AUTHOR'S PREFERRED EDITION, RECENTLY REVISED AND INCLUDING NEW MATERIAL, EPILOGUE (AND CUT SCENES)

A dwarf at the door, brownies in the garden, and a merman near the koi pond...welcome to Mystic Circle in Denver, Colorado

"The more curses you break, the sooner you'll die," the scowling brownie said.

Magic has a price--and for Amber Sarga it's days and years off her life. Each curse she breaks ages her--and the bigger the curse the bigger the cost, and not only to her. That's why she hates mirrors, hides away and has vowed not to get involved again... ...

And then an ill-fated stranger arrives. Rafe Davail doesn't believe in curses--not even knowing that in his family every first son dies young. Amber offers guidance but she won't break the curse. Still, as she grows closer to Rafe and discovers the secrets of their pasts, she wonders if for this time, this man, she should risk it all....