Dance With The Enemy

Elena has known she was marked with the blood of the one she would marry from a very early age.  Although she was raised to accept the honor, it doesn’t lessen the terror of leaving her home and all she loves dear, to travel to a place she has never seen, to marry a man she has never met.  Being of royal but banished lineage only exacerbates both the problems and her fear. 

Upon arriving, Elena joins the other women marked for marriage and awaits the ceremony where those men must instinctively find their mates.  As the men are turned loose and begin searching, however, Elena realizes the man whose blood she carries is Tahbruk, her family's archenemy!  Suddenly it all becomes a terrible nightmare and Elena can think of nothing but to run.  Her flight is short-lived, though, when Tahbruk tracks her down and forcefully carries her to his home.  Can these two enemies find love in a land where it is not needed among people who determined it will not happen?

Although a fantasy, this story holds threads of so much more! It deals with cultures, their customs, and prejudices of any age or realm,  then it slowly dissects their causes and the wonderful power that love can emit in conquering them.  There are times when the telling lacks the depth needed to truly grasp the intensity and Elena’s actions aren’t always realistic or believable, but for a fairy-tale getaway, this one is perfect!

Ruth Lynn Ritter