If Charleston were wine, it would be a dry claret. Smell it, savor it as that first sip blooms on your tongue like a red, red rose. Do you feel the warmth as it seeps into your system? If you do, you've just had your first deception, for Charleston will entertain, entice, and seduce you, but she will never, ever warm you. It is here in the moral ruins of the Holy City that Arlena Prince loses everything, only to find that loss can bring redemption. Go with her now to paradise, to Old Charleston by the Atlantic. But be wary, for though Arlena is saved in the end, you may not be so lucky.

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"What if I tell you I have just read a novel that has a Charleston setting described as flawlessly and poetically as Pat Conroy writes, would you want to read it? What about a novel with plenty of intrigue, suspense and characterizations that make you just want to get in the car and head for Charleston again? Terry Ward Tucker has a voice and forceful quality that verify her work as that of an accomplished and serious writer. You must read this book." -Dr. Earl J. Wilcox, Professor Emeritus of English Literature at Winthrop University and recipient of the Distinguished Professor Award The Herald

"Innocence, murder, intrigue! A mysterious novel veiled in traditional Southern culture. Terry Ward Tucker baited my curiosity. I could not put this book down - a fast-moving story for your must-read list!" -Anna Louise Fitzgerald The New Southern Woman

"Terry Ward Tucker's first novel is replete with intriguing characters, Charleston being the most seductive one of them all!"

-Leslie Hooton Author, The Secret of Rainy Days

"An exemplary novel in the Southern gothic tradition." -Mary Doria Russell Author, The Sparrow