DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? – Ann Macela
Medallion Press, Inc
ISBN-10: 1933836164
ISBN-13: 978-1933836164
October 2007
Romantic Fantasy

Houston, Texas, Present Day

Francie Stevens and Clay Morgan are both in for a big surprise. They meet when Clay consults for Brazos Chemical, Francie’s employer, on a computer security problem -- someone has been using Francie’s home computer to try to hack into the sales files at Brazos Chemical. The company has gone so far as to discover that Francie is not even home when this is happening; now they want to discover who the guilty party is and intend to set a trap. Francie and Clay will pose as a romantic couple so that Clay can get closer to the person they suspect is breaking into Francie’s home and using her computer.

What Francie doesn’t know is that Clay is also a magic practitioner, his talent residing in his ability to program and manipulate computers. Clay soon discovers that Francie might be his soulmate via the soulmate imperative, a force that brings together magic practitioners and their true loves. The problem is that Francie is not a practitioner and does not believe in magic -- if she did, this would be much easier with a happily-ever-after guaranteed. Not only does she not believe, she has no confidence in herself, due to a bad relationship, and doesn’t trust handsome men like Clay. When the soulmate imperative calls, people must listen and obey; if they don’t, they suffer until they do, but will Clay be able to convince a non-believer of that?

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? is a sequel to Ms. Macela’s first book in the "Magic” series, THE OLDEST KIND OF MAGIC. It continues the saga of the Morgans, a family of magic practitioners. Though I sometimes found Francie’s stubborn disbelief and refusal to listen to Clay irritating, I was very glad to find a strong female character. Clay is an almost alpha hero, but the soulmate imperative and his respect for Francie hold him back from just charging in and taking control. He realizes that overwhelming her will not help him in the end, and though he makes mistakes, he does give Francie the time and room to think things over. I did wish that there could have been less thinking and discussion between the characters and more action in the story. Clay’s sister Daria, and Francie’s friend Tamara are likeable characters with a tangible presence. The love scenes are intense without being too explicit. DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? is a light romance, a good choice with which to while away an afternoon.

Lisa Baca