I first became aware of Robin D. Owens in a writers chat. It was just after she had gained recognition for her first book HEARTMATE. Word of mouth was so good, my curiosity was tweaked. So, naturally, I dashed off to order a copy and read it. Rarely is a first book so full of heart, so brilliantly conceived. Generally, if it is, it falls into the Harper Lee Syndrome of being so perfect the writer cannot achieve that level ever again. So when I was asked to review Robin's second book, I frankly feared being let down. Instead, I was blown away. She did not achieve that same wonderful magick of HEARTMATE...she surpassed it! HEART THIEF was just that, a complex tale of an outcast, a thief and the Judge whom falls in love with him. The KittyFams were such a draw. I love cats, and Robin gives the KittyFams such life and personalities to her telepathic kitties, not cutesy, but oh so heartwarming. Having so enjoyed her first two works, I was eagerly, but once more cautiously looking forward to the next in the Hearts of Celta series. HEART DUEL, just does not measure up to the first two, it shines with such amazing emotion. This time we are treated to two KittyFams, Meserv and Phyll, tom brothers, gifts from T'ash to his friend, Holm Holly (prominent character in the first two books as the heir to House of Holly) and Lark Collinson, a healer from the Houses of Heather and Hawthrone. A wee touch of Romeo and Juliet is the undercurrent to HEART DUEL as the Houses of Holly and Hawthorne are ancient enemies. Lark heals the arrogant, but gorgeous Holm Holly, a man she grew up with, and watched from a far. He was the handsome, brash warrior, she quiet women with a Flair for healing. Both have undergone the three passages and neither saw their Heartmate that set their Flairs free, so both assumed there would not be one for them. Lark married a commoner, also a healer, but he died three years before the tale opens. So it is shocking to Holm to recognize as she heals his wound, that Lark is his Heartmate. Winning her will not be easy. Neither family will welcome their bonding, especially as the long animosity is edging toward open war between the two families. But Holm will let nothing stop him from forming the Heartbond, not even Lark herself. However, his resolve is tested when his mother is stabbed by a Hawthorne youth, the blade carrying a poison that nearly kills her. As the feud escalates, so does Holm's determination to win his Heartmate. Only Lark sees the situation as hopeless. Thus, Holm must fashion his Heartgift to win her love. People who love HEARTMATE and HEART THIEF...will be thrilled with this next entry in the Celta series. Long may Robin D. Owen's thrill us with her very special talent.

HeartDuel is the third Celtan novel by Ms Owens. I found the first two quite engrossing and entertaining and waited (im)patiently for the story of Holm, whom I've loved since the HeartMate. Like the first two the Fam interactions and descriptions of Celtan culture were great. However, as I read I could help comparing the story to that of T'Ash, in the fact that Lark only accepted the relationship at the very last. My greatest issue with HeartDuel though was the unhappy ending for the honorable, proud Holm and his family. I am a firm believer in happily ever after.

Each book in this series can stand alone as it deals with essentially one set of heart mates and their ins and outs of their making their relationship combine

In her first novel, HeartMate, Robin D. Owens introduced us to the planet Celta. It was settled around 400 years ago by colonists from Earth. While I cannot remember if it is clearly stated, the colonists were primarily from the Celtic countries and left an increasingly technological Earth for a place where they could develop their psi talents, now known as "Flair". Some very lucky Celtan couples find that they are HeartMates. This means they have a deep, life-long, flaired connection the binds them more strongly than what a couple that is simply in love can share. In the books so far, it has been the man who has first found his HeartMate and set to win her over, although on her website Owens states that it can also be the other way around. There are firm rules about wooing one's HeartMate, the most important one being that the fact the couple are, in fact, HeartMates must not be revealed until a gift and the union have already been accepted. We first met Holm Holly, the hero of Heart Duel back in the original in the series. He was young, impulsive and the heir to a Noble House famous for its fighting skills. Now he is a little less young, a little less impulsive, a little more mature and still the heir to his House. He never discovered he had a HeartMate at the appropriate time and now he is being pressured to marry to provide his family with an heir of his own. Then, as the book begins, he discovers to his amazement that he does have a HeartMate after all; he had to mature enough to match her own, older soul. Whether or not Holm has reached that point, and how he deals with the complications of his love are the main components of the book. There are a lot of complications. For starters, his lady - Lark Collinson - doesn't believe either of them has a HeartMate and that any relationship would be temporary. She is still getting over the death of her husband, three years ago. She is a Healer and Holm a Fighter, not exactly compatible callings. But the real kicker is that Holm's family is involved in a escalating feud with Lark's family. Winning her is not going to be easy. As I reread what I've written so far, this all sounds very Romeo and Juliet, but I never once thought of that while I was reading the book, which tells me Owens has neatly avoided the risk of falling into cliché. Holm is an engaging hero as he tries his hardest to develop parts of his personality that he has either never uncovered or left long abandoned. The man he is at the end of the book is very different from who he was at the beginning and his development is both well-handled and occasionally painful. Lark's progress though the book is more gentle but still very real. She is a Healer to her fingertips and finding herself so attracted to a man trained to fight goes against everything she believes in. An added bonus in each Celtan story is the presence of Owens' wonderful "Fam" cats. Intelligent, telepathic and superior, they can easily steal a scene if the rest of the characters are not careful. These books are lovely stories set in their own unique location. I love a mix of technology and magic and these fit that bill perfectly.