Customer Reviews

Wicked Charms

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have enjoyed the author's previous books "A Falcon's Heart" and "This Dangerous Magic" but I just could not like this one. The Middle Ages is one of my favorite periods, especially when the author is able to convey a feeling of realism to the story. This was not the case for "Wicked Charms." The hero was too arrogant and narcissistic to be likable, while the heroine, was too cought up in her own "made up" problems to really make an impact. Also, the fact that she sounded like a modern woman made it difficult to imagine she was actually from the 12th century. I was never able to get into this book, barely finishing it. If you are a fan of Bertrice Small, Patricia Ryan, or Elizabeth Chadwick; SKIP this one.

like the other reviewer-the "hero" of this book threw me off it-I quit about 60 pages in.

A truly unlikeable male lead. This knight, who is also of wizard blood-is vain, arrogant, controlling and cruel. He has no problem with going to Scotland, taking over a castle, nearly killing three young boys when he first gets there, threatening to hang any scottish person who vandalizes his property, throwing out the dead crusaders betrothed and her toddler-until he sees her, of course, then he decides he'll keep her around for a "tup", then, in his words, send her on her way!?!

I like reading medievels-and do not mind the knight who must be hard on the battlefield. But everyone wants a knight to be honorable off it-and this one definately not.

1 star for a slew of truly unlikeable characters that make this book pretty much unreadable for me.

I feel in love with "Willie" in This Dangerous Magic. He was so cute with his magical abilities, so naturally I loved "William" Aiden Brinlaw as an adult and his Dragon abilities. Evelyn was so deserving of her true love after all of her hardships in her life and her horrible sister. It seemed that she was not going to get it as he was betrothed to the king's sister. I couldn't put it down.

In 1180 twelve years old William Aiden Brinlaw knows he disappoints his father because males don't do magic though he has power. Thus William decides to become a knight. He visits the Spirit of the Cave to tell her of his decision, but she scoffs at his denial insisting the first wizard in a thousand generations should be proud of his magical prowess before imbedding a dragon onto William's skin.

Sixteen years later, William, who calls himself Aiden, is to marry Prince John's sister Katherine if he wins back Glencairn for the English. The castle is in independent Scotland, but its English lord just died in the Crusades. At Glencairn, Aiden finds a major surprise when he meets Mistress Evelyn and her infant son sired by the previous lord. An even greater surprise comes when Aiden falls in love with this enchantress who reciprocates his deepest feelings. However, love may not prove strong enough as John will have something violent to say and the Scots including her three nephews want the usurper either out of the country or dead.

Fans of deep medieval romances with a touch of fantasy elements will appreciate this delightful twelfth century tale. The story line grips the audience due to the embattled lead couple. Evelyn is intrepid and intelligent while Aiden is a unique protagonist with a neurotic belief he can never live up to his sire (or his older brother) due to his wizardry abilities though he occasionally makes use of magic. He makes the tale special and fun as he adds interesting elements on top of what would be a typical period romance.

Harriet Klausner