Shannon C.’s review of Enchanting the Lady (Relics of Merlin, Book 1) by Kathryne Kennedy
Historical paranormal romance released by Love Spell 1 Jan 08

I harp a lot in my reviews about the heroines in books. I’m a dirty, hippie, liberal feminist, and I’m proud of it. Give me a kick-ass chick any day who fights for what she believes in and doesn’t take crap from anybody. That being said, I am also as prone to Cinderella stories as the next girl, and if there’s a promise of a Cinderella-type plot, I am there like white on rice. You know the ones I’m talking about: poor, mistreated and oddly beautiful, usually orphaned girl is abused horribly but finally meets a man who falls in love with her and spirits her away from the badness.

I’ll tell you the plot that I’m not so keen on. It’s the one where the Prince Charming is all, “Grrr. This oddly beautiful and sweet woman is obviously hiding a core of evil in her soul, and further, she knows something I need to know, too. I will court her and seduce the information out of her, because that is the only interrogation technique ever, and, my schlong, it is mighty.”

All that being said, Kathrynne Kennedy’s Enchanting the Lady delivers both plot elements I described, and does so in a fashion that’s so over-the-top in its cheesiness that I ate it up like sweet, delicious candy.

The story is set in a kind of Regency England where one’s rank in society is determined by how much magic one can wield. Ms. Kennedy explores what this means for people of high rank quite well, with world-building that’s top-notch. Into this world, we meet Felicity, who is heir to a duchy. She lives with her aunt and uncle and her despicable cousin Oliver, but unlike all of them, she doesn’t have much magic. However, she must be tested to see if she has enough magic to inherit her duchy, a test she’s certain she’s going to fail.

At her testing she meets Terence, a baronet. In this world, the baronets are shape-shifters, and Terence is no exception. The baronets are also used as spies for the prince, and Terence is looking for one of the 13 relics of Merlin, magical talismans that contain evil magic. When Terence meets Felicity, he immediately sniffs the taint of relic magic on her, and since his lion side is attracted to her, well, obviously there’s only one thing for a good spy to do-seduce the information out of the chit.

As I said above, I like a Cinderella story, and so as a heroine Felicity worked for me. She’s beautiful, but she’s had a spell cast on her so that she appears invisible to everyone unless she makes her presence known. This has caused no end of havoc, as she’s always being run over by servants. So she thinks it’s exhilarating when Terence, who is immune to magic, not only sees her perfectly clearly but appears to be attracted to her. I really loved Felicity’s sense of wonder as the possibilities of love and passion were revealed to her. I even tolerated some of the quirks I’ve often seen in her type of heroines, like the fact that her maid is practically her BFF, because I guess if everyone thought I was invisible, I’d pretty much want to talk to anyone I could, despite the societal norms.

Terence was a bit more problematic but no less enjoyable. I love the idea of were-cats, and I love the idea of ones in particular who are so consumed by passion that they take every opportunity to grope their mates in public. Terence was totally hot in that way, and most of the time I wanted him to just go back to seducing Felicity and getting inappropriately caught up in his passion. Instead, he goes for long periods of the book obstinately deciding that someone as naive and awe-struck at the world must be a great actress hiding evil things. He takes a little bit too long to become convinced of Felicity’s innocence for me.

The secondary characters vary. I liked that Felicity’s family wasn’t entirely what it appeared to be, and I understood the motivations of the villainous members. One of them even gets a bit of a redemption, which was cool. And then there are the servants. Felicity’s maid, Katie, and Terence’s manservant, Bentley, were both great characters. Bentley especially deserved a freaking metal for his dedication to chaperoning poor passion-struck Terence.

The relic plot was a lot less interesting to me than the romance, but it does allow for some interesting possibilities for world-building. I was especially taken with Ms. Kennedy’s idea of the London underground, and I hope we’ll see more of it in future books.

There is something about Ms. Kennedy’s style that works for me. Felicity’s such a Mary Sue, and Terence is kind of cheesy in his own right, but I loved them both and I want to see what else Ms. Kennedy has in store. This is truly a unique paranormal premise, and I’ve already got the second book on Mt. TBR.

Grade: B

Read more reviews of books in this series by clicking on the Relics of Merlin series tag.

Summary:
In a world where magic ruled everything, Felicity Seymour couldn’t perform even the simplest spell. If she didn’t pass her testing, she’d lose her duchy-and any hope of marriage. But one man didn’t seem to mind her lack of dowry: a darkly delicious baronet who had managed to scare away the rest of London’s Society misses.

Sir Terence Blackwell knew the enchanting woman before him wasn’t entirely without magic. Not only could she completely disarm him with her gorgeous lavender eyes and frank candor, but his were-lion senses could smell a dark power on her-the same kind of relic-magic that had killed his brother. Was she using it herself, or was it being used against her?

One needed a husband, and the other needed answers. But only together could they find the strongest magic of all: true love.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series: