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Cassie's Fortune by Linda Shertzer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I very nearly finished my "work" book at the office today. I brought it home and read the last of it this evening. The book was Cassie's Fortune by Linda Shertzer. It's part of the "Magical Love" line from Jove.

According to family lore, a gypsy cast a curse on the Bowen family so that each woman born in the family was doomed to wealthy spinsterhood. When Cassandra (Cassie) Bowen pays a visit to her maiden aunt Flora, Flora reveals that the key to breaking the curse is that one of the Bowen women must lose something she can't afford to lose, trust someone she has no reason to trust, and love a man with no hope of him ever loving her in return. Despite the family history of spinsterhood, Cassie is dubious. However, when Flora passes not long after Cassie's arrival, she learns that her wealthy aunt bequeathed everything to her...including an odd crystal ball that Flora called Sebastien. Now that Cassie is in possession of Sebastien, she begins having visions of the future, including rather intimate scenes of her and her scoundrel of a neighbor, Brent Conway. Unfortunately, when Cassie tries to warn the townspeople of what has been revealed to her of things such as war, everyone thinks she's just as crazy as Aunt Flora was.

Brent doesn't seem to think Cassie is crazy, or at least he doesn't say so. As they spend more time in one another's company, Cassie finds herself falling in love. Too bad Brent had a prior commitment, leaving Cassie heartbroken and wondering if she is slated to share the same fate as every other Bowen woman before her.

This was an interesting story. It read like more of a historical romance, even with the elements of the curse and the crystal ball added in. Some parts were sobering to read, including how Jerusha, the black woman who took care of Cassie's laundry, never felt comfortable coming into the house through the front door, and how some of the men in Cassie's life conspired to have her declared unstable so they could swoop in and claim her fortune. Unfortunately, that was all too plausible in the 1850's, when women could be consigned to insane asylums merely for reading or not being "biddable" enough. Made my blood boil. All that aside, the characters were portrayed well (Jerusha was a treasure!) and the plot flowed smoothly. However, considering the drama that the author spent so much time building, it was somewhat disappointing that each point of conflict was neatly resolved in the final two chapters without much conflict at all.

Favorite line: "...you can't buy people's good opinion of you."

An enjoyable story, overall. Four stars.