"A fun magical romance!"

Diana "Dee" Plaas hasn't had an easy life. She was teased her entire childhood, made fun of by her now-deceased husband, and now she has a dark magick cult looking for her. Her only hope of survival is Winston Sayre, the Mage assigned to protect her from the evil Shiva and his servants. Dee, though strong in magickal power, has no knowledge of Mages, Goddess, or the Balance, and Win's attempts to convince her of his intentions are clumsy at best. He uses a talent called Compulsion to convince her to leave with him. Unable to disobey, Dee goes with him to Stronghold, a magickal school and safe-house.

Shiva won't leave her alone, however. Her power calls him, and he wants to claim her as his and put her in service for his dark Queen. He badgers them as Win meets the Guardian and Priestess (his grandparents) and apologizes for his use of Compulsion -- a definite no-no in the beliefs of Balance, and Dee starts her training in Magick. Then they realize that they are lifemates, and that their survival may indeed hinge on Dee's ability to accept the bond between them.

MAGICK was a fun read. As a fan of both magical/paranormal stories, and a reader who can appreciate a good lifemating/destined-to-be-together plot, I found myself quite interested by the novel. The religion that Ms Taffs portrays -- the Balance -- is something similar to Wiccan beliefs, but different enough to make it uniquely fantasy. The characters of Win and Dee developed nicely throughout the story, and their bonding in the end provided the perfect happy ending. It was also nice to see a plus-sized heroine who doesn't shed pounds to become beautiful, but instead deals with her fears the best she can.

However, those more critical of their reading material -- beware. Ms Taffs spins a fun romp, but her mechanics come up lacking. Put bluntly, I found this story to be too much told and too little shown. Some of the characterization was erratic, too. Regarding sex -- the book is fairly sweet in tone. Though there are instances of torture and rape (some graphic, but none tremendously so), Dee and Win don't actually consummate their relationship until the end the novel, and even then it's not explicit.

Overall, MAGICK is a recommended read -- if you can ignore the roughness of the prose itself. I will be looking into Ms. Taffs' other title with Awe-Struck Books soon!

Reviewed by Ann Leveille
Posted May 13, 2002