Once Upon a Dream

On the heels of their previous collaboration, Once Upon a Star, four of America's most beloved romance authors present what is sure to be a popular collection of magical stories, wherein princely gentlemen (both human and not) sweep dazzling damsels off their feet and into a land of happily-ever-afters. Roberts opens with ""In Dreams,"" a lyrical, contemporary tale about a 528-year-old magician who is granted only one week each century to experience life as a mortal man and the woman who helps him understand the difference between his fantastical powers and human-size love. In ""The Sorcerer's Daughter,"" Gregory takes her readers back to medieval times, as a sorcerer's daughter matches wits with a knight as they each seek to claim a mystical necklace. She wants the necklace to free her father from prison; he wants it to win the hand of a princess. Langan follows the dreaminess of Roberts's and Gregory's tales with ""The Enchantment,"" in which she gives the gift of time to two workaholics by stranding them in a beautiful summer mansion long enough for them to meet and fall in love. To conclude this lush collection, Willman sends enthusiastic readers off to romantic Venice in ""The Bridge of Sighs,"" where a woman longs to solve an old mystery and be reunited with her ex-husband. (Nov.)