<p>The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called <i>Le Cirque des R&ecirc;ves</i>, and it is only open at night. <br> <br> But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway--a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love--a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. <br> <br>True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per&shy;formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. <br> <br>Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

Unabridged.