Set in an alternate reality Victorian England where magic is commonplace, the story opens with our heroine, Lady Jasmina Karlyle, in a quandary when she discovers her mother has once again "borrowed" a piece of valuable jewelry from an acquaintance. Jasmina must return the brooch to its rightful owner without anyone being the wiser and hopefully before it's missed. With the help of her accomplice, a maiden aunt, Jasmina casts a spell designed to create a twin. The twin is a simple illusion spell, not flesh and blood, but real enough to fool the household into thinking Jaz is home in bed and not out breaking and entering. What Jaz has no way of knowing is that the ugly little brooch is one of the fabled Relics of Merlin, all gems of great power. Instead of creating a temporary twin, one that will be vanished when Jasmina returns home, the spell creates a flesh and blood doppelganger.

Jasmina's doppelganger sets out on her own. Armed with Jaz's face, clothes and title, she gains entrance to a grand ball where she promptly creates a scandal by leaving with a man of questionable character. The man, Sterling Thorn, is a baronet; a were-creature in Kennedy's universe who literally gallops off into the night with his prize, a prize he and everyone else believes is Lady Jasmina.

When Jaz discovers what's happened, she knows she must track down her twin and vanquish her. This proves to be much easier said than done. Her first step is to steal back the brooch that she's already returned to its rightful owner. No, her first step is to rid herself of the pesky gnome that's been dogging her footsteps since this whole sorry business began. Decidedly no, her first order of business is to put Sterling Thorn in his proper place once and for all. The cheeky baronet has been looking at Jaz in a way that suggests he knows more about her than is entirely proper. The thing of it is, Jaz feels the same way but is determined not to show it. However, Sterling proves himself more elusive than her twin, more annoying than the gnome and more stubborn than just about anyone she's ever met, maybe even including herself.

The two reluctantly pool their talents and put their minds to the task ahead of them. While their minds may be leading the expedition, their hearts have also climbed aboard for the journey. Sterling is certain he's in love with at least one of the Jasminas, but which one? Jaz is equally as certain that she's the original and her copy has no place in her world or Sterling's heart.

DOUBLE ENCHANTMENT, like its predecessor ENCHANTING THE LADY is well...enchanting. A feel-good fairy tale set in a spellbinding world where magic is the order of the day and encountering a gnome while on a walk in the park would be no more unusual than you or I seeing a squirrel. A place where good men come in many forms and good women are more than a match for anything the universe has to throw at them. I loved both these books and am looking forward to the next in the series. Kennedy's earlier book, BENEATH THE THIRTEEN MOONS (released by Five Star in 12/03), is sadly out of print and prices on the secondary market are high right now. Here's hoping that "Moons" will make it back into print sometime soon.

Book Summary

Lady Jasmina was in a world of trouble. A simple spell had gone disastrously haywire and now there was a woman running around London who looked exactly like her - a woman with no sense of propriety whatsoever. All Society was whispering, and a baronet she'd never met was suddenly acting like he knew her...in a most intimate way. To find her double and set things right, they'd have to work together - braving the fog-shrouded streets, a mysterious group called the Brotherhood, and a passion stronger than any magic.