One Touch of Magic

Rating:
Summary: thoroughly enjoyable
Review: "One Touch of Magic" is definitely my favourite Amanda McCabe Regency-era romance novel, and is also, I believe, a really good example of how an authour can successfully pen a romance novel with a mystical subplot, and make everything seem believable and probable.

When Lady Sarah Iverson's husband, the renowned antiquarian scholar Sir John Iverson, passed away while in the middle excavating a Viking village in York, everyone expected Sarah to leave the project in the hands of Sir John's capable assistant and for her to retire to Bath (or Brighton) and live off her inheritance. Sarah, however, is no ordinary young widow. As passionately committed to history and to the excavating project that Sir John had started, Sarah has vowed to carry on Sir John's work. And for a while it looked as if Sarah would actually be able to finish his work. But then the landowner whose land she was excavating on dies and now there is a new owner -- someone who may have other plans for the land she's painstakingly sifting through, someone who has the right to demand that she pack up and go before she's finished her work...

Major Miles Rutledge returned from the wars carrying with the guilt of having survived along with a healthy dose of anger for the manner in which the ex-soldiers (esp the poor foot soldiers) were being treated now that the war was over. The frustration of not being able to do enough only compounded his feelings of guilt and anger. Now, however, he has the chance to make a difference. For Miles has inherited his uncle's title and estate in York, and he has plans to use the land to create new farms that would provide new jobs for some of these men. But Mile's plans suffer a setback when he discovers that there is an excavation going on at the most fertile part of his estate. While dismayed at this setback, Miles cannot deny how intrigued he is by what the scholarly Sarah is doing, or just how entrancing he finds the young widow. But how to reconcile Sarah's work with what he strongly believes he must do?

Romance-wise some readers may find "One Touch of Magic" a little disappointing. Sarah and Miles more or less fall in love with each other at first sight, and as the story progresses, each begins to see qualities in each other that justifies the admiration and regard they feel for each other. But there is very little courtship or flirtation between the two. Everything is all very refined and restrained. On the other hand, "One Touch of Magic" is about a whole lot more than romance and the almost metaphysical bond that seems to exsist between Sarah and Miles -- it's also about the sisterly bond between Sarah and her 16 year old sister, Mary Ann, and Mary Ann's infatuation for a married man; and then there is the subplot about a badly matched married couple; and the subplot dealing with Sarah's work and the anxiety she feels about getting it done quickly and properly and the conflict she feels about how her project may hamper Miles's dream; not to mention the subplot dealing with the supernatural... How Amanda McCabe ties all these strands together so that you feel as if you're reading one cohesive story is something worth applauding (not to mention the superbly drawn characters and the smooth manner in which she allows the story to unfold), and something I'm really in awe of: the authour actually allows for Sarah to mourn for her dead husband for an entire year before supplying her with a new love interest! Finally, a romance authour who realises that heroines and heroes need time to grieve for their spouses, esp if they felt some love and affection for them!

I thoroughly enjoyed "One Touch of Magic" and I would recommend it as a worthwhile read, esp since it will be going on my keeper shelf.

Rating:
Summary: thoroughly enjoyable
Review: "One Touch of Magic" is definitely my favourite Amanda McCabe Regency-era romance novel, and is also, I believe, a really good example of how an authour can successfully pen a romance novel with a mystical subplot, and make everything seem believable and probable.

When Lady Sarah Iverson's husband, the renowned antiquarian scholar Sir John Iverson, passed away while in the middle excavating a Viking village in York, everyone expected Sarah to leave the project in the hands of Sir John's capable assistant and for her to retire to Bath (or Brighton) and live off her inheritance. Sarah, however, is no ordinary young widow. As passionately committed to history and to the excavating project that Sir John had started, Sarah has vowed to carry on Sir John's work. And for a while it looked as if Sarah would actually be able to finish his work. But then the landowner whose land she was excavating on dies and now there is a new owner -- someone who may have other plans for the land she's painstakingly sifting through, someone who has the right to demand that she pack up and go before she's finished her work...

Major Miles Rutledge returned from the wars carrying with the guilt of having survived along with a healthy dose of anger for the manner in which the ex-soldiers (esp the poor foot soldiers) were being treated now that the war was over. The frustration of not being able to do enough only compounded his feelings of guilt and anger. Now, however, he has the chance to make a difference. For Miles has inherited his uncle's title and estate in York, and he has plans to use the land to create new farms that would provide new jobs for some of these men. But Mile's plans suffer a setback when he discovers that there is an excavation going on at the most fertile part of his estate. While dismayed at this setback, Miles cannot deny how intrigued he is by what the scholarly Sarah is doing, or just how entrancing he finds the young widow. But how to reconcile Sarah's work with what he strongly believes he must do?

Romance-wise some readers may find "One Touch of Magic" a little disappointing. Sarah and Miles more or less fall in love with each other at first sight, and as the story progresses, each begins to see qualities in each other that justifies the admiration and regard they feel for each other. But there is very little courtship or flirtation between the two. Everything is all very refined and restrained. On the other hand, "One Touch of Magic" is about a whole lot more than romance and the almost metaphysical bond that seems to exsist between Sarah and Miles -- it's also about the sisterly bond between Sarah and her 16 year old sister, Mary Ann, and Mary Ann's infatuation for a married man; and then there is the subplot about a badly matched married couple; and the subplot dealing with Sarah's work and the anxiety she feels about getting it done quickly and properly and the conflict she feels about how her project may hamper Miles's dream; not to mention the subplot dealing with the supernatural... How Amanda McCabe ties all these strands together so that you feel as if you're reading one cohesive story is something worth applauding (not to mention the superbly drawn characters and the smooth manner in which she allows the story to unfold), and something I'm really in awe of: the authour actually allows for Sarah to mourn for her dead husband for an entire year before supplying her with a new love interest! Finally, a romance authour who realises that heroines and heroes need time to grieve for their spouses, esp if they felt some love and affection for them!

I thoroughly enjoyed "One Touch of Magic" and I would recommend it as a worthwhile read, esp since it will be going on my keeper shelf.

Rating:
Summary: A touch of the supernatural
Review: Miles Rutledge, ex-officer in the British army, is heir to his uncle's title and fortune. Now a marquis, Miles intends to put his uncle's vast land to use. He wants to help penniless ex-veterans find work.

Sarah Iverson lost her husband a year ago. She and her husband had been working on an archeological dig at a 800-year-old Viking village--that just happens to be on Miles' land! Unfortuntely, the man who could take her dream away from her is the same man with whom she feels a romantic connection. Even before he arrived, widowed Sarah had dreams about Miles.

Once again, Amanda McCabe delights. The book is filled with romance, intrigue--and yes, "a touch of magic." Every single character added to the story in some way. Only one thing left me highly disappointed. The secondary romance with Sarah's young sister was often more interesting than the primary one. Sadly, it was left **totally** unresolved. I hope we'll learn more about Miss Bellweather in one of McCabe's upcoming novels.

Rating:
Summary: A touch of the supernatural
Review: Miles Rutledge, ex-officer in the British army, is heir to his uncle's title and fortune. Now a marquis, Miles intends to put his uncle's vast land to use. He wants to help penniless ex-veterans find work.

Sarah Iverson lost her husband a year ago. She and her husband had been working on an archeological dig at a 800-year-old Viking village--that just happens to be on Miles' land! Unfortuntely, the man who could take her dream away from her is the same man with whom she feels a romantic connection. Even before he arrived, widowed Sarah had dreams about Miles.

Once again, Amanda McCabe delights. The book is filled with romance, intrigue--and yes, "a touch of magic." Every single character added to the story in some way. Only one thing left me highly disappointed. The secondary romance with Sarah's young sister was often more interesting than the primary one. Sadly, it was left **totally** unresolved. I hope we'll learn more about Miss Bellweather in one of McCabe's upcoming novels.