Grail of the Summer Stars

The eerie, gothic third installment in the Aetherial Tales (following Midsummer Night) focuses on Stevie Silverwood, an orphan with no memory of her life before the age of 15. After a troubled youth, she has become the deputy curator of a museum of metalwork; she has friends and a solid job she loves. One stormy night near Christmas, Stevie’s hazy past comes back to haunt her in the form of a painted triptych in the Byzantine style. She thinks it’s nothing special until a mysterious force knocks her cold during a break-in at the museum; when she awakens, the painting and her metalworking tools are gone. Soon after, Stevie meets Adam Leith, an unnaturally handsome man with a great many secrets. Together, Stevie and Adam must unravel the baffling clues possessed by the triptych, and in the process possibly save two worlds. Neither their romantic adventure nor the larger tale of battles among the Aetherial beings is particularly compelling. (Apr.)