Magic Man (Signet Eclipse) [Paperback]

Patricia Rice (Author)

Book Description

Series: Signet Eclipse | Publication Date: July 5, 2006

For Aidan Dougal, intimacy is impossible and marriage out of the question. Even asking for help is beyond him...until a wily enemy forces him to accept assistance from a gentle young woman whose delicate beauty and strange enchantments turn his cool composure into red-hot passion.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Patricia Rice's historicals are deliciously fresh, sexy, and fun. -- Mary Jo Putney

Rice has a magical touch for creating fascinating plots, delicious romance, and delightful characters. -- Booklist

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Signet (July 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451218965
• ISBN-13: 978-0451218964
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #918,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!, August 4, 2006

By 

Missouri Romance Writers of America (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magic Man (Signet Eclipse) (Paperback)

Reviewed by Regan Loyd

Because of his propensity for causing earthquakes and other natural calamities with powers he denies exist, Aidan Dougal isolates himself, fearing he is a danger to others. After a greedy neighbor with a preferential inheritance to his sues for ownership of his property, Aidan must find a way to save his tenants and estate from a perilous plan to destroy the land mining for coal.

After a fire killed her mother--but not her mother's voice in her head--Mora Abbott was adopted as a child by a vicar and his wife and trained in patience, prudence, and practicality. When both her adopted parents die, Mora must leave the vicarage to research the recently revealed names on the frontispiece of her only remaining family heirloom, a spellbook, in hopes of finding a new home.

When Mora starts receiving warnings of imminent danger to unidentified people, she must follow mysterious instructions on paper and in her head in order to save them. When his itchy nose leads him to Mora, Aidan gets drawn into her quest while coming to terms with a nature he denies and a family he dares not claim lest he destroy them.

Magic Man presents two portraits of self-acceptance in the face of sacrifices just to belong. This intelligent finale to the six book series is a mystery of genealogy and family journals, righting the wrongs of forefathers, and the power men and women create together. Rice cleverly weaves together a complicated plot into a fast-paced, pleasant paranormal (lite) mystery. Although Rice saved the best for last, I am sorry to see the "Magic" series end because there are other characters I'd like to read about. I can only hope those characters eventually receive an executive pardon and come out to play at a later date.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars last of the series, December 2, 2008

By 

D. K. Stokes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Magic Man (Signet Eclipse) (Paperback)

Finally! Aidan's story! I've been waiting for this for a while.

Aidan has been the mysterious relative of the Malcolms--or is it the Iveses--throughout this historical romance series about two families with magical gifts. He has a habit of coming to the characters' aid and then disappearing, always disparaging those magical gifts and denying any suggestion that he might have gifts of his own.

And that's how we find him at the beginning of Magic Man--minding his own business, until he's summoned to the aid of the Malcolms, and the itch on his nose leads him straight to their visitor, Mora, who's being attacked by brigands.

Mora, for her part, would love to have magical gifts, but doesn't believe she does. Still, when her adoptive parents dies and she'll have to leave her home, she sees no harm in trying A Spelle for Trubble in the Journal of Lessons her mother left her.

The answer to her troubles comes in the form of an invitation to stay at the Malcolms' country estate, and the man who saves her from attack, and who seems to be able to make the earth move--literally.

Aidan is also on the verge of losing his home to a greedy aunt who insists his illegitimacy makes him ineligible to inherit. Making matters worse, she intends to expand her coal mine, destroying the homes of his tenants.

As he searches for some other heir or some way to protect his land and people, it becomes more and more difficult to deny his heritage and his magical gifts, particularly with Mora around, who's developing gifts of her own, and also discovering her own heritage.

While I enjoyed the magic/paranormal aspects of the story, what made it exceptional for me was the characters and their romance. Both Aidan and Mora are complex characters, and both are dealing with similar issues, though from different angles. They're both dealing with a loss of their homes, a lack of family, and the possibility of magic talents. And just as their magic talents complement each other, so do their family and home issues, making Magic Man satisfying both emotionally--because I cared about the characters, and intellectually--because the story fit together so completely.

Unfortunately, Magic Man is the last of the series. I'm going to miss the Malcolms and the Iveses, but kudos to Ms. Rice for not drawing a series out until it gets dull. I'm going to have to check out her other books--in my experience, a talent like this for characterization and satisfying romance plots carries over to other sub-genres.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely a "keeper", July 11, 2007

By 

P. Wittorf "bookaholic" (Picayune, MS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Magic Man (Signet Eclipse) (Paperback)

The only problem with Patricia Rice's "Magic" series is that she can't write them fast enough. I was eagerly awaiting Aidan's story from the time he was first introduced and I was not disappointed with his story. I have all six in the series and have read all of them at least twice.