Morgan Summerfield

Blood and Magnolias Morgan Summerfield

If your recipe for Southern Gothic reads: capture the southern feel, keep the gothic suggestive, stir in plenty of spice, boil with tension, and leave out the vampires, Blood and Magnolias may be the perfect dish to satisfy your reading hunger. Indulge yourself in hefty portions of steamy passion, ruthless action, and unthinkable betrayal.

Blood and Magnolias garners life from the eerie landscapes of Louisiana where shifting winds and moss heavy in the trees evoke the sense of a presence beyond what can be seen. The constant ebb and flow of the tides that raise and lower the estuaries are reflected in the motion of the story. Blood and Magnolias sets the reader adrift on a dark seductive river twisting with mystery, surging with suspense, and made dangerous by things hidden beneath the surface.

Adrean Bodree never expected to find herself back in Louisiana--the land of backwaters, bayous and a life she left in ashes. Trapped in an untenable relationship, she is too much alone and restless. She needs distraction, purpose, companionship, change. Standing on the edge of a divorce, that her husband has no intention of granting, Adrean is befriended by two very seductive and charming 'playmates' filled with ulterior motives.

The wealthy and manipulative Barbara and Justin Melville are quick to lead Adrean into their life of excesses and pleasures--a life filled with tempting rewards, yet rife with peril. Cold-blooded deception draws Adrean into their velvet trap and holds her in exquisite tension. The Melville conspiracy is so well fashioned that Adrean is oblivious to the integral part she plays until the very last moment of its climax. The plot to exploit her stays well hidden and is headed toward fruition, until the shadows of Adrean's past bring forward memory and trigger a discovery that unearths the truth.

Some of the waters are very dark, but there is no turning back once the journey is begun. Are you brave enough to embark on this voyage? Not for the timid.

Will you like this author? A reasonable question. Reading the dust jacket or back cover, even looking at the picture of the author, is rarely enough input to allow the reader to know if a new author is going to please them. So, as a reader you must take a risk.

Here are a few parameters to assist you in your decision to risk or not to risk with Morgan. If you like:

* moving stories that keep you turning pages,
* strong female leads who may begin weak--yet overcome the weakness,
* bouts of emotion,
* excitement,
* complex plots, and
* steamed up glasses

then you should give her a try. Flat out, if you don't like material that is different--if you are stuck on formula fiction--don't read Morgan Summerfield.