Lani Diane Rich

What a fun book. I haven't read any of Ms. Rich before but I feel a glom coming on.

This is a light rom suspense. It has likeable characters, even a moppet that is not just a plot moppet. The 11-year-old girl acts/reacts as a child would in the situations she finds herself in (due to the actions of adults, not because she is just too too precious and finds herself in multiple cute situations). Her presence in the story adds depth and dimension.

These are "people" who would never meet each show more other if not for the subject of the "suspense." Their actions and interactions are believeable and fun.

The writing it polished and smooth. There are not plot holes that I could see, nothing just to move the story along. The arc is natural, not forced. While time in the story is not all that long, in their "lives" enough time has progressed that the HEA is not too, too soon. And yes, safe sex is practiced and referenced and it is done well and with humor so that makes it all the better in my eyes. show less

The author tried very hard to write a fun, whimsical romance with a little magic thrown in. There were cute and ballsy friends, funny little animals, and down to earth, yummy boys. In short, March is trying to be Jennifer Crusie (who endorses the novel on the back cover). Unfortunately, March is not Crusie.

Olive, a waitress stuck in a life rut, decides to bail out of town after she makes a pass at her best male friend and he rebuffs her. She plans to backpack around Europe and get away from show more her troubles. Problem is, she's a witch, and on the day she books her flight, an enigmatic woman pops into the waffle shop where Olive works, and unleashes Olive's latent witch power - apparently a brand of 'day magic' that lets Olive turn inanimate objects into animals (mug bunny, paper crane, trash can lid dog, etc.). Yes, we get it, quite whimsical. And now people want to kill Olive to steal this dubious power. To best them, she must band together with her besties, her would-be lover, and the gossipy old lady who runs the waffle shop. Are you charmed yet?

I might have been charmed if March had employed any character development. We never really understand why Olive loves Tobias, a guy who repeatedly brushes her off. Olive's friends really aren't that cool - a bossy, self-absorbed, diminutive gal named Peach who must be the center of attention; the mousey Millie; and trashy bombshell Stacey (who slept with Tobias - whoops!). Olive repeatedly stresses that she has to get away from her dead-end life, but the reader will find it hard to sympathize: Olive owns a giant Victorian gingerbread house (free and clear, all inherited), she enjoys her job, she doesn't have money problems, she likes her small-town life...aside from getting the brush off from a boy, what's to be bummed about? Most ladies don't turn their lives upside down every time a fella doesn't want to have sex with them.

And the magic...why do people want it? We don't really know. What kinds of other powers are there? We don't really find out. Who are the conjurers? Are they all evil? Are there evil witches? How do they come into power? We don't know, and by the end I really didn't care. From the modest amount of open-endedness, I assume the author is going to make this a series. If so, she'll have time to explain more plot points, but they aren't that interesting to being with.

In short, this novel just has too much filler. The characters are never drawn fully enough to care about them, and no one seems to have particularly good motivation for doing anything. If I'm going to consume the literary equivalent of trans fat, I at least want to feel like it was worth it. A Little Night Magic was a bad muffin. show less

This book wasn't bad. It wasn't as good as I expected a book from these writers to be, but it wasn't bad. It zipped along merrily like all good frivolous entertainment should, and it had some good comic moments. I liked the characters, even if they were a bit two-dimensional. I read the book in an afternoon, and forewent half of my evening meal because I didn't have time to cook and finish the book before I had to go out. I enjoyed it, especially the second half.

But...

It didn't hang show more together well. It didn't come together as a collaboration, didn't have a single, consistent voice. In places, you could almost see the joins. The plot also seemed to have whacking big holes; suddenly days or weeks had gone by without a mention, which was disconcerting, and it was hard to keep track of what was currently happening in the villain's plans for world domination.

And there were too many main characters and too many dogs. I don't mind the dogs, but if I have to keep track of three heroines, three heroes, three (grand)mothers, several different sets of mystical powers, two or three ancient and warring deities, an evil minion and several acolytes, I can't keep track of seven dogs as well. It's too much.

In addition, too many of these main characters had prominent roles right from the beginning. It was a good hundred pages before I could get each goddess matched up to her hero, her (grand)mother and her dog in my mind without having to stop and think, 'wait, who is this one again?' By page 200, I had the hang of most of the acolytes and mystical powers, too. The second half of the book was a lot easier to read than the first, and I think that a lot of the confusing stuff will become clearer if I give it a second read-through. Giving it a second read-through will not be a hardship - but it shouldn't be necessary

In summary - a decent read, but not as good as it ought to have been.

UPDATE: It was indeed easier to keep track of everyone the second time around, even with nearly six years between readings. But while I enjoyed reading it again, my previous criticisms still stand. show less

Freya has been sent from Boston by her CEO father to close a real estate deal on an Idaho campground that is being run by Nate Brody, a Cincinnati chef. She discovers that the deal is impossible to close even though the offer is incredibly more than the campground is worth. Nate has to fulfill his promise to his deceased father before he can sell the campground and move back to Cincinnati. Nate has a daughter whose mother run out on them. It's a light read that provides an escape for a few show more hours. I wanted to wash out the mouths of some of the characters with soap from time to time. show less