Like its predecessor, Kelly O’Hearn’s ARCANUM: Whispers in the Forest entwines the life of Sarah Fuller (fragrance magnate, wife, and mother) with that of one of her past lives. In this case, the past life is that of Sari, independent-minded apothecary and protege of a Baroness. Sari is trapped at court when the Queen decides she will make an excellent mistress for the King and essentially forces her to comply. Sarah, meanwhile, is struggling to decide whether to fight for her safe, conventional marriage or drop everything for her potential soulmate, Harry Aiken, while she works to develop a new scent based on the roses that Sari and her Baroness mentor introduced to the French court.

Sari’s plot to escape with the neglected Prince Marc is the main adventure of O’Hearn’s book. Like the ancient Egypt of the previous tale, this is a fictionalized and romanticized France: neither the rose in general nor Rosa gallica in particular were new to medieval Europe or France, and while King François I certainly existed, he was unmarried in 1529 (when Sari meets him). His wives were Queen Claude, who died in 1524, and Queen Eleanor, whom he married in 1530, and none of his sons were named Louis or Marc. François was, however, both the scholar and the womanizer O’Hearn describes, which is no doubt more important to the story. Meanwhile, Sari’s unconventional upbringing, determined personality, and bold adventures make her by far the more interesting heroine—at least for this book.

Sari’s life does provide some parallels and insights into Sarah’s. For example, her conflicts with the Baroness’s son Kurt provide an interesting parallel to Sarah’s growing realization about a man in her own life. Unfortunately, Sarah’s plotline suffers from middle-book syndrome; she is essentially stagnating and struggling with that stagnation in this middle section of the narrative, and it’s less interesting than either the beginning or resolution of a story. Much of her conflict is internal, a continuation of the previous book without much progress, and that doesn’t make for enough excitement to match Sari’s character development, action-oriented plotline, and star-crossed romance with the handsome Romani lad Henri.

Still, while the middle part may not be the most exciting one, it is necessary to tell the full tale. Hopefully a clear conclusion will await in a future novel.

Kelly O’Hearn’s ARCANUM: Whispers in the Forest is essentially two stories in one, with the historical tale being much more engaging (and complete) while the one set in the present day suffers somewhat from being only the middle part of Sarah Fuller’s narrative.

~ Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader