Again The Magic

Rating:
Summary: Read it - because it's good, just not her best
Review: Love Lisa K's books because I always seem to be totally involved and can lose myself for hours in her characters and situations. However, with this book I found the secondary storyline distracting. The interactions between the two main characters were not very intense - you got the feeling they could take or leave each other sometimes. The ending seemed rushed and pat. Overall, I found it would have been OK for another author - just not what I would expect from this author

Rating:
Summary: Not Kleypas's best but not terrible either
Review: If you're in the mood for an angsty, weepy read about forbidden love, this story may be for you. Aline is the oldest daughter of the Earl of Westcliff. McKenna is a stable boy who came to the estate as an eight-year-old bastard. Aline's cold and distant parents pay little attention to her (or her two siblings) and so she and McKenna become childhood friends. They play together, she teaches him to read and they ease each other's loneliness. But with adolescence come sexual attraction, temptation and ultimately frustration and reluctant resignation for they can never be together no matter how much they love each other. Though Aline longs for kisses and intimacy, McKenna initially refuses knowing where it will lead. But he's not made of stone and eventually he gives in to his need to be with her. They meet for romantic trysts but one day they are seen and her father is informed. He tells Aline that she is to make sure that McKenna leaves and never returns, and so Aline lets him believe the worst of her knowing he will hate her forever. Aline watches him go in grief and despair knowing she will never see him again.

Twelve years pass and a party of Americans has come to stay at Stony Cross Park at the invitation of Aline's brother Marcus, now the Earl of Westcliff. One of the Americans looks familiar and Aline is stunned to discover that it is McKenna! He's become a wealthy man in America but he's changed, become harder and it is obvious to her that he has come back bent on seduction and revenge. And little does he know he can hurt her all too easily. McKenna is surprised to find the beautiful Aline still unmarried and wonders why. He quickly decides that Aline is hiding something and is determined to unearth her secrets. And she is just as determined to keep them hidden for there are things she cannot bear for him to find out.

Meanwhile McKenna's business partner, Gideon Shaw stumbles upon Aline's younger sister Olivia who lives as a semi-recluse after a tragedy and a scandal two years before. Gideon is instantly enchanted and so is Livia and she slowly, to the delight and surprise of her siblings, begins to emerge from her self-imposed exile. But Marcus is not happy that Gideon Shaw is the catalyst for this change. He's a known rake and a heavy drinker known to closet himself in his rooms with a bottle for days at a time. Certainly not the kind of man Livia should be involved with. Livia has no illusions about the kind of man Gideon is or how he lives his life, but she has glimpsed a side of him that the others have not and she likes what she's seen. He's kind, sensitive, amusing and self-deprecating. But he's not exactly the type of man a woman wants to tie her future or her heart to. So what can they ever be to one another?

Personally, I was more interested in Gideon and Livia's story than the leads. They were a delightful pair with a real difficult issue between them. I didn't feel as emotionally invested in McKenna and Aline as I would have expected. McKenna was not quite as likeable or charming as many of the author's other leading men (they all can't be Derek Craven, girls!). I had expected him to be more complex and both he and Aline to be a little less one-dimensional. If he really knew and loved Aline he never would have believed her lie to make him leave and hate her. He knew what her father was like, understood their situation and supposedly knew her, so their conflict really was a stretch for me. But this is still an enjoyable read and, if you buy into the leads and their star-crossed love, a real weeper.

I just knew when I read WORTH ANY PRICE that the author had plans for Marcus (he was Lottie's employer, if you'll recall) and we meet him again here. He will also be seen in the author's next book A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S KISS (Fall 2004 - the first in her new Wallflowers series) and will get his own story, AUTUMN VELVET (2005), which I look forward to : - )

Rating:
Summary: For anyone else great
Review: I must agree with the reviewer who say this is not up to Lisa Kleypas's standards. While McKenna was a great guy, he's the first of Kleypas's heroes that I haven't fallen in love with. Lady Aline was likeable, but her secrecy seemed forced - a plot contrivance that was not only not true to her character, but not at all true to the relationship she and McKenna had once had. In addition, the sex scenes were so, um,...icky. This is how a virgin is deflowered by the man she has loved all her life? Yes, he didn't know - but she did, and we did. Yuk. And the second one was no better. The secondary characters and romance were much better - Kleypas actually seemed to like and understand them more than McKenna and Aline. I am a long-time Kleypas fan, and will definitely buy her next book, but this one should be purchased used or borrowed.

Rating:
Summary: Kleypas phoned it in
Review: First let me say that I am a big fan of Kleypas' writing. I have read all of her books multiple times. I was disappointed in this latest effort. In my opinion, it did not break new grond or have the emotional impact of other novels. The characters are hollow and she rehashes class conflict and Victorian sensibilities that she already explored in better fashion in previous novels.

Just reread old ones.

Rating:
Summary: A Reader
Review: I also feel that while all of Lisa Kleypas's books are enjoyable, so far none have compared to "Dreaming of You" and the hero and heroine in that story, Derek and Sara (although "Suddenly You" came close). The plot line of McKenna just believing that all of the sudden Aline becomes concerned with titles and birth status and sends him away make it hard to feel for him the rest of the story.

Rating:
Summary: A real heart-in-your-throat read. Loved it!
Review: First, I've got to say that I'm a huge Lisa Kleypas fan. I adore her writing style and choice of words, but above all, I enjoy the very real emotion she brings to her work. Needless to say, I've read all of her books so far (in addition to MANY other romances), and thus have a large basis for comparison. That being said, I truly found Again the Magic to be special. I'd even go so far as to say it is my second favorite book of Kleypas' next to Dreaming of You. Some other reviewers have brought Dreaming of You up as a contrast with this book, saying that Again the Magic doesn't compare and that Derek Craven was a far better hero. I beg to differ. I think a large part of why I loved this book so much was that, in a lot of ways,it reminded me of Dreaming of You. Not so much in terms of plot, but in the way I felt while reading it. It's difficult to put into words, but for both books I believe I felt so enthralled because I could really sense the 'power' behind the love stories. In both cases the love is not gentle with flowers and poems, nor is it particularly kind, but it's tangible and gut-clenching.

In Again the Magic's case, it is true that Aline's stubborn inability to trust McKenna is frustrating, but it is also entirely believable, and, in my opinion, realistic. It also contributes to the razor-edged tension that when finally resolved in the end of the book makes for one hell of a scene that had me weaping and breathless. Plus, I'm always a sucker for a hero who cries. *grin*

Again the Magic may not be an easy read--it's far from light and fluffy--but the journey is well worth it. Gosh that's cliched, but it's true. The story stayed on my mind for many days after I finished it, and I know I will be returning to it many times in the future.

Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed it
Review: Lisa Kleypas is again in fine form with her latest novel "Again the Magic." I love her books and this was enjoyable, but not as good as "Dreaming of You" which was her best. I look forward to reading the sequel of "Again the Magic" which will probably focus on the secondary characters Livia and Gordon. They are in my opinion more interesting and real than the main characters in this book. I had a problem with Aline and McKenna because despite their great love for each other, they couldn't be honest with one another until the very end. Considering their past together and their bond, you would think they could be truthful because of their friendship. But all in all I'm glad I bought this book because nobody writes historical romance like Lisa Kleypas. I'll definitely read the sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Kleypas in Top Form
Review: I've read all of this author's books. I consider "Again the Magic" one of her two best efforts (along with "Dreaming of You").

After finishing the book, I opened up to page one again for a second read - something I almost never do!

The book examines some of the same themes as "Wuthering Heights" - children of unequal station growing up in the rigid British class system and being brutally torn apart as young adults. They each live their lives longing for their "other half" and are reunited 12 years later when the servant (McKenna) returns to England a prosperous self-made man, ostensibly to explore the possibilty of a business association with the brother of his childhood love (Aline).

McKenna remains bitterly angry over Aline's rejection of him as a young man and wants to punish her. Aline was scarred in a fire and tries to maintain her distance from McKenna because she does not feel that she could survive his rejection and revulsion at her resulting disfigurement (not because she is vain, as some reviewers have indicated). Despite all the misunderstanding and indirection, the purity and intensity of Aline's and McKenna's love shines through. It moved me to tears.

The secondary characters are wonderful and I hope we'll see them (as well as McKenna and Aline) again in future books.

Thanks, Lisa Kleypas, for touching my heart with this sad and beautiful story.

Rating:
Summary: The Wrong Hero
Review: Derek Craven (Dreaming of You) is the most complex and enjoyable romantic hero I have ever read. I enjoy Kleypas' work but what I am really looking for when I read her novels is another character as multifaceted as his. Kleypas took risks when writing him. You hated him a little. So many of the men in romance novels are blank faces with formulaic emotions and reactions.

In my opinion Gideon Shaw was equal to Derek Craven. He was the friend and business associate of McKenna. He was also a rich socialite from New York with drinking problem. Can an author be any riskier than that? It was difficult for me to enjoy the novel because I was frustrated that Shaw was page filler for an otherwise flat story.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book - But I thought ending could be better
Review: I would give this 3 1/2 - 4 stars. It was a good book. I just go irritated with Aline. What made this book a winner was the secondary storyline of Livia and Shaw. I started flipping past Aline and McKenna's story to get to Livia and Shaw's. I wish that they had a whole book. I also thought it would have been great if Lisa put Aline and Livia's brother together with Alex (I think that was his name) - he was the homosexual lord. I was kind of dissapointed with the ending. She really didn't go into any detail - yeah we figure Aline and McKenna marry and go to New York - and we know that Shaw comes back for Livia. I just wish she gave us more at the end. It was almost like she was bored with her own book and rushed the ending. I'm not saying this isn't a good book - I just have higher expectations for Lisa's books.