Laced with Magic by Barbara Bretton

Laced with Magic by Barbara Bretton

Even if you’re a sorceress-in-training, finding your true love does not guarantee your problems are all over. In fact, it’s just the opposite in this follow-up to Casting Spells, which I reviewed last week. This story picks up where it left off. Bretton does a good job of giving enough of the background, though, that readers new to the sereis could catch right on.

Chloe Hobbs, sorceress-in-training and owner of Sticks & Strings knitting shop, has fallen head-over-heels for Luke MacKenzie, a human cop staying temporarily in Sugar Maple, Vermont. Of course, he’s the only human in Sugar Maple, but for the most part he manages to get along with vampires, werewolves, etc. But trouble’s just around the bend.

Luke’s ex-wife shows up talking about their dead daughter, Steffie, trying to contact her. Another human is exactly what the townsfolk don’t want. To top it off, Luke’s daughter’s spirit is being held hostage by a Fae leader we already know and hate. Chloe needs to save Steffie without freeing the villain and allowing her to destroy the town. Hopefully Chloe won’t end up with a broken heart, either.

I love that Chloe embraces both sides of her background in this book, she is both human and a sorceress. She’s still learning her powers which provide some laugh out loud moments, like when Luke ends up the size of a Ken doll. Luke is amazing to me, willing to stand beside Chloe in the face of things he can’t even begin to understand. That’s true love. In a romance, the hero and heroine are most important to me, and I adore these two.

Their relationship does have some rough spots, which is to be expected given the circumstances. I thought the way they struggled through was realistic. The sparks aren’t always there, but they never abandon each other. They’re a couple that simply belong together, which makes me smile.

This one deals with magic a lot, between Chloe’s growing powers, the town’s dilemna and the Fae leader’s goals. Having a human around complicates things. Luke knows the town’s secrets but his ex-wife doesn’t and the townspeople want to keep it that way, no matter what they need to do to accomplish that.

On a side note, one of my favorite characters from Casting Spells was back, causing mischief, but once again there to help Chloe when she needs it. I doubted we’d see him again, but thankfully I was wrong.

I’ll be looking forward to the next installment. I have to admit I’m still hoping for the happily ever after.

Join me tomorrow for a guest post by the author, Barbara Bretton.

Thanks to Dorothy from Pump Up Your Book Promotion and the author for my copy.