To coincide with the publishing of Enchanted, the fourth in Nora Roberts’ Donovan Legacy series, Silhouette has reissued the three previous titles at the same time as they published Enchanted. After reading Enchanted, I rushed out and bought the three-story tome, and have already read through the first of this series. I eagerly anticipate reading both of the other original stories. Buzz on the ‘Net is that this new book doesn’t live up to its predecessors. While I haven’t read enough of the earlier titles to judge, I can say that I found Enchanted fairly worthy of its name.

Rowan Murray has left her family, her home, her teaching job, and her boyfriend to spend some time, courtesy of a friend, on the Oregon seacoast in a quaint but isolated cottage. Rowan is lovely in a fey sort of way, but she’s also insecure and unhappy with her life. Meeting Liam Donovan and a beautiful black wolf is about to change her life.

Liam Donovan is a witch with a decision to make. Will he assume the family legacy and take over for his father as leader of the witches? That’s why he’s living (and brooding) at his isolated cabin not too far from where Rowan is living. He senses in her something magical – she’s not afraid of him in his wolf form – but he must have everything his own way and by his own choice. Even when he discovers a common heritage, he decides what the outcome will be, or so he thinks.

Because, you see, he never planned to fall in love with Rowan, whose responses to Liam burn in his blood and cause her to act a great deal more determined and strong than she generally is. Before Liam reveals his identity and the truth behind the wolf, there are some amazingly seductive scenes. Liam watching Rowan take a bath tantalizes him. Liam sharing a bed with Rowan excites him. Somehow Rowan knows this is no ordinary wolf!

One thing Nora Roberts does amazingly well is provide a high level of sensuality without giving much detail. It’s not hard to figure out what the lovers are doing or how they are feeling, but it’s not explicit. She writes love scenes differently from any other author I’ve read, and though she tends to repeat herself upon occasion – the “ravishing” scene in this book reminds me of a similar one in Born in Ice – her love scenes are always wonderful to read. The clues the author gives out in this book are evocative as well. One day Rowan is “led” to Liam’s cabin by a beautiful doe; before I’d read more than a few words, I’d realized the doe was his mother.

While Rowan is “led” more than once in Enchanted, she eventually comes to resent her choices being made for her. How she deals with Liam’s manipulation and control of her make an ending to this book that’s fitting with the other Donovan books, at least from the one I read (and the others where I peeked – can’t help it, I always sneak a peek!). The biggest surprise in this book is that Rowan is as brooding as he is. Generally, the hero or heroine in a Roberts book who is part of a strong family is the healing force for the other lead character. I’d say that in Enchanted, Rowan gave as good as she got, and both characters’ lives were enriched in equal measure.

Nora Roberts seems to be in an Irish phase these days, and I couldn’t be happier. This is a delightful little read with which to whittle away a couple of hours.