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After her mom’s death, Barrie Watson moved from San Francisco back to her mother’s home of Watson Island, in South Carolina. In Compulsion, she learned about the gift she has for finding things and her tie to the family home and island. She found love with “Eight” Beaufort, who has a gift of his own and a tie to his family home across the river, and found a shocking secret that led her to danger.
Persuasion picks up just days after the close of the previous book, with Barrie trying to figure out how to deal with Eight’s decisions about going off to college, and with a new and strange visitor who is trying to enlist her help with something buried at her cousin Cassie’s house. Meanwhile, Cassie faces possible jail time for her role in what happened in Compulsion, and she has managed to enlist the aid of archaeologists to dig for what she’s sure is buried gold at her family’s ruined mansion. Barrie doesn’t want to have contact with Cassie, and she doesn’t want anything to do with the supposed buried treasure, but the stranger makes promises to help with the gifts (and curses) she and Eight have — and makes threats she can’t ignore.
She’s also worried about how much of Eight’s love for her (and the changes he’s making in his life) has to do with his gift to meet people’s desires. Navigating what she needs to do and figuring out what she thinks is best proves to be a challenge, and she faces danger once again — not to mention the potential damage she might do to her relationship.
Persuasion is a fairly enjoyable book; I wanted to know more of the story of Barrie and the other “heirs of Watson Island.” It wasn’t utterly compelling, however; I liked it well enough but didn’t find it fantastic.
Rated: Moderate, for occasional mild and moderate language, some violence, and some kissing scenes. There are a few references, though not detailed, to rape and attempted rape.
