Book Review: Magick and Moonlight by Marie Lavender

Title: Magick and Moonlight
Author: Marie Lavender
Publication Date: March 2, 2014
Publisher: Solstice Shadows
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy Romance

Blurb:

Messing with free will is always a bad idea...

Ethan Hamilton moves to a lazy little town in Oregon, hoping to escape his demons. But instead he discovers a woman dancing nude in the moonlight. This woman who claims she is a witch dazzles him with her sensual presence. He thinks she's crazy, but what if she's not?

Jessie Anderson has been taught that her kind hides who they really are. And she has a problem on her hands. Someone knows her secret and she has to do all she can to protect herself. What other choice does she have? Jessie casts a love spell on a good man, a man with whom she can't fight her attraction. The spell doesn't work quite as planned -- she ends up falling for Ethan.

To top it off, Ethan's treatment of her, his "love", is so addictive. Deep down, she knows the spell will wear off, and yet his feelings seem genuine. It's just a spell...right?

Kayla's Thoughts:

I can definitely appreciate any book that has an element of witchcraft and spellcasting in it. Having red hair, I have always kind of identified with that sort of world. So at hearing that this particular novella had this aspect of the paranormal in it, and the fact that it was about a love spell where the caster falls in love with the castee, I was intrigued and quite excited to see what was going to happen.

Now, being that this is a novella, I knew that it was going to be short. But I actually did not expect for it to be so short. I loved the story, the premise, the characters, but I felt the story went too fast to actually affect me in any way. I did feel a small connection after finishing the story, and I loved the ending, but I would have liked there to be a bit more development throughout the story. I would have liked some more intimate connections between the two main characters. You know, scenes where they just talk and tell each other their lives and just get to know each other better. I also would have loved more of Ethan's point of view. For example, when we first meet him, he has already arrived in town and rented a cabin. I would have loved the first chapter to be him driving into this strange new town and maybe having the image of what made him run in the first place haunting him.

I wanted more time to experience their relationship while Ethan was under the spell. It just seemed like at one moment he was under, and the next he wasn't. I wanted to see her through his eyes, and I wanted there to be moments where a small thought in his mind made him question occasionally if what they had was real. And then I kind of wanted him to brush it away until finally something or someone jolts his memory and gets him out of his trance.

I just would have definitely loved more. This story has such potential to go from being a mere novella to a full-blown novel. There are so many situations that could occur and so many more people to introduce. I want to know so much more about the town itself. I want to really be grabbed emotionally by the confusing state of the main characters' relationship. I want to see the townspeople's reactions to the sudden relationship as well.

Verdict:

I think this is a very unique storyline, and I do believe it is a good read. But, as I said before, I really wish there was more.

Links for Book:

Amazon / Goodreads / Facebook

Author's Bio:

Marie Lavender lives in the Midwest with her family and three cats. She has been writing for over twenty years. She has more works in progress than she can count on two hands.

At the tender age of nine, she began writing stories. Her imagination fueled a lot of her early child's play. Even growing up, she entered writing contests and even received a certificate for achieving the second round in one. She majored in Creative Writing in college because that was all she ever wanted --to be a writer. While there, she published two works in a university publication and was a copy editor on the staff of an online student journal. After graduating from college, she sought out her dream to publish a book.

Since then, Marie has published seventeen other books. Marie Lavender's real love is writing romances, but she has also written mysteries, literary fiction, and dabbled a little in paranormal stories. Most of her works have romantic elements involved in them. She is currently working on the Heiresses in Love series.

Links for Author:

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