HEART DANCE

Author: Robin D. Owens ISBN: 0425216357 7/2007 FUTURISTIC/FANTASY Publisher: BERKLEY SENSATION

Dufleur Thyme knows that emotion has no place in scientific experiments, and she cannot abide distractions in her own surreptitious quest to redeem her father's time reversal studies. For Saille T'Willow, time is running out—the premiere matchmaker of Celta, he himself has yet to HeartBond and form the family he yearns for. Knowing that Dufleur is his HeartMate, he has sent his HeartGift out to circulate, hoping it will find its way to her and enable him to make his claim. Instead, Dufleur keeps tossing it out—she wants nothing to do with a Willow, the family that destroyed her father's good name. But Saille is determined, and the attraction between them is undeniable. When one of her experiments imperils Saille's position, Dufleur must make a choice—she can retreat to the solitude of her lab, or stand with the descendant of her enemy as his HeartMate...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

HEART DANCE is the sixth book in one of my absolute favorite romance series ever. I eagerly await each of the Celta books and am already wishing I had the next one in my hands. I actually wrote the last line a year ago about the fifth book in the series, but it is still true. I'm blown away by Robin Owens' world-building abilities and continuing creativity every time I pick up a Celta novel.

Dufleur Thyme has had a rough life. She was nearly murdered in book five of the series, and she's lost her position and home because of her father's bizarre death. A relative, Passiflora Holly, takes her in hand to mask her political activities so Dufleur's financial situation starts to improve. She doesn't really care, though. All she wants to do is use her special talents to manipulate time, thereby clearing her father's name and restoring her house.

Her HeartMate, Saille T'Willow, has many of the same goals. The previous head of his house did incalculable damage to his family and hid the truth about his true love from him. Dufleur wants nothing to do with Saille, yet they can't be happy without each other.

Such is the joy and burden of the HeartMate system. I really enjoyed the new developments in Flair here. To some extent, the romance took a supporting role because there was so much going on in the characters' lives, but they had significant conflicts and the story rang true. If you haven't read this series yet, get reading!

Heather Hiestand