Sandy M’s review of Magic & Mayhem by Cathryn Fox and Sylvia Day
Contemporary paranormal anthology eBook published 24 Jul 07 by Avon
Halloween has never sounded like so much fun. I think every woman would wish it was this easy to dream up the perfect lover! These two stories give us a look into what it would be like to have the power to conjure up your dream man and then, on the reverse side, to conjure him without knowing you’ve done so.
Magic by Cathryn Fox
Brianna James has special powers that not even her best friend knows about. Her powers are to be used for the betterment of mankind and not personal gain. Remembering the legendary Xander, who was banished by the Council when he had used his power for himself and roams the earth as a cat as punishment, Brianna has no desire to have such a life, so she is careful when and when she uses her magic.
Brianna makes up her mind up to start conjuring and writes her incantation down, asking for the man of her desires. As long as she doesn’t complete the spell by sprinkling cat’s claw over it, things will be fine. But when Max, her pet cat, inadvertently knocks her vial of cat’s claw over and it dusts the paper spell, she then notices a man leave the store, wondering why she hadn’t seen him come inside beforehand.
Little does she know her incantation describes Xander to a perfection. Tonight he will definitely give her everything and, hopefully in the process, the spell on him will be broken forever.
Mayhem by Sylvia Day
Abby is watching the “Most Eligible Bachelor” from her balcony once again, the man behind the housing development where she bought her new home after relocating from California to Massachusetts and where he could have had any house he wanted, but he ends up next to her.
He arrives early for her Halloween party and they get to know one another a little better before guests begin arriving. But it’s not until much later that Shane accosts Abby and wickedly asks for her to tell his fortune. Using the wording from a flyer she must have gotten from the magic shop where she bought her costume, things suddenly become very heated quite quickly and Abby’s desire for the man of her dreams is dangerously close to being sated.
Being in an anthology, both of these are short stories, so things have to move quickly, but both Fox and Day do a great job of weaving the storyline and characters together in a unique way. They alternate between Magic and Mayhem throughout the book to give the story a time line and introduce all the players. The characters are fun, the magic adds a mystical quality, and Halloween ends up being a night to remember for all who reach out and take what they want.
Grade: B
An innovative ebook featuring two intertwined stories:
Magic by Cathryn Fox
When good witch Brianna James writes a sexy, forbidden love spell on her thirty first birthday, on the thirty first day of October during a full moon and conjures up one roguish, bad boy warlock, she has no idea that by using her magic, she’ll experience a passion so deep and so intense it would forever turn her good girl days into bad girl nights.
But…when that spell lands in the wrong hands…be prepared for a little Mayhem…
Read an excerpt.
Mayhem by Sylvia Day
When Abigail Garvey steps into Conjure, the local magic shop, all she’s looking for are a few props to round out her fortune teller Halloween costume. Abby isn’t looking for a love spell that turns her drop-dead gorgeous, but long-oblivious neighbor into an aggressive alpha sex machine. Sure his single-minded pursuit (and follow-through!) is the stuff her wickedest fantasies are made of, but how much of it is the real deal? And how much of it is just a little magical mayhem?
Two couples. One mischievous spell. All out passion.
Falling in love has never been more fun.
Read an excerpt.
