Honoring her mother’s memory, Samantha Lancaster vacations at The Chateaux du Beauchamp, which is rumored to be haunted by the Count de Beauchamp.  From the moment she arrives, she is taken by the opulent décor and estate. Samantha is looking for paranormal adventure, and from the time that she first arrives and stumbles upon Gerard, she gets her monies’ worth.

French aristocrat Gerard Beauchamp was known as a ruthless, powerful warlock.  A scorned lover cursed him centuries ago, and now he’s forced into an existence worse than anything imagined.  Is the Samantha part of the key to saving him?  Or is she merely there to add to his torment?

Ghost stories are the best when the setting lives up to my expectations. Ms. McBride has inspired my need to look for a place similar to The Chateaux and stay there for the ambience and history.  My hope is that such a place exists and with all the details, I’m sure that Ms. McBride has done her fair share of traveling and research.  That’s the best part of reading any story with historical connections.

Samantha retains her self-respect when she is confronted by Gerard’s arrogance and high-handed antics.   She refuses to let herself be used, no matter how drool worthy the user is.  Gerard has no other choice but to value her, and is driven to act and acknowledge his own feelings.  At times, Samantha’s encounters with Gerard are slyly humorous, and there is a smooth progression where she comes to understand him better through his loss.   The best part is how very much alike the pair are even though they are miles away in status and time.  The ending offered me a neat little surprise, and felt very true to the characters. 

The Dark One takes me back to those Harlequin novels where the spirited, smart heroine ventures out to meet the brooding, sexy hero who seduces every woman until Fate kicks him where it hurts.  The best part is that The Dark One has an overall contemporary flavor (without the cliché “no-no’s” of those earlier books) and just enough nostalgia to haunt me with a few pleasant memories of past reading.