The Dark Queen

This romantic historical fantasy is set in Renaissance France. It is the first installment in a trilogy about the Cheney sisters, three young women who have inherited their mother's legacy of white magic, passed down through the centuries by a secret society of women known as the daughters of the Earth. Ariane Cheney, the Lady of Faire Isle, a small peninsula connected to the French mainland, is beset by troubles: her difficult, emotionally fragile younger sisters, the debts left behind by their father (who disappeared two years ago), and the persistent attentions of the Comte de Renard, a rough but compellingly passionate man who claims that fate has determined that Ariane will be his bride. Worst of all, she has just learned of a sinister plot against the neighboring kingdom of Navarre instigated by the Dowager Queen of France, Catherine de Medici, mistress of dark magics and subtle poisons. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.