Laced with Magic

LACED WITH MAGIC by Barbara Bretton was a beautifully light tale of magic and romance. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I picked up LACED WITH MAGIC, but this book exceeded that. The story was fantastic, the suspense full and captivating, and to top it all off the romance was completely delicious. If you’re looking for a good Romance with a nice touch of magic, LACED WITH MAGIC is it.Readers were first introduced to Chloe, part sorceress and knit shop owner, in Bretton’s first book, Casting Spells. Now, in LACED WITH MAGIC we find Chloe still managing her knit shop and her romantic relationship with the hunky Officer Luke. If only he weren’t a human, life would be so much easier! Finally accustomed to Chloe’s fits of show more magic, Luke has managed to find a place for himself in the magical town of Sugar Maple. Many accept him, some tolerate him. Regardless of their feelings about Luke, all want him to hurry up and get Chloe pregnant already. Chloe’s ancestors are the key to upholding the spell that protect Sugar Maple and if Chloe leaves the realm without providing a female heir to carry on the protection, Sugar Maple will be lost.With pressure growing to protect the town, Chloe has a lot on her plate and really doesn’t need any more. Of course, right at that point we meet Karen, Luke’s ex-wife. Spouting stories of hearing her dead daughter’s voice on her cell phone and seeing her in the playground, Karen hunts Luke down and pleads for his help. Anyone that has experienced a new relationship will know that having the focus of the old relationship in close proximity usually leads to some form of drama. Chloe and Karen certainly don’t disappoint. While the three try to figure out the relationships among them, a darker force is gaining power in Sugar Maple. If Chloe can’t gain control of her powers and banish this force forever, Sugar Maple will surely fall.Bretton wrote a really fantastic story. This isn’t necessarily an epic story or a dark thriller. I wouldn’t place it with Lord of the Rings although the magic and romance do come close at some points. LACED WITH MAGIC is different in that it isn’t very dark. The book has a very light, ethereal quality to it. Perhaps it’s the way Bretton instilled humor in the form of Chloe and her magical mishaps, or Karen and her fairly bratty attitude. Maybe it’s the way she gives all of her characters some sort of realistic quality. Midge the vampire is short and chubby with a perm that might make you cringe. Bretton creates a world where although it is highly magical and supernatural, we could actually visualize driving through on a quiet Sunday morning and being none the wiser. The characters in LACED WITH MAGIC were just wonderful and really helped to make the book something special. LACED WITH MAGIC is riddled with suspense and tension and could easily have become dark and bogged down. Instead, the characters kept the feel of the book fairly upbeat and added life to the story. These are characters that I would love to know. Normally, a story is a story and although I may get a ton of enjoyment out of it, it’s still just a great story written by a talented author. In this case, I fell in love with Bretton’s characters. It’s obvious that Bretton puts a lot of love into her writing and developing her characters. From just having read LACED WITH MAGIC and experiencing Bretton’s storytelling, I would immediately and without question pick up any of Bretton’s other past or future works.Finally, I love how Bretton instilled the book with knitting tidbits. Chloe owns the knit shop and is a voracious knitter so Bretton does throw quite a few knitting terms out there. Although I have only dabbled at knitting and crocheting myself, it’s obvious that Bretton knows her stuff. I would warn readers however, I had to look up some of the knitting terms that Bretton uses. If you don’t know what she’s talking about, it’s not really going to affect the story much so I wouldn’t let it detract you from giving the book a try.Fair warning time: There are a few adult themes and adult scenes. Bretton doesn’t really describe too many body parts so I would give this a sensuality rating of 3.5.LACED WITH MAGIC has to earn top marks. The story was wonderfully constructed and the characters made the whole thing lift up off the page. I think the best way for me to describe LACED WITH MAGIC would be to say that it is a stroke of sparkly, brilliantly colored paint on a black background. The story stands out and in a world of intense Paranormal Romances it brightens the field with its lighter nature. show less

LACED WITH MAGIC by Barbara Bretton was a beautifully light tale of magic and romance. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I picked up LACED WITH MAGIC, but this book exceeded that. The story was fantastic, the suspense full and captivating, and to top it all off the romance was completely delicious. If you’re looking for a good Romance with a nice touch of magic, LACED WITH MAGIC is it.

Readers were first introduced to Chloe, part sorceress and knit shop owner, in Bretton’s first book, Casting Spells. Now, in LACED WITH MAGIC we find Chloe still managing her knit shop and her romantic relationship with the hunky Officer Luke. If only he weren’t a human, life would be so much easier! Finally accustomed to Chloe’s fits of show more magic, Luke has managed to find a place for himself in the magical town of Sugar Maple. Many accept him, some tolerate him. Regardless of their feelings about Luke, all want him to hurry up and get Chloe pregnant already. Chloe’s ancestors are the key to upholding the spell that protect Sugar Maple and if Chloe leaves the realm without providing a female heir to carry on the protection, Sugar Maple will be lost.

With pressure growing to protect the town, Chloe has a lot on her plate and really doesn’t need any more. Of course, right at that point we meet Karen, Luke’s ex-wife. Spouting stories of hearing her dead daughter’s voice on her cell phone and seeing her in the playground, Karen hunts Luke down and pleads for his help. Anyone that has experienced a new relationship will know that having the focus of the old relationship in close proximity usually leads to some form of drama. Chloe and Karen certainly don’t disappoint. While the three try to figure out the relationships among them, a darker force is gaining power in Sugar Maple. If Chloe can’t gain control of her powers and banish this force forever, Sugar Maple will surely fall.

Bretton wrote a really fantastic story. This isn’t necessarily an epic story or a dark thriller. I wouldn’t place it with Lord of the Rings although the magic and romance do come close at some points. LACED WITH MAGIC is different in that it isn’t very dark. The book has a very light, ethereal quality to it. Perhaps it’s the way Bretton instilled humor in the form of Chloe and her magical mishaps, or Karen and her fairly bratty attitude. Maybe it’s the way she gives all of her characters some sort of realistic quality. Midge the vampire is short and chubby with a perm that might make you cringe. Bretton creates a world where although it is highly magical and supernatural, we could actually visualize driving through on a quiet Sunday morning and being none the wiser.

The characters in LACED WITH MAGIC were just wonderful and really helped to make the book something special. LACED WITH MAGIC is riddled with suspense and tension and could easily have become dark and bogged down. Instead, the characters kept the feel of the book fairly upbeat and added life to the story. These are characters that I would love to know. Normally, a story is a story and although I may get a ton of enjoyment out of it, it’s still just a great story written by a talented author. In this case, I fell in love with Bretton’s characters. It’s obvious that Bretton puts a lot of love into her writing and developing her characters. From just having read LACED WITH MAGIC and experiencing Bretton’s storytelling, I would immediately and without question pick up any of Bretton’s other past or future works.

Finally, I love how Bretton instilled the book with knitting tidbits. Chloe owns the knit shop and is a voracious knitter so Bretton does throw quite a few knitting terms out there. Although I have only dabbled at knitting and crocheting myself, it’s obvious that Bretton knows her stuff. I would warn readers however, I had to look up some of the knitting terms that Bretton uses. If you don’t know what she’s talking about, it’s not really going to affect the story much so I wouldn’t let it detract you from giving the book a try.

Fair warning time: There are a few adult themes and adult scenes. Bretton doesn’t really describe too many body parts so I would give this a sensuality rating of 3.5.

LACED WITH MAGIC has to earn top marks. The story was wonderfully constructed and the characters made the whole thing lift up off the page. I think the best way for me to describe LACED WITH MAGIC would be to say that it is a stroke of sparkly, brilliantly colored paint on a black background. The story stands out and in a world of intense Paranormal Romances it brightens the field with its lighter nature. show less

I put down my dystopian novel because I thought that the world was a bit stressful and unpredictable, and I could do with something lighter. This was a fun story that gave me a few laughs. However, it also contained a very bizarrely placed and really bad sex scene. I would like to request that no author ever uses the word "shaft" in a sex scene again. I felt like Barbara Bretton suddenly remembered that she needed to include another sex scene in the book, wrote it in two minutes, and just randomly inserted into the story. Perhaps her editor rang her at half past four on a Friday and said, "I need a sex scene by the end of the day!"

Content warning: dead child

Chloe has found her Prince Charming in Luke. She believes that they will grow old together, living happily ever after. But when his ex-wife, Karen, shows up and announces that Luke had a daughter, Steffie, who died, Chloe is literally thrown for a loop. How could Luke not tell her about this? After all, she confided in him that she's a witch in training and lives in a town full of non-humans.

Circumstances beyond anyone's control keep Karen in town and in Chloe's house. As the two women get to know each other, they learn that they are kindred spirits. Not only have both women loved Luke, they also share a knitting passion.

At first when Karen says that Steffie was the one who sent her to find Luke, both Chloe and Luke think Karen might show more have a screw loose. It soon becomes clear that Chloe's banished enemy is holding Steffie's ghost hostage.

Barbara has a wonderful sense of humor and it shows with the characters she creates. Not only do I want to befriend some of the characters in her book (and knock a few others upside their heads), I want to move to Sugar Maple... A breezy yet satisfying read. show less

I read this book without reading the first book in the series, and now I regret it. The author did a very good job of filling the reader in on everything that happened, so now I'm torn. On the one hand, I enjoyed this book so much that I'd like to go see what happened before. On the other hand, I feel like I already know what is going to happen.This was a really fun read. I don't have a lot of experience with paranormal romances-- the only ones that I've read before are by Nora Roberts, because she does a little of everything. (Well, and then there is [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41DcKN0STkL._SL75_.jpg|3212258]...)I think this is on the less edgy side of the paranormal show more genre, in some ways being a supernatural cozy mystery as much as a romance. Only the fact that we know very early on who is the troublemaker keeps me from wanting to cast it that way. Yes, the book focuses on the relationship between Chloe and Luke, but their relationship feeds the plot, rather than the other way around.I think a strength of this book is in the world it sets up-- I enjoyed the details, from the yarn store to the vampires that have given up the old ways. I enjoyed the characters (including the cat!). The plot was interesting. I liked how the chapters skipped back and forth between Chloe (lead character, sorceress), Luke (love interest, human) and Karen (Luke's ex-wife, human, drawn into the story by a series of phone calls from their dead daughter).I'll be checking out more of Barbara Bretton's books. show less

I really liked the approach to the old love meets new love--nicely non-cliched. Not as fond of the cliff-hanger ending.

Bonus points: you can tell that Bretton is a knitter herself in the way she adds in correct knitting terminology. I really appreciate that aspect of this series a LOT.