He returns and to her luck, accepts the invite to stay at Swinford Manor where she and their other friends are staying. Eighty days have passed though and it has been all too clear that he has been purposely avoiding her. Devastated by Luke’s rejection, she remains with her head held high, but can’t quite pull free from the tug he has on her heart.

 

During a gathering with her friends she attempts to draw attention away from Luke, diverting it to a friend’s need of inspiration for a gothic novel she is attempting to write instead. Cecily requests the telling of a local legend that speaks of a mysterious being living in the woods between Swinford Manor and Corbinsdale Manor, shifting between deer and man at will.

 

Her friend’s interest is peaked and dubs the creature Werestag, suggesting they go off to find him. Cecily wanders off from the rest of the search party following the trail of a stag and finds that she is about to be mauled by a wild boar, when a man comes to her rescue. She doesn’t get more than a glimpse of him, but just as the man leaves the white stag emerges.

 

Luke Trenton came back from the battlefield only a whisper of the man he once was. Haunted and broken from the toll his time serving had taken on him. How can he now claim Cecily as his? The thought of her was the only thing that kept him going, but he had experienced far too much violence and bloodshed to ever be worthy of her.

 

The more Luke tries to convince himself to let her go the more he becomes all too aware of his animalistic urges to have her.  Cecily’s persistence and knowing of her refusal to others who’ve expressed interest in her during his absence only adds to his torment.  

 

Cecily tells everyone she was saved by the Werestag. With the remains of the boar left, it is a plausible explanation for her friends about her rescuer. Luke knows the starry-eyed look in her eyes as she recalls the events of the previous night; it was the same look she had always given him. He has to make his decisions about her fast, or it may not be his choice that removes Cecily from his life.

 

While the title hints at paranormal theme, THE LEGEND OF THE WERESTAG is a well-written historical with delightfully flawed and real characters. Tessa Dare captures the period marvelously, the eloquent dialogue in tact with the proper English society of the 1800s.  The sexual and emotional energy flowing between the hero and heroine were a great prelude to accompany the lovely happily ever after.

By Romance Junkies Reviewer: Pamela Denise Click here to Buy this Book Now!   Romance Junkies Content Editor: Kimberly Romance Junkies Publishing Editor: Chrissy   Top of Page