Sandy M’s review of So Enchanting by Connie Brockway
Historical Romance released by Onyx 3 Feb 09

I’m a relatively new Connie Brockway fan. In the last couple of years I’ve read her McClairen’s Isle and The Rose Hunter trilogies and enjoyed all those books immensely. Now, I’ve not yet read her contemporaries, so this new book isn’t the “coming home” for me like it is for many of you.  No never mind for me, though, because I had one heck of a good time being enchanted by just about everything in this book.

The best part of this book for me is the main characters. Greyson and Fanny are alike in so many ways while their beliefs concerning magic and the paranormal are as wide as the ocean.  Even they don’t know if what is between them will be able to span that chasm to bring them and keep them together, even despite the love that neither of them really truly believes in anymore.

Grey has made a career out of debunking con artists and charlatans who prey on the grief and emotions of those who have lost loved ones.  He had watched his father year after year be taken by such thieves.  This is his way of making sure it doesn’t happen to as many other people and families as he can. One such instance is what leads him to a young woman who draws him to her and he can’t fathom why.  Perhaps her look of innocence, her beauty, her fear at being caught; but it doesn’t matter because he can’t abide what she’s done.

All her life she’s been different from everyone else.  Her rapport with animals is something that has taken everyone Fanny’s loved from her over the years, but she thought she’d found the one person who loved her for who and what she is.  He’d only duped her into believing he wanted her, but it was only her magic he needed to help him further his schemes and lies.  After escaping unscathed when her husband’s deceits were revealed by Greyson Sheffield, Fanny has lived the past six years in the small hamlet of Little Firkin in the Highlands of Scotland. A place where she’s finally been normal as a companion to a young girl who’s thought to be a witch, though Fanny knows better.

But when Amelie’s life is threatened by an unknown person, it is Grey who is sent to investigate and Fanny’s world collides with his once more.  This time, however, there is something different between them.  A something they both try to deny, especially Grey, because he just knows Fanny is running some kind of con again, and he’s determined to find out what it is. They both fight their attraction to the other, and it’s not until things take on a more dangerous turn than anyone could imagine that their desires overtake their good sense.  Grey lets his guard down and goes with his feelings for the first time in a very long while, only to find out he should have known better.

It took a bit for Grey to grow on me.  He’s so dispassionate in the beginning, except when it comes to exposing the culprits he’s after, that I thought at first I may not like him all that much. But once Fanny worms her way under his skin even the tiniest bit, it’s wonderful to watch him hesitate, stare, stumble, stutter, all of which are very unlike him.  And he attains a sense of humor to replace his ever-present sarcasm and cynicism.  It’s interesting to watch them both learn how alike they are in certain aspects of their life.  While I liked the Amelie/Hayden part of the story, I found myself wanting their scenes to be over to get back to Grey and Fanny, they both intrigued me that much, made me laugh more than I anticipated, and made me wish they’d had another love scene after their raw and magical night together.

Other secondary characters are fun and eccentric, and there’s a couple of twists thrown in to keep you on your toes.  The only thing I would have liked to have seen more decisively is Grey experiencing Fanny’s gift  in a more in-depth way, but that’s not all that much to quibble over considering what I did get.

Grade: A-

Summary:

The Scottish hamlet of Little Firkin has one important industry: the guardianship of Amelie Chase, a witchling banished by the ton for her alleged supernatural powers, and entrusted by her benefactor to Fanny Walcott. But the scheme is hitting a snag: Little Firkin is cramping Amelie’s style, anonymous notes are threatening her life, and now, two handsome travelers arrive with tantalizing links to the pasts of both women. And what’s happening in Little Firkin is so enchanting, it’s going to take a leap of faith to believe it.

Read an excerpt.