Customer Reviews

Magic by Daylight

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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I thought this book was very good, although it was a little slow during the beginning it got much more interesting towards the middle and end. It's about a mortal falling in love with another mortal that he was sworn to protect by the king of the Fey ( faery people). The betrayals that clarise has to go through and the suffering that both knight and her have to endure to make their love work is truly magical. Not to mention the fact that her mortal mother, who was turned into an immortal is now trying to take over the land of the Fey, makes some unusal twist into the story

Viscountess Clarice Stavely welcomed the man named Dominic Knight into her home. After all, he had a letter from her brother-in-law vouching for his identity and honor. He was supposed to be a writer who was in the area to write a book on the relics in Hamdry and the moors. In truth, he was under orders by the Fay King, himself, to keep an eye on Clarice.

The most I can tell you without revealing the surprises, yet to help you understand what this book is about and whether you would enjoy it, is that the Fay King needed Clarice as a pawn due to a war in the Fay world. Dominic was to be her jailer and guardian, because the King's enemy was trying to kidnap Clarice for different reasons.

Full of magic, faeries, and a few mythical beings, this is the ULTIMATE of Super Natural Romance books!

I really enjoyed this book. I must say that it doesn't fit the usual romance mold -- in bed by a certain page, etc. It is far more of a fantasy novel than a romance novel, but it has just enough romance -- a fun read for romance readers & fantasy readers alike. It's about a woman living in the early 1800s England. She's wealthy and has a devoted staff and devoted tenants on her land. She wanders one night and finds herself on a "tor" where a rider comes out of nowhere and rides off, she has not been seen by the rider, but is completely terrified of him. She is alternately attacked by a "dark rider" and protected by one who has been sent by the faeries to protect her. About half the book takes place in the faery world -- full of intrigue, danger, war. I won't say more because I don't want to destroy the story for anyone.

On balance, die-hard fantasy reader's will feel this is more romance than fantasy & die-hard romance fans will feel this is more fantasy than romance. All will have different take on this book. All in all though, this book was a lot of fun to read!

In 1800 at Hamford, Lady Clarice Stavely is happy that her best friend is getting married, but sad for herself because she knows how lonely she will be. Clarice has rejected several suitors that wanted her title and money. She wants a male to simply respect her, but after her one season in London Clarice believes that will never occur. Clarice has a couple of scary experiences in which she feels a person on a black horse is after her. She wonders if the Fay might be in the area.

Following the wedding party, everyone leaves Hamford. However, a new guest arrives. Author Dominic Knight plans to write a book on the relics in the area. Since he holds a letter of introduction from her brother-in-law Blaic Gardner, she allows Dominic to stay at her home in spite of propriety questions. Clarice doubts her guest is a writer and wonders what his true agenda is. Dominic is a mortal who works for Forgall, King of the People. His monarch assigns him the task of keeping Clarice safe during the upcoming civil war among the fairies. However, as they stay in close proximity, neither Dominic nor Clarice expected love to blossom.

MAGIC BY DAYLIGHT is a delightful otherworldly regency romance. The little tidbits that author Lynn Bailey blend into the subplots allow the readers an intimate taste of the Regency period and make the Fairy Kingdom seem genuine. The lead protagonists are an entertaining duo, but it is the support cast that provides layers of depth to support the complex story line. With novels like this one, Ms. Bailey will bring home former sub-genre fans while the current audience will clamor for more.

Harriet Klausner

Viscountess Clarice Stavely welcomed the man named Dominic Knight into her home. After all, he had a letter from her brother-in-law vouching for his identity and honor. He was supposed to be a writer who was in the area to write a book on the relics in Hamdry and the moors. In truth, he was under orders by the Fay King, himself, to keep an eye on Clarice.

The most I can tell you without revealing the surprises, yet to help you understand what this book is about and whether you would enjoy it, is that the Fay King needed Clarice as a pawn due to a war in the Fay world. Dominic was to be her jailer and guardian, because the King's enemy was trying to kidnap Clarice for different reasons.

Full of magic, faeries, and a few mythical beings, this is the ULTIMATE of Super Natural Romance books!

I liked the premise of this story, as with the rest in Ms. Bailey's series, but I felt that there was quite a bit lacking to make this a great read. That Clarice and Dominic are mortals in a Fey/fairy world was perfectly executed. Dominic's position in the fairy world is an interesting one and fits into the legend which we have all heard of fairies stealing children Clarice and Dominic are likable characters themselves, though many times I was confused as to what made each of them "tick".

Dominic was trained as a warrior and Ms. Bailey tries to show how this would leave him with a lack of emotions. In the beginning of the story this works well, but as he starts to have feelings for Clarice, I lost all understanding of his character. How did he fall in love with her? What made her so special that he started to have feeling, let alone act on them? In the "real world" they avoided each other a lot and did not spend much time together so how did this love grow?

A great anomaly to me was also Morgain's position in this book. Clarice relies heavily on her nephew (who is only 9 years old) and yet what was he doing there with her for such a long time? Why would Clarice's sister and Blaic leave Morgain in her care and for such a long period? He could conjure up all kinds of fantasy animals, have a map of the other world without ever having been there and do all of this mature stuff; yet besides the traveling scene, he had no real consequence to the story. He was written about so much in the first half of the book and then he disappears. Was he important or not?

This is definitely a fantasy romance and a fun read if you have read its predecessors, but do not expect too much.

Having read the first two books, I greatly looked forward to more stories of the family at Hamdry Manor as told by Lynne Bailey, but unfortunately Magic by Daylight was disappointing, perhaps just because the other two were so well-written. The story drags toward the middle and desperately calls out for more action and less pussy-footing around between Clarice and her "fairy" love. This was a good idea for a trilogy that just needed fewer pages.