When one thinks of romance, Germany isn’t usually the first country to come to mind. Yet ever since Sandra Schwab was a young girl growing up in the Black Forest, she dreamt of becoming a writer. With a limited market in her home country, Schwab set out to polish her English to perfection so she could submit her book in the land of opportunity: the New York publishing scene.

In summer 2005 her dream finally came true with the publication of her debut novel The Lily Brand by Leisure Books-Dorchester. This spring Schwab sets out to dazzle American readers once again with the lush descriptions and the sparkling dialogue of her third book, Bewitched.

Romantic Times senior reviewer Kathe Robin called Bewitched a "captivating tale of a spell gone wrong, a love potion gone right, deceit, revenge, black magic and redemption." In this sizzling historical romance young Miss Amelia Bourne suffers a mishap that strips her of her magical powers and sees her sent to Regency London to find a suitable husband. Yet she soon begins to wonder whether the sexy Sebastian "Fox" Stapleton isn't just a little too perfect–and if a blacker magic isn't playing with their hearts. Bewitched moves from the glittering world of the ballrooms and drawing rooms of London to the mysterious, foggy plains of the Fen District, where the sound of water is never far away and the people are said to have webbed feet.

"I fell in love with Britain on my first visit there, when I was eleven and my English barely extended beyond 'yes' and 'no'," Schwab relates. "Therefore I enjoy bringing not only the British past, but also the British landscape alive for my readers." Yet even though her third novel is once again full of references to the folklore and legends of bygone ages, Schwab balked at including some of the quainter customs her research turned up: "One of my sources mentioned that the people living in the Fens once considered fried or baked mice as the best cure for whooping cough–however, I thought my characters had enough on their plates without having to eat fried rodents on top of everything else!" she adds with a chuckle.

Schwab teaches English literature at the University of Mainz in Germany. When not writing, cuddling cats, preparing class, or correcting student papers, she works on her PhD thesis on dragonslaying and genderroles.