"Story with perfect example of beauty being in the eye of the beholder"
Newly widowed, jobless and recently moved into a dump of
an apartment Dee "Don't Call Me Diana" Plaas is the
spirited heroine of MAGICK and alarmed at the recent
emergence of her gift of Sight. She considers her visions
anything but "gifts" and is only eager to see them stop as
suddenly as they began. Soon, however, she'll have more on
her plate to handle than unwanted dreams of the future and
visions of sacrificial death and mayhem. Diana doesn't
know it yet, but she is special, more gifted than anyone
born in the last 200 years, and it's going to take a very
special and gifted lifemate to prove it to her. Luckily,
one Winston Sayre is equal to the task. Win is a talented young Mage whose sole purpose in life is
to serve Goddess and preserve The Balance. His first
assignment is to keep Diana safe from Shiva. Win is so
gun-ho to prove himself to Goddess and his Guardian and
Grandfather that he loses sight of why he became a Mage in
the first place. Thus he undertakes his first task
stepping on toes and burning bridges at home in his
enthusiasm and misguided attempt to show his worth and
capability as a Mage. If he thought an apprenticeship under the tutelage of a
task-master Grandfather was a tough ride, Win has a lot to
learn when he comes up against the barrier of his new
assignment's skepticism, disbelief that has he and Diana
locking horns from the very beginning. Diana's frightened
of her dreams and visions, sure, but even more wary of her
gorgeous new neighbor claming that her life is in danger
and that he has been sworn to protect her. Diana is more than capable of taking care of herself, and
thinks Win is a wack job bent on conspiracy theories. When
he turns up in her apartment uninvited (never mind without
a key!) to whisk her away to safety, she is certain the
guy, despite his hunkiness, is ready for the funny farm.
After all, why else would any man, especially one as good
looking as Win Sayre, have an interest in her, fat, tub-of-
lard Diana? Win has another thing coming if he thinks Diana is going
to go along with him quietly. And desperate to stop her
from meeting with Shiva, he uses a forbidden compulsion
spell. The fun really begins when he takes her on a
meandering journey on the way to his family's Stronghold
for training to control her newfound talents and to learn
to protect herself from Shiva. Diana has never fit in with the crowd, not as a fat
ungainly child, nor as a heavy adult. She has suffered at
the hands of cruel people all of her life -- from the kids
in school when she was a child, to her dearly-departed
unfaithful husband, Barry. She doesn't feel worthy of
anyone's love, especially not someone as devoted and
earnest as Win, and has convinced herself she can live
without it. Her one gift is that of visualization and most
recently her Sight in the form of premonitions and
nightmares. She hardly sees her Sight as a gift, more like
one more curse to be endured in a cursed life. When Win offers her the opportunity to train at the
Stronghold, to, not exactly stop her visions, but at least
get them under control, Diana jumps at the chance. She
doesn't want to consider her other reasons for staying and
believing: that she's more than a little attracted to Win. The truth of the matter is, Diana and Win are lifemates,
made for each other by Goddess. But getting the pair to
believe this is one of Goddess's most difficult jobs since
creating the pair, and pales in comparison to the
difficulty of Win's first assignment. Her job would be all
but insurmountable if not for one important fact, that Win
and Diana have an undeniable link and care for each other
to the death. But with a few nudges here and there from Win's family,
Goddess may get the pair to the altar and bonded long
before death occurs. From the violent opening scene of this book where a ritual
sacrifice is described in graphic detail, MAGICK
introduces its villain and several minions in brutal
fashion, and starts off this story with a bang that never
lets up on an action-packed strong plot. Diana is a funny and sympathetic heroine, wholly
believable as the self-conscious Seer and Adept thrown
into a fantastic situation. Win as her wet-behind-the-ears
lifemate is comical in his pursuit of Diana, his sincerity
and awkward efforts to see the light always endearing. The
world building is well done and provides limitless
possibilities for character development and interesting
interaction between the leads and the engaging supporting
cast in future stories. Diana and Win's story and developing relationship is a
perfect example of beauty being in the eye of the
beholder, and made this an enjoyable read, and
entertaining introduction into Mary Taffs's world of
Magick. I highly recommend this book, and look forward to
more of Diana and Win's adventures in the next book in the
series, MORE THAN MAGICK. Gracie
McKeever, Author
For
ParaNormal Romance Reviews
Reviewed by Gracie McKeever
Posted May 22, 2003
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