A Kiss At Midnight
Bantam
ISBN-13: 978-0-307-83394-5

It is the final weeks of the year 999 A.D., and the world is about to end.

Anglo-Saxon Britain is beset with rumors of anarchy, chaos, the devil about to rise up and take over with the turning of the millennium.

The lord of one of the most remote and fertile lands of all has been said to run mad—releasing his peasants, his livestock, and letting the fields turn fallow. The Lord of Alderich, it is said, is preparing for the end of everything.

But Alderich and all it holds are to fall to another man at the end of this century: Rafael of Leonhart, a feared and famed mercenary, leader of a family which has long awaited this very year to inherit the land they claim should have been theirs ages ago.

Rafael has come home again from years of wandering to find the world turned upside-down: people fleeing to the woods, animals roaming free, and Jozua Rune, Lord of Alderich for just a few more days, locked firmly away in his family castle, methodically destroying all that Rafael has come to take.

Rafe sees only one possible hope for preventing the war that is about to ensue: Serath Rune, granddaughter of Jozua.

Serath has spent much of her life imprisoned behind convent walls. She is the living image of her dead mother—burned for witchcraft when Serath was just a child—and the likeness she bears to her stains her life. It is whispered she is enchanted, bespelled, cursed. Yet she is a young woman of intelligence and deep convictions, someone who isn't going to allow the end of the world to stop her from getting what she wants—and certainly not a man. Not even the man who means to take control of Alderich, and thwart her grandfather at any cost.

Against the backdrop of the coming millennium, one man and one woman stand opposed and then together, fighting the turmoil and desperation raging around them. The end of the century draws closer and closer—will Serath and Rafael discover their love for each other before the very end of time?

RECOGNITION

A Romantic Times Top Pick
Featured Alternate with the Doubleday Book Club

REVIEWS

"Abé's...writing is so good that I had to stop sometimes and savor the language...A Kiss at Midnight is definitely one of the best historical romances I have read all winter. It's excellent mind candy and tremendously well-written."
—All About Romance, Desert Isle Keepers

"Shana Abé's fascinating romance will hold readers spellbound. Its magical qualities create a fairytale read for grownups—one that will no doubt find a place on many "keeper" shelves."
—Romantic Times

"Filled to overflowing with intrigue and adventure, this romance is pure honey. Don't miss!"
—Rendezvous

"Ms. Abé has taken the captive/captor storyline and enriched it with memorable characters, emotional depth and a clever twist."
—Old Book Barn Gazette