From Booklist
An English estate and a haunted castle in Spain provide scenic backdrops for best-selling Joyce's tale of two sisters, Tracy and Cass de Warenne, in love with a professor of medieval studies, Antonio de la Barca. When the affair between drop-dead gorgeous jet-setter Tracy and Antonio sours, the dashing Spaniard concentrates on Cass, a self-effacing romance novelist with a penchant for history. Strangely enough, their family trees are intertwined, spanning centuries of intrigue, revenge, and mysterious deaths. Once Joyce delivers her characters to Antonio's remote ancestral home, the stage is set for a beautiful ghost to take possession of her unsuspecting victims. Intent on making up for the suffering she endured long ago, Isabel wreaks havoc on the descendants of all whom she counts as enemies. With myriad twists and turns, much bloodshed, and plenty of passionate embraces, Cass and Antonio triumph over the unearthly obstacles threatening their happiness. And Isabel's spirit finds peace at last. Alice Joyce
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


From Kirkus Reviews
An unquiet ghost stalks her living descendants, seeking vengeance for a long-ago betrayal.Cassandra de Warenne, who writes historical novels, had never heard of her ancestral relative Isabel de la Barca until the fateful night of her sister's swanky party for her rich and famous friends. Tracey de Warenne just wanted to give her pals first peek at a priceless antique ruby necklace which is to be auctioned off by Sotheby's, where she more or less works. (All these characters inhabit the moneyed dreamland where those mythical beings known as jet-setters and playboys still flourish.) But Tracey's latest flame, an "internationally-renowned" professor of medieval studies named Antonio de la Barca, points out that the necklace is identical to one adorning the snowy bosom of Isabel de la Barca in a portrait dated 1554. And Antonio adds that Isabel's maiden name, before she married into his illustrious family, was de Warenne. Cass is intrigued . . . and instantly smitten with the darkly handsome Antonio. Strange things begin to happen that very night, causing one and all to pack their bags to head for Antonio's spooky family castle in Spain. Yes, intones Joyce (The Third Heiress, 1999), the place is crumbling and sinister; and yes, the eyes in the portraits seem to follow everyone around. Ere long, Isabel's malevolent spirit raises all kinds of ghostly hell, and eventually possesses Tracey, who is so blond, chic, and thin that she represents an irresistible target. Cass must fight her very own sister practically to the death-but not before enjoying several emollient bouts of sex with the ever-smoldering Antonio. Guess who wins the good sister/bad sister shriekfest.Wide-eyed genre clichés alternate with steamy boudoir scenes, in a romance sure to delight readers who can't find paperbacks featuring white-clad damsels fleeing moonlit Gothic towers anywhere in their local supermarkets. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


People
"a first-rate tale of romance--and sibling rivalry--amidst all the spookiness....fans of ghost stories and star-crossed romances will want to settle right in. Bottom line: Gothic gem."


Review
"Brenda Joyce blends chills and romantic thrills...A first-rate tale."--People

Myriad twists and turns."--Booklist

"The is one book you won't want to miss."--Beachlife



Book Description
New York Times bestselling author Brenda Joyce weaves a spellbinding tale of love and danger that will linger long after the last page is turned. In House of Dreams, two aristocratic families, one English, one Spanish, have been tragically destined to come together time and again over centuries. Cassandra de Warenne spends her days in a quiet English manor, looking after her young niece while her sister Tracey lives the glamorous life of a jet-setter. When Cass meets Tracey's newest conquest, Antonio de la Barca, she isn't prepared for the intense and immediate attraction-an attraction that heralds something deeper, more powerful, and more dangerous than Cass could ever imagine. For the de Warennes and the de la Barcas have a tangled history of horrendous heartbreak, bitter rivalry, and bloodshed that began 450 years ago, with one woman, Isabel, forsaken and betrayed by her family, her lover and her friends. Today, Isabel has summoned the two families together one final time-this time to complete a quest for vengeance from beyond the grave.



About the Author
Brenda Joyce is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 20 novels. She lives in New York City.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

New York Times bestselling author Brenda Joyce weaves a spellbinding tale of love and danger that will linger long after the last page is turned. In House of Dreams, two aristocratic families, one English, one Spanish, have been tragically destined to come together time and again over centuries. Cassandra de Warenne spends her days in a quiet English manor, looking after her young niece while her sister Tracey lives the glamorous life of a jet-setter. When Cass meets Tracey's newest conquest, Antonio de la Barca, she isn't prepared for the intense and immediate attraction-an attraction that heralds something deeper, more powerful, and more dangerous than Cass could ever imagine. For the de Warennes and the de la Barcas have a tangled history of horrendous heartbreak, bitter rivalry, and bloodshed that began 450 years ago, with one woman, Isabel, forsaken and betrayed by her family, her lover and her friends. Today, Isabel has summoned the two families together one final time-this time to complete a quest for vengeance from beyond the grave.

FROM THE CRITICS

People

a first-rate tale of romance and sibling rivalry amidst all the spookiness....fans of ghost stories and star-crossed romances will want to settle right in. Bottom line: Gothic gem.

Publishers Weekly

Confession, depression, possession and sexual obsession drive this story of contemporary sibling rivalry and ancient betrayal. Joyce (The Third Heiress) spices up her latest romantic suspense novel with the ghost of an enraged 16th-century countess, intent on wreaking vengeance on the two families responsible for her early and unjust demise. As the narrative opens in the present day, Cassandra de Warenne, a 32-year-old historical novelist, is unaware of the curse. Living in the family manse in bucolic East Sussex, England, with her aunt, Lady Catherine Belford, Cass has been raising her seven-year-old niece, Alyssa, daughter of Cass's beautiful, jet-setting younger sister, Tracey, who works for Sotheby's in London. When Tracey arranges a dinner party at the estate to display a 16th-century ruby necklace to potential buyers, one of the guests is Antonio de la Barca, a renowned professor of medieval studies, who believes the necklace belongs to one of his ancestors. Cass is surprised by her intense attraction to Antonio, and troubled because Antonio is Tracey's boyfriend, though it's obvious that they have nothing in common. But Antonio's role in the drama becomes far more complex when Aunt Catherine reveals a shocking family secret, and begs Cass to keep Tracey and Antonio apart lest disaster befall them. It seems the two families have been linked for centuries through Isabel de Warenne de la Barca, who was married to a Spanish nobleman in 1554 and burned at the stake on Tower Hill as a heretic a year later. Eventually, the entire de Warenne and de la Barca families gather at Antonio's family castle in Castilla, where, more than four centuries after her death, Isabel is still deviously manipulating everyone into a setting for disaster. Nicely textured characters and medieval court intrigue allow the reader to disregard a few loose ends and savor suspense that ends in romance. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Sanz - People Magazine

...fans of ghost stories and star-crossed romances will want to settle right in.

Kirkus Reviews

An unquiet ghost stalks her living descendants, seeking vengeance for a long-ago betrayal.