The Wicked and the Wondrous - Christine Feehan

Two emotionally charge novella's packaged together to delight Feehan fans. The Wicked and the Wondrous brings together two powerful stories and introduces the readers to two very different settings.

In the first novella Ms. Feehan delights her readers with an introduction to the Drake Sisters, who now have their own series of novels. The Twilight Before Christmas focuses on Kate Drake, one of seven sisters with amazing powers of witchcraft. Kate herself is a best selling novelist and counts herself as the quiet one of the sisters, perhaps even the coward of the family. She doesn't step out into the world, she berates herself for not taking chances, and doesn't understand just why matt Granite, ex U.S. Army Ranger would want anything to do with her.

Yet the two are drawn together as something dark is unleashed on the small town. Together with the aide of her sisters they must face an old, and angry power as it tries to turn the town upside down.

In After the Music Ms. Feehan takes a different path. The paranormal aspects of this story are very light compared to her normal stories, and this story, instead, focuses on a mystery and murder that took place years before the story opens.

Jessica Fitzpatrick returns her twin wards to the island mansion of their estranged father, Dillon Wentworth. Their father has long since shut himself off from the world since the death of his wife and her lover, and the fire that claimed their lives, as well as leaving him terribly disfigured. The hands that once created such beautiful, compelling music, now a shattered wreck of scars and ridges.

With Christmas just around the corner the love that Jessica and Dillon have long since denied might offer the path to hope and peace for the small, shattered family. If only they can find out who is threatening the lives of the twins, who is behind the blackmail attempts on Dillon and what really happened the night that the fire all but destroyed Dillon's life.

Ms. Feehan has an amazing ability as an author to pull the reader into the story. She is a master storyteller and it's easy to see why she has gained such a tremendous following. Her characters aren't always likeable, and it takes a greater skill as an author to create an un-likeable character that the reader still finds compelling, than it does to create one who anyone would love to get to know.

Both of these novella's introduce such characters. The first being Jonas in Twilight. A police officer who has taken it upon himself to look after the Drake sisters. He is, quite simply, an arrogant asshole who I felt tempted to reach through the pages and strangle, yet I found myself wanting to know more about him.

In Music that problem child character is Brenda, the twins Aunt. I wanted to slap the woman silly! Yet I know there are women like that in the world, and seeing such a PITA of a character in story made it all the more believable.