Everyone said Quillen McCain's father was crazy to look for gold in the old family mine. In fact, his obsession killed him. Now Quill doesn't want anything to do with the mine except have it closed in. The land around the mine she leases to the Renaissance Committee. During the festival she walks around the grounds as a tale teller. She meets a medieval necromancer and they strike up a friendship. However, she questions her judgement when she finds out that Tucker Ferris is the nephew of the man that wants her land and will stop at nothing to get it. Tucker tries to convince her that he is not in cahoots with his uncle. Quillen wants nothing to do with the TAINTED GOLD but she does not want to sell her land to become an amusement park. Nothing will change her mind either, not a gas leak in her home or almost being blown to bits by dynamite.
TAINTED GOLD kept my interest from the first page until the last. Readers can't help but be drawn into the story and can't wait to see what will happen. I loved the description of the Renaissance Festival, from the booths to the costumes. The picture Ms. Michaels paints makes you think you are right there seeing the period fashions and hearing the tales told of olden days. The dialogue between Quill and Tucker is cute and funny, and you can't help but crack a smile as you are reading it. Each of them are strong characters in their own right but together they are a force to be reckoned with. There are minor characters in Quill's friends Cal and Jason, her tenant Mrs. Sipp and Tucker's uncle Desmond Cassil that enhance the story along the way. I had not read a book by Ms. Michaels before and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. It's a good mystery with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure.
Appearances can be deceivingβ¦
Quillen McCainβs anger is hot enough to burn down every tree
on her twelve acres of wooded property. She may be a poor
freelance artist, but no amount of wealthy businessman
Desmond Cassilβs moneyβor his thinly veiled threatsβwill
make her sell this land.
Itβs not only the home of the annual Cassil Springs
Renaissance Festival, itβs sacred ground. The place her
father died while mining for gold. The only way Cassil will
build an amusement park on it will be to pry the deed out of
her cold, dead hand.
Sheβs still fuming when handsome fellow Ren player and
geologist, Tucker Ferris, catches her eye. Then as the
tenants of her Victorian homeβher only source of steady
incomeβbegin bailing, Tucker becomes an ally. And when a
suspicious accident lands her in the hospital, he captures
her heart.
As they race to discover just how far Cassil will go to get
what he wants, Quillen and Tuckerβs relationship is
threatened by a series of cold, ground-shaking truths.
Forcing them both to realize just how much they stand to lose.
This book has been previously published.
Warning: This book contains a stubborn heroine, a handsome
hero whoβs more than a pretty face, and enough twists and
turns to count as an amusement park ride!
No excerpt available.
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