Page Turners

July

Magic Man
by Patricia Rice
Signet Eclipse Historical Romance
Reviewed by Regan Loyd

Because of his propensity for causing earthquakes and other natural calamities with powers he denies exist, Aidan Dougal isolates himself, fearing he is a danger to others. After a greedy neighbor with a preferential inheritance to his sues for ownership of his property, Aidan must find a way to save his tenants and estate from a perilous plan to destroy the land mining for coal.

After a fire killed her mother—but not her mother’s voice in her head—Mora Abbott was adopted as a child by a vicar and his wife and trained in patience, prudence, and practicality. When both her adopted parents die, Mora must leave the vicarage to research the recently revealed names on the frontispiece of her only remaining family heirloom, a spellbook, in hopes of finding a new home.

When Mora starts receiving warnings of imminent danger to unidentified people, she must follow mysterious instructions on paper and in her head in order to save them. When his itchy nose leads him to Mora, Aidan gets drawn into her quest while coming to terms with a nature he denies and a family he dares not claim lest he destroy them. Magic Man presents two portraits of self-acceptance in the face of sacrifices just to belong. This intelligent finale to the six book series is a mystery of genealogy and family journals, righting the wrongs of forefathers, and the power men and women create together. Rice cleverly weaves together a complicated plot into a fast-paced, pleasant paranormal (lite) mystery. Although Rice saved the best for last, I am sorry to see the “Magic” series end because there are other characters I’d like to read about. I can only hope those characters eventually receive an executive pardon and come out to play at a later date.