Tuesday, October 16, 2012

[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of Daughter of the Spellcaster


Maggie Shayne It was a sleepless night spent caring for a sick baby that jump-started New York Times Bestselling Author Maggie Shayne’s writing career. 

A voracious reader and prolific writer from childhood, Maggie found herself without a book to read while coddling the colicky child. So instead she began spinning a tale of her own, creating a plotline that evolved in her thoughts until, a few days later, she sat down and wrote the story in longhand. 

Now the author of more than forty novels, ranging from stories about Witches, vampires, psychics and ghosts, to bone chilling, edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense and beyond. The genres she has mastered include women’s fiction, category romance, romantic suspense, and paranormal fiction. Maggie has honed her lyrical prose and made a name for herself on the New York Times, USA Today, Amazon.com, B.Dalton, Booksense, Ingram’s, Barnes and Noble, and Waldenbooks (where she reached #1) bestseller lists. 

Maggie is the winner of numerous awards, including two Romantic Times Bookclub Career Achievement Awards, the National Readers Choice Award, and the coveted RITA Award, for which she was nominated twelve times before finally winning. 

She has also written for CBS daytime dramas, Guiding Light and As the World Turns. One of Maggie’s novels, Eternity, has been optioned for film.

Daughter of the Spellcaster, book #2 of THE PORTAL series
Author:  Maggie Shayne

Synopsis:

Has a spell been cast?

Lena Dunkirk is a practicing witch, Ryan McNally a wealthy playboy. Logic says mismatch, yet from the first they share a passion that defies reason, as if they know each other from another place, another time. Then Lena gets pregnant and runs for the safety of home.

Months later, when Ryan appears at her door looking to help raise their child, Lena doesn’t know whom to trust–particularly now that “guru to the stars” Bahru has taken an interest in her baby, offering gifts forged of magic.

Soon she and Ryan are sharing eerie dreams of ancient lands, while a vengeful demon plots to take possession of their child. As the moment of birth approaches, the demon’s power rises, forcing the hand of love to wield the blade that will decide the fate of a child’s soul–and the future of the world.


Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Pack Alpha - Michelle L. Olson:

*eARC received from NetGalley.

If you follow my reviews, you know that I'm a huge Maggie Shayne fan. I love her writing, I love her worlds, I love her characters... This book most certainly did not disappoint. In fact, my exact words upon finishing the book were: "Unbelievably, amazingly, fantastically good!! Writing a review to do this justice may prove to be difficult. I simply loved it."

Even with that said though, let's try...

Daughter of the Spellcaster was a beautifully written Paranormal Romance full of hope, magick, intrigue and heart. 

Lena and her mother are witches living in a tiny town in NY and getting ready to welcome their new addition - Lena's daughter, Selma's granddaughter - into the world. When Lena hears that a close acquaintance from years ago has died and left something to her in his will, she must leave the security of Havenwood to go to the memorial.

Ryan is a high society playboy who has just lost his father whom he's felt abandoned by pretty much his whole life. When the death brings his old girlfriend Lena back into his life with a bit of a surprise, he begins to rethink his priorities and his future.

The two embark on a journey to find answers to Ryan's father's lifetime quest while learning more about each other along the way. After so many years and so many misunderstandings though, trust is a bit hard to come by, not to mention the fact that there are dark forces at work undermining their growth each step of the way.

Maggie introduced some very 'human' characters in this installment of the Portal series. I loved everything about them and adored the way that Maggie painted the story with words, providing a vivid canvas of a tale that I won't easily forget. 

I also adored how she tied together books #1 and #2 of the series and paved the way for book #3 in January; it was genius. 

LITERAL ADDICTION gives Daughter of the Spellcaster a well deserved 5 Skulls. The Portal series has easily become one of my very favorite series out there, though that doesn't surprise me given the author. :) I simply cannot wait for book #3 to become available. 

Daughter of the Spellcaster










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