Esther Conway’s not too thrilled with her life. She’s engaged to Kevin, who doesn’t make her toes curl the way she thinks he should. What she does enjoy is her writing. During a weekend jaunt, she visits a private library where she finds a copy of the “The Prince of Costanzo,” a novel written long ago by her ancestor, Margaret Marsden, a gothic romantic novelist who disappeared more than a hundred years before.

Esther is desperate to read the book, which is very hard to find. But when she sits down, she finds herself transported to Costanzo. Thinking it’s a vivid dream, she’s fascinated to find the characters she’s heard so much about, including the dreaded sorcerer Prince Drago, the villain. Esther’s dreams are so realistic she soon realizes that it’s because every time she touches the book she’s pulled back, and Drago is not the villain Margaret portrays him to be.

Gothic Dragon sucked me in much as “The Prince of Costanzo” sucked Esther in. This book is a fascinating mix of time travel and fantasy romance, reading much like the gothic novels of my youth. I fell in love with the characters, especially Drago, a perfect blend of sensuous male and dominant ruler. He made my toes curl, much as he did Esther’s.

When I was done, I knew this was one I would want to put on my keeper shelf and revisit. If you like gothic romance, with a mix of fantasy and time travel, Gothic Dragon is the book for you.