BevL(QB) from Cubie’s Confections has joined us today to give us a guest review of Cheyenne McCray’s latest Magic Series book…

Wicked Magic (Magic Series, Book 3) by Cheyenne McCray
Guest review by BevL(QB)
St. Martin’s paperback published 28 Aug 07

In this romantic fantasy series, Chey McCray offers her own twist to Celtic mythology. The Fomorii were sea gods that served the evil god Balor. In a battle for control of Ireland, the Fomorii were defeated by the Tuatha D’Danaan (children of the goddess Anu), and were exiled along with their god, Balor, and his wife, Ceithlenn, by the greater gods to live in Underworld as demons. When the D’Danaan were in turn defeated by the Milesians, they left our world to live in their own Sidhe in Otherworld. No longer gods and granted the gift of winged flight by their goddess, Anu, they live as warrior Fae who remain neutral unless their ruling council feels they are needed to maintain or restore the natural order of the universe.

So what would happen if present day worshipers of the god Balor (Balorites) find a way to open the gates between our world and Underworld? And what if the neutral Tuatha D’Danaan, the only race to ever defeat the Fomorii, don’t see an urgent need to help us? Who will protect humanity from the Fomorii demons and, ultimately, Ceithlenn and Balor

In Forbidden Magic (book 1, Silver and Hawk’s story) we learn of the D’Anu witches. When the Druids fled our world for Otherworld, they left covens of their descendants to serve the goddess Anu by maintaining the balance of good and evil. Because the D’Anu witches strictly practice white magic and can do no harm to other beings, the influx of Fomorii into our world proves deadly to their San Francisco coven and some of the younger witches turn to grey magic in order to ask the Tuatha D’Danaan for help. In book 2, Seduced by Magic (Copper and Tiernan’s story), we meet more of the denizens of Otherworld, including fairies and the Drow. The Fomorii invasion of our world escalates with only minor setbacks by the few D Danaan that their council has allowed to come to the D Anu witches’ (and humanity’s) aid.

Now, in book 3, Wicked Magic (Rhiannon and Keir’s story), the danger to humanity has escalated exponentially with the release of Balor’s wife, Ceithlenn, from Underworld. The demon goddess thrives on death (literally) and the rest of humanity is beginning to realize that something is going on when her mass murders can no longer be kept secret. The D’Danaan Council, however, is still convinced that the Fomorii’s return to power may be part of the natural order of the world and will not yet commit their full complement of warriors.

Keir, the mistreated, bastard half brother of Hawk (from book 1), comes to our world with a small group of young D’Danaan he has been training to fight Formorii. Rhiannon, a D’Anu witch with a dark secret she doesn’t understand, was also tossed away as a child. Although the two are attracted to each other immediately, sparks of a different kind fly when Keir thinks he can treat Rhiannon the same way he treats his Pleasure Women.

Eventually, Keir realizes that he wants to treat Rhiannon like the treasure she is and, once Rhiannon makes him understand that she won’t tolerate OVER protectiveness, the pair proceed to fight together and love together as partners. Chey McCray treats us to some VERY steamy erotic scenes between the two, but I have to admit that Rhiannon is more woman than I will EVER be– through much of the book, she has a Ceithlenn induced, goddess sized headache that would have me snapping castration threats if Keir even THOUGHT about getting frisky!

I have to give Chey McCray credit for making the storylines of each book in this series completely unique. You will find no formulaic plots here! What you will find in every book, however, is courageous heroines who find their HEA with extremely alpha heroes in spite of the odious villains whose heinous acts escalate with each book. In Wicked Magic, Rhiannon and Keir are two people carrying deep unhealed wounds from their childhood. Trust and love are foreign and unreliable concepts for each of them. But out of their respect for each other’s abilities and their undeniable passion, grows trust and then a deep love.

One aspect of this book puzzled me. The first quarter or so of this story is peppered with groups of simple, often redundant or irrelevant, sentences that would serve the story better if combined into one or two well crafted sentences. Now, in fairness, I read an ARC that may be “tightened up” before release, and Chey’s writing style has always had a tendency towards simple sentences. But this was so pronounced that it was distracting. I even found myself pausing a few times and reworking some of these sentence groups in my head. After that shaky start, however, the book hit it’s stride and pulled me along on an enjoyable thrill ride.

So now the big question— Can this book be read as a standalone or would the reader be lost without reading the first two books in the series? While I can’t “un-know” what I already read, I feel confident in saying that this book IS self contained. Chey does a good job of filling the reader in on any facts from previous books that are relevant to this story.

Although, this book contains a couple instances of one of my biggest witch-centered story line complaints (this applies to any author)– I find it far more credible if an author establishes a character’s power/abilities/potions BEFORE they are utilized. This would greatly reduce the “Well, isn’t THAT convenient?!” reader reactions. For example, I knew that the D’Danaan, in their winged form, are invisible to humans because I read the previous books. But by the time that fact is mentioned in Wicked Magic, a casual reader will probably be scoffing because no humans have spotted the D’Dannan flitting around San Francisco.

So go ahead and read this one if you aren’t sure you want to commit to the whole series. Afterwards, if you decide you want more, I would advise that you read book 1, Forbidden Magic, BEFORE book 2, Seduced by Magic (a 2006 Passionate Plume finalist). Cheyenne McCray has come up with a truly enchanted concept and, even if the execution of her idea isn’t perfect, it IS marvelous escapism. The ending of this book’s climactic battle scene has me eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.

Grade: for fans B-, For everyone else C+

Be sure to visit Bev on her blog, Cubie’s Confections. Just know that while it’s not always work safe, it is always entertaining!