The Enchanted Land by Jude Deveraux Review

Last Summer I stumbled across a box of old Jude Deveraux books at a yardsale. I ended up paying a few bucks for the whole box and I’ve been slowly working my way through them. I love old historical romance novels, especially Julie Garwood and Johanna Lindsey (but you already know this). Deveraux is another favorite, but sometimes Deveraux can take extreme directions with the storyline, which I do not appreciate.

One of the ones I read this was The Enchanted Land, which I thought had a great premise. Morgan must marry and live in New Mexico for one year or she will never receive her inheritance. She meets the rugged Seth Colter at a local dance and proposes a business arrangement: one year of marriage for $25,000. Seth accepts, but not because of the money – he can’t help be fascinated with the tiny woman.

The story starts out wonderfully. Seth and Morgan are full of chemistry as their friendship and love grows. There is humor in their banter and I couldn’t wait for their marriage to start working. If you haven’t read The Enchanted Land then I suggest you stop reading because I’m about to reveal some major spoilers.

As Morgan and Seth head to New Mexico they encounter a lot of misfortunes – mainly Morgan getting kidnapped. Add in Seth’s raging jealousy and you have the works of a classic old school romance. As Morgan and Seth finally reach their New Mexico home (about 30% through the book) I realize that Deveraux is probably going to start throwing curveballs into the story. Boy, was I right. Add in another kidnapping and when Morgan is sold into white slavery by a devious and dastardly neighbor I give up…seriously. I put the book down and decided to move on. Why? At the point the Morgan is sold into white slavery, the story is 50% done. That leaves 200 or so pages for Deveraux to throw any random kink into the story. Who knows…maybe a sharknado!

I know it sounds like I’m complaining, but I started out falling madly in love with Morgan and Seth. Their friendship flowed easily and they seemed to be really developing genuine feelings for each other. This is how I like my romances. I’m not a big fan of “every single thing that goes wrong does “ storylines. So I gave up….for an hour.

I wanted to see how Deveraux wrapped it all up. The separation of Morgan and Seth lasts for 3 years with one meeting that results in their son Adam. When Seth finally realized that Morgan never betrayed him and that she wasn’t willing working as a prostitute (he was mistaken about that as well), he is determined to seek her forgiveness. But first he must conceal his identity and get a job on her ranch. Sigh.

I’m glad I finished this novel because I wanted to see how Deveraux wrapped up the story. If you are determined to read The Enchanted Land I suggest you read the first hundred pages and then the last hundred pages…trust me and skip everything in the middle. I think you will find yourself just as aggravated at all the crap that is thrown into this story.