Just as Alix Madsen is finishing up architectural school, Adelaide Kingsley dies and wills her, for one year, the use of a charming nineteenth-century Nantucket house. The elderly woman’s relationship to the Madsen family is a mystery to the spirited Alix—fresh from a romantic breakup—but for reasons of her own Alix accepts the quirky bequest, in part because it gives her time to plan her best friend’s storybook wedding.

After being abruptly jilted, Sophie Kincaid flees to the place her friend Kim Aldredge calls heaven on earth. But Sophie’s first taste of Edilean is far from heavenly: after her car breaks down on a country road, she is nearly run over by a speeding sports car. A small act of revenge brings some satisfaction, and word quickly spreads that a gorgeous newcomer gave the driver, the notoriously bitter Dr. Reede Aldredge, a dressing down! But it isn’t the first time the fiery artist has gone too far for payback; a secret possession she carries with her could shatter her ex-boyfriend’s future. Reede Aldredge has secrets, too, including a desire to get closer to the beauty who is turning his dark world upside down. Under the night skies, their masquerade is magic—but will it turn to dust by the light of day?

Kim Aldredge is delighted that her dear college “sister” Jecca has found lasting love with Kim’s cousin Tristan. But despite her flourishing jewelry-making career, Kim’s own happiness seems as distant as the childhood summer when she played the hours away with young Travis Merritt, who came to Edilean with his mother under mysterious circumstances. At the end of that innocent season, he promised Kim he would return one day . . . and then vanished without even a goodbye. Years later, a worn photo is Kim’s only proof of the perfect joy they shared. But when she least expects it, Travis, now a savvy Manhattan attorney, will crash into her life once more. Will Kim see the boy she knew under the man he’s become?

Sparks are flying between Jecca Layton and Dr. Tristan Aldredge. At the urging of her dear friend Kim, Jecca put the ruthless New York City art world on hold to spend the summer pursuing her passion for painting while enjoying Edilean’s tightly knit artistic community. For years, Kim’s cousin Tris—the town’s handsome and dedicated doctor—felt a deep connection to Kim’s college “sister” Jecca, though they had met only once before; now, Jecca is swept off her feet by this strong, sensitive man in a summer of sensual delights. But when long shadows announce Jecca’s return to “real life” and the big city, the lovers must decide: Can they survive the distance? And who will sacrifice the life they’ve created for themselves to be together?

Heartwishes started when I was thinking of that age-old question of, If I had one wish, what would it be?

But that idea made me think how wishes are relative to time and place.  When I was fourteen what I most wanted was curly hair.  When I hit my thirties I wanted to eat anything and not gain weight.

All in all, they were superficial wishes and I’m glad that magic wasn’t wasted on them.  I thought there should be a governing body to decide what was worthy of being granted and what was frivolous.  But who could do that?

It came to me that our hearts, our inner beings, might know what was best for us.  How about a wish that would come true only if it came from deep inside our hearts?

The book seemed to name itself.  Heartwishes.

After I got the basic idea of the novel, I thought about things people would deeply want.  For my heroine, Gemma, I knew she wanted to belong somewhere—and to someone.  To solve that problem I’d send her to Edilean where the residents would envelope her.

But as soon as I had Gemma’s wish and her background figured out, I began to wonder about other people’s wishes.  I knew the Heartwishes were given only to one family, the Fraziers.  I’d felt bad ever since Days of Gold that Shamus had been given such a raw deal.  Back in the eighteenth century in Scotland he’d been looked down on, but I knew he’d had a brutal father, so there were extenuating circumstances to his life.  It seemed appropriate that I’d give the Frazier family the Heartwishes Stone.

But what caused complications were the other Fraziers, the extended family.  And what about people who were marrying into the family?  If they were Fraziers did they also get a wish?

The more I thought about these questions, the more complicated it all became—and the funnier.  I’d already established in Scarlet Nights that Alea Frazier wanted grandchildren.  Surely, that was a wish that came from her heart.  But Gemma had just met the hero, Colin.  Too early for grandchildren, wasn’t it?

I plotted everything out before I started writing, but Gemma caused me lots of problems.  In some books the hero and heroine can’t stand each other from the first moment.  Those books are great!  Easy to write.  I laugh through the whole novel.

But Gemma and Colin looked into each other’s eyes and knew they were made for each other.  If it had been up to the two of them, they would have eloped that first afternoon.

It took the complications of beautiful Jean and her uncle, of gorgeous Dr. Tristan, and Colin’s autocratic mother to keep them apart.

I really liked getting to know the Frazier family.  My favorite scene was when the Frazier men were sitting in the kitchen licking spoonfuls of mashed potatoes.  It seemed so very homey and it made Gemma feel that she did belong somewhere.

I loved seeing the characters from the other Edilean books, especially at the barbecue at Mike and Sara’s house.  It was a place I wanted to be, people I wanted to share time with.

I hope you like Heartwishes.  Watch Dr. Tris as he’s the hero of my next book, Moonlight in the Morning.  His wish is for someone to love him and not just his pretty face.  That wish wasn’t easy to grant in novel form, but I hope I pulled I off.

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Jude Deveraux

Graduate student Gemma Ranford wants the job cataloging the documents of one of Edilean’s oldest families so much that she is ready to do battle to get it. Desperate to finish her dissertation, she’s sure that investigating the Frazier family history will yield new information to invigorate her research. But she is surprised to find among the papers references to the legend of the Heartwishes Stone, a magical talisman said to grant wishes to anyone named Frazier. And as she spends more time with the family in their small Virginia town, she realizes that the most secret wishes of each of the Fraziers are coming true—and that she’s falling hopelessly in love with Colin, the Fraziers’ eldest son.

But now that the Stone’s powers have been awakened, so have the designs of an international thief. Gemma and Colin must find the Stone before it can be used against the family but not before each of their deepest desires is fulfilled. . . .

Read the Publishers Weekly review.