Title: The White Dress, The Autumn Leaves
Publisher: Jupiter Gardens Press
Author: Shauna Aura Knight
Price: $2.99 (ebook)

The White Dress, the Autumn Leaves is a both a bit like, and a bit unlike, Knight’s other fiction releases (Werewolves in the Kitchen and A Winter Knight’s Vigil). Whereas the latter two books are hothothot reads, The White Dress, The Autumn Leaves runs more towards sweet, in terms of romance and heat.

Meredith is a young pagan woman with an open heart looking for a connection she isn’t sure she’s going to find in her life. Darkness clings to her past, and she’s very interested in opening up, in branching out and experiencing life to its fullest. Jack is a pagan musician in a band that’s one of many playing at a week-long Pagan festival. He isn’t exactly looking for love, but then he’s not exactly not looking for it either. When their paths cross at the festival, neither of them expected to fall so quickly in love with one another, but fall they do, and it seems that happiness is right around the corner for them both. But Meredith has a growing sense of foreboding that she can’t seem to shake, and with a history of illness in her past, Meredith can’t help but wonder: will the illness return? Will she have a chance to live this life they’re planning to make together?

The White Dress, The Autumn Leaves is a touching, bittersweet tale of hope and love, of darkness, of life and light. It is less paranormal romance and more magical realism that I think many pagans could appreciate. In this book, author Shauna Aura Knight shows that she has the ability to write more than just one kind of story (don’t get me wrong here – I will glut myself on the paranormal romances as happily as the next reader!) and she reminds us that even when darkness seems to take us over, light can still be found. Happiness can still be had.

This is a powerful, poignant story that I highly recommend.

[Jolene Dawe is a polytheist devoted to Poseidon and Odin. She is the author of Treasures from the Deep, a collection of Poseidon’s myths retold, and The Fairy Queen of Spencer’s Butte and Other Tales. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her partner, a small horde of cats, one small dog, and three spunky spinning wheels. You can find her online at http://thesaturatedpage.wordpress.com%5D.]