with her stepfather, Cyrus Cromwell. Madeline is torn by his demands. She needs this job to keep her mother, a brilliant singer, in a nursing home after her breakdown a year ago. Madeline has no proof, but she know Cyrus is responsible, that he used black magick to make her mother such a popular star. But something went wrong, and it ended with her mother's mental collapse and Cyrus vanishing. Worse, she is low on money and just cannot afford to live in the apartment she is staying.

Just as she thinks things cannot get worse, Tildy, an old friend, comes to the rescue and says she is going away for the Summer and asked Madeline to come house-sit. Madeline is delighted, for it means no rent for the Summer. Only, trouble is she has to share the house with Tildy's friend, Zayne.

In a short time, Madeline begins to find out Zayne is a djinn. This at first sets her against him, because she equates djinn magick with the same manipulation that Cyrus used on Irene to make her reach the top. But she soon comes to see Zayne is nothing like Cyrus. Zayne is tender, beautiful and oh so sexy!

Zayne is horrified to discover the woman who is to be his
zaniya has stage fright, and when Madeline figures out it stems from a spell Cyrus used on her, he vows to help her find Cyrus. Further confusion comes when he hears her singing in the shower and she cannot carry a tune in a bucket. How can his zaniya not sing? He soon discovers Madeline's inner magick stems from her ability to dance. The dance works to balance him, but she still needs the ability to perform in public so they set a trap to lure Cyrus from hiding. They did not count on Cyrus being more powerful than they ever imagine, he knows about djinns and he is determined to bind Zayne's power to answer to him.

Nance gives a steamy, sexy, complex tale, that takes you to the magickal world of Kaf and the lush world of New Orleans, and a wonderful romance that will touch your heart. Her writing style is as lyrical as the subject matter and she just gets better with each book.

I highly recommend all the other books in the Djinn series, though each can stand alone as well, they are the most delightful when read in series.