The Magic of Love

Banished by her malicious stepmother, Lady Cranleigh, after the death of her father, Melita braves a long and lonely sea voyage from England to the Caribbean island of Martinique.
With a heavy heart at leaving her childhood home, as her father has left her penniless, she has no choice but to comply with her stepmother's bidding and accept her reduced circumstances with grace.
As the ship sails ever closer to her destiny, Melita is determined to face her new life as a lowly Governess to motherless little Rose-Marie with fortitude.
Arriving in the French colony, Melita is delighted to discover Martinique is a sun-drenched island blessed with beauty. Overwhelmed by the clear blue skies and the abundance of colourful flowers and shrubs, she begins to believe that she can be happy again, especially when she meets the handsome and surprisingly young, Comte de Vesonne, her new employer.
Gazing at each other in astonishment, both are pleasantly surprised to discover something that they were not expecting.
But not everyone at the sugar plantation is so pleased to welcome her and, when Melita hears drums pounding softly in the night, shattering the tranquility of the safe haven she has found at Vesonne, she remembers with foreboding the warnings she has heard about Voodoo practiced by the African slaves.
Can the mysterious old woman that the slaves call their Mamba really call on the spirits of the dead? And if so, do they mean to help or harm her and the Comte she so much admires and is beginning to love?
One thing is for sure – she will protect her young charge, little Rose-Marie, with her life if needs be.

Barbara Cartland was the world's most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime, of which no less than 644 were romantic novels with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her books were translated into 36 different languages.
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, theatrical plays and books of advice on life, love, vitamins and cookery.
She wrote her first book at the age of 21 and it was called Jigsaw. It became an immediate bestseller and sold 100,000 copies in hardback in England and all over Europe in translation.
Between the ages of 77 and 97 she increased her output and wrote an incredible 400 romances as the demand for her romances was so strong all over the world.
She wrote her last book at the age of 97 and it was entitled perhaps prophetically The Way to Heaven.
Her books have always been immensely popular in the United States where in 1976 her current books were at numbers 1 & 2 in the B. Dalton bestsellers list, a feat never achieved before or since by any author.
Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime and will be best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels so loved by her millions of readers throughout the world, who have always collected her books to read again and again, especially when they feel miserable or depressed.
Her books will always be treasured for their moral message, her pure and innocent heroines, her handsome and dashing heroes, her blissful happy endings and above all for her belief that the power of love is more important than anything else in everyone's life.