Recently I received an advance reader’s copy (ARC) of the book, Wild Magic by author Ann Macela, from the online book community, IJustFinished.com. I was excited to open the package when it came in the mail because I love books and reading. Finding out that Wild Magic was a contemporary paranormal romance had me really excited because it’s one of my favorite genres.
Wild Magic is part of Ann Macela’s Magic series which I didn’t know when I first read it. In it, the world is similar to our own except there are people who regularly practice magic which the general populace is unaware of. There are people who are part of the magical community who are called Defenders and Swords, two different groups, and it is their job to protect the magical community and enforce its rules. Through touch, a Defender can give their magic powers to the Swords who are the elite magic police who must confiscate and destroy magic items that have been used for evil magic purposes. Basically the Defenders are the police detectives for the witches with the Swords being the most powerful of the police witches.
Wild Magic starts out with Irenee Sabel who is a Sword on an undercover job. Irenee is at the opulent party of wealthy suspect Alton Finster who is believed to be using an evil magic object for evil and illegal purposes. Irenee has cast a ‘don’t-notice-me’ spell on herself so she can sneak into Finster’s office safe to remove the evil magic object so that it can be destroyed.
While Irenee is in Finster’s office, a man, Jim Tylan comes in looking for Finster’s secret financial records. Jim Tylan is from the Department of Justice and Homeland Security who has been looking at Alton Finster and his cousin, Bruce Ubell for various crimes. They don’t know that Finster and Ubell are using magic to cover their crimes from regular law enforcement agencies.
In Finster’s office, Jim Tylan is surprised to see Irenee especially because she appears to be glowing as does her tote. A rug and hidden safe on the floor also seems to be glowing. Irenee is surprised that Jim can see her through her ‘don’t-notice-me’ spell and can see the safe that is hidden by magic also. Irenee and Jim realize that they are looking for the same thing, the hidden safe, and they each want something from inside it; the evil magic object and hidden financial records on computer flash drives so they cooperate and then part ways.
Irenee takes the evil magic object to the Defenders and Swords headquarters where she and the other Defenders and Swords destroy it. It takes a lot of power to destroy the evil magic object which turns out to be just a piece of a larger evil magic object, the Cataclysm Stone. When the evil magic object is destroyed, Alton Finster falls into a coma because he is so connected to the evil magic which leaves the evil Bruce Ubell in charge of the Finster financial empire.
Jim Tylan investigates the mysterious glowing woman and finds Irenee. The two are attracted to each other from the beginning but there are problems as Irenee explains about magic to Jim who has frequent “hunches” that help him with his job. He has a hard time believing in magic spells especially since he can see through any spell that Irenee casts. Which leads everyone (the Defenders and Swords) to find out that Jim is a “wild talent” which means that he is one of those humans who crop up now and then who are capable of using magic.
From this exciting beginning, Irenee and Jim are thrown together often as they try to find the rest of the evil magic object and stop Bruce Ubell. Irenee must practice to control and use the new magic powers that she gained when the first piece of the evil magic object was destroyed and Jim must learn to control and use his magic talent that he just discovered he had.
Jim and Irenee struggle with their attraction to each other especially when they find out that they are soul mates which is why Jim can see through Irenee’s magic spells. Their mutual attraction is pushed by the other members of the Defenders and Swords because if Jim and Irenee physically consummate their soul mate bond, their magic powers will likely increase which is needed to conquer the evil magic object and Bruce Ubell.
Wild Magic is the first book that I’ve read by author Ann Macela and probably won’t be my last. While I most likely won’t start to collect Ann Macela’s books to read and re-read again and again as I do with my absolute favorite authors books; Wild Magic was definitely an enjoyable read. There was plenty of action to the story which held my attention throughout. I enjoyed the use of magic and a world that includes magic “police.”
I liked Wild Magic’s strong female character lead, Irenee. She was smart, powerful and good at her job as a Sword. I didn’t like the male character, Jim, quite as much as I liked Irenee but he works for the story. I’m not a big fan of the ‘tortured man who has a tragic past and wants revenge on those who have done his family wrong’ role because it appears in so many books that I read.
I recommend Wild Magic for any reader who likes a paranormal romance that has a strong female character lead who can handle herself in dangerous situations and who can definitely help to overcome the bad guys when it’s needed.
Irenee Sabel is a good witch, but when undercover agent Jim Tylan serves her with an undisclosed search warrant from the Department of Justice and Hom...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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