Widow Anne Sherwood has an innate "gift" for feeling the emotions of plants. A botanical sketch artist, she is hired by Lord Connock, a renowned collector in Ireland. There, she meets Michael McEvoy, a sensual man who has long lived in the wilds and owes Connock his life. But when Anne senses something evil growing in Connock's greenhouses, she must reveal her gift to the man she has love -- and shatter his image of Connock forever.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In mystical 19th-century Ireland, widow and exceptional botanical illustrator Anne Sherwood is hired to draw the rare plant species inhabiting the castle grounds of Glendale Hall. Anne, desperate for the chance to finally be recognized as a scholar, keeps secret her extrasensory ability to "read" the emotions of plants. But it is her fierce attraction to Michael McEvoy, a piratical naturalist who collects plants for the prized gardens, that tests her reputation even more than her unusual abilities. Soon it is evident that all is not right in the forest. Anne is stalked by a stealthy ivy that appears only at night. She and Michael set out to uncover the sinister origins of the dark forest, all the while resisting the strong desire building between them. Fobes (Heart of the Dove) enhances the tale by weaving Celtic folklore throughout. At times, the heroine's gift of communicating with plant life comes off as silly instead of fascinating. Ultimately, this romance focuses too heavily on the trappings and obvious outcome of the paranormal/mystery plot, rather than on the relationship between its passionate protagonists. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
Tracy Fobes writes rich historical romances with a paranormal twist for Sonnet Books, published by Pocket Books. Before turning to a career in writing, she graduated from the University of Scranton with a B.S. in Computer Science and a minor in mathematics and for several years worked as a computer systems analyst for the Fortune-500 conglomerate Johnson & Johnson. Born and raised in Hillsborough, New Jersey, she has made Pennsylvania her home for the last ten years.
Here is her story...When we first learn to read, it's a chore. It's a matter of deciphering words and trying to understand their meaning given the context of the sentence. Reading is something you have to do, not want to do. Until, of course, you read that special book, the first one to really grab hold of you and make you fall in love.
It happened to me in the fourth grade. Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators series forever changed me. I solved mysteries along with Jupiter, Bob, and Pete, three boys who ran their detective agency out of a junkyard and spoke regularly to Alfred Hitchcock. Green ghosts, whispering mummies, moaning caves, screaming clocks-they haunted my nights as I hid under the covers with a flashlight and read well past the time I was supposed to be sleeping.
From there I graduated to just about every kind of book you could think of. I read Stephen King, Judy Blume, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Richard Matheson, Arthur Clarke...the list was endless. At some point I decided to try a Barbara Cartland, and once again, my life changed. As I put that finished book down, I knew romance was the genre for me. Laurie McBain's Moonstruck Madness was the first long historical romance I ever read and I'll never forget it. It spurred me on to other authors such as Kathleen Woodiwiss and Clare Darcy. Romance became the staple of my reading diet, occasionally supplemented by a Dean Koontz or Tom Clancy, and still is, to this day.
I've dabbled in writing from the earliest days of my childhood, always keeping a journal and making up these crazy stories to entertain my brothers and sisters. You'd think I would have made a career of journalism, but I didn't. I decided to try my hand at computer science until family obligations required me to quit my nine-to-five job. Although I left my career and steady income with a few tears, they were crocodile tears, because inside I was already gleefully planning that first novel. Several attempts later, I wrote Touch Not the Cat, a story that's been in my head for a long, long time.
For me, the inspiration for a new story comes from many places: art, music, old movies, books, newspapers. Occasionally, when I'm listening to a song or looking at a painting, I feel a intuitive jolt, an unexpected click. An idea about that painting or song sets my creative impulses to bubbling. I can always tell when I'm on the right track because excitement grabs hold of me and the skin at the back of my neck tightens. The ideas that give me some sort of visceral reaction are the ones that usually end up as my stories.
Stories about women and men who come together to love have always been my favorites. I must have been only 7 or 8 years old when I read my first romance, Sleeping Beauty, and I nearly wore that book out. I've been reading romance ever since. Particularly, I enjoy the happy endings inherent in romances...they leave me feeling uplifted at the end.
When I began to write seriously, I knew I had to write romance. I wanted to evoke the same kinds of emotions in a reader that romance had been evoking in me for many years.
I have a room in my home set aside as an office, and I've loaded it up with cheap furniture, metal filing cabinets, and bookcases overflowing with my all-time favorite novels and research books. For inspiration, I have a few candles scattered around, along with a genie's lamp (found in an antique store, but unfortunately not magical), golden bells on a silken cord, posters featuring Rob Roy: The Movie, plants, and CDs from various artists, which I occasionally play. The lighting is dim and the computer is rather slow and often cranky. It's very disorganized and completely mine, and this is where I write. Unless I'm in a rush to get something done, I write about six hours a day, in the morning and late at night.
I write historical romance with a paranormal twist, and I often set them in the 1800's, either Regency or Victorian time periods. Jane Austen's works have given me a particular appreciation for the language, social customs, clothing, and humor in the Regency era. I would enjoy living in Regency times, so why not write about them?
I also find the Victorian era fascinating. It was a time of great scientific achievement, giving rise to many of the traditional horror stories which have always thrilled me: Bram Stoker's Dracula, Theophile Gautier's The Romance of the Mummy, H.G. Wells' The Isle of Dr. Moreau, among others. This period is perfect for all sorts of paranormal events.
The thing I like most about writing romance novels is the chance to write a happy ending, one that leaves a reader feeling good after she finishes the book.
One of my first letters came from a reader in California. She'd had a really bad stretch of luck, including several visits to the hospital. Finally diagnosed with breast cancer, she was in the middle of radiation and chemotherapy treatments when she wrote to tell me how much she'd enjoyed my book Touch Not the Cat. The story took her away from the pain for a while, and her letter was the best, most touching response I could have ever wished for as a writer.
Please visit my website, www.tracyfobes.com, to learn more about me, or write me at PO Box 534, Yardley, PA, 19067. I love to hear from my readers! --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unfulfilled promise.,
By
This review is from: Forbidden Garden (Sonnet Books) (Paperback)
Mrs. Anne Sherwood was a talented plant illustrator whose late husband had stolen credit for her work. Now she has another chance to be taken seriously by the scientific community. Lord Connock has hired her to draw unusual plants in his property. Michael McEvoy, Connock's official plant gatherer, is in Ireland to help Anne. He also tempts her to come back to life and laughter again. As something evil comes to light at Connock's home, Anne and Michael must reassess their loyalties and fight for their lives against plants not meant to exist.The premise was promising but flat characters detract from the story. The book was very disappointing and loose in structure. The idea of Anne's talent in sensing plant emotions and health was inspired, but wasted.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful paranormal romance,
This review is from: Forbidden Garden (Sonnet Books) (Paperback)
In 1860, Lord Connock visits London's Kew Gardens to meet the Botanical Gardens illustrator Anne Sherwood. Connock thinks highly of Anne's work and hires her to draw a special tree that has grown from a seed world traveling naturalist Michael McEvoy brought home. Anne desperately wants acceptance from her all male peers who do not believe she does her work nor her claim she drew the plates in her deceased husband's work on plants.In Ireland, Anne meets Michael and quickly, to her chagrin, is attracted to the adventurer. He reciprocates, as he fully desires the uptight lady. Both share the ability to know how plants feel and both of them think something is wrong with Connock's garden. As they work together on the collection, they fall in love, not yet aware that an evil essence lurks nearby planning to destroy the duo if they learn the truth about the garden. FORBIDDEN GARDEN is an exciting historical romance. The story line is fast-paced while cleverly showing how ironically the freethinking male elite scorns the possibility of a female being their equal. This obsession to be accepted by the leading thinkers of her time serves as the prime motive for Anne until she meets Michael. Real persona such as Huxley and Darwin add to the nineteenth century ambiance of the novel. Tracy Fobes has provided a triumphant tale that will stimulate sub-genre readers to search for more of her works (see HEART OF THE DOVE). Harriet Klausner
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Forbidden Garden,
This review is from: Forbidden Garden (Sonnet Books) (Paperback)
In 1860 England, Anne Sherwood lives only for her work. A widow, she resents the fact that her late husband passed off her botanical illustrations as his own work. Anne has an unusual talent; she can sense the emotions of plants. Later she becomes an in-house illustrator for Lord Connock at Glendale Hall in Ireland (he illustrates a new species of tree). Glendale Hall is full of secrets, and the plants give off the oddest emotions she's ever felt. Her stay is complicated by Lord Connock's naturalist, the handsome and glib Michael McEvoy, a botanical adventurer. She's enthraled by him. Later they realize there's something wrong with the garden and that Anne and Michael are facing what could be a deadly enemy. Can love bloom in the forbidden garden of Lord Connock? Paranormal romance is often a difficult genre in which to write, yet Ms. Tracy Fobes makes it look easy. She is one of the most inventive of the authors working in this field. Forbidden Garden is just another fabulous work. Delightfully creepy setting, wildly passionate love scenes, well-organised plot. And most important, Forbidden Garden doesn't follow the standard romance steps, and that makes it more worth-reading.
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