Lady Becca is on the run from a marriage that her father has arranged to settle a gambling debt. On a dark and stormy night her carriage overturns and she finds herself and her abigale rescued by a handsome, enigmatic man, exiled Swedish Count Klaus Lindegren. As Becca waits for her abigale to recover the Count tells her tales, myths and legends, weaving a spell around her about the Fossegrim, enchanted otherworldly water creatures in male form who haunt waterfalls and must seduce a mortal woman during the mating time, never to see her again afterwards. As Becca becomes more entranced by the Count and the dreams she has about him her alarm grows exponentially. Could there be more than simple fable to the Count's legends? Could he be one of the Fossegrim in some strange way trying to warn her away before she becomes his next conquest?

There were a lot of things I enjoyed about this story, but some that became a bit tiresome. Much of the book Klaus spent chasing after and looking for Becca. Fortunately, the chases were interesting, just repetitive. The other thing is that I thought Klaus seemed a tad off for a hero. He seemed powerless to do anything although I believe we are supposed to perceive him as a powerful entity and almost every decision he made turned out to be wrong despite his seeming intelligence. Of course, the supporting characters of the story all marked it up to "Love Madness" so I guess that is the simple explanation. Despite these things the book kept me interested and I was never bored. It was very nice to explore a different sort of paranormal myth than what you usually find and the characters were likeable, even Klaus who I often felt rather sorry for. All in all a pretty decent novel, especially for those who enjoy their historicals and paranormals mixed together. ( )