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witandsin's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted on Joyfully Reviewed: http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/reviews/Nov09/lacedwithmagic.bb.html
Things are finally going right for Chloe Hobbs. Her latent sorceress powers have finally kicked in, she saved her town from being pulled beyond the mist, she banished the power-hungry Fae leader, Isadora, and best of all, she’s in love with Luke Mackenzie, the town’s chief of police and only resident full-blooded human. But Chloe’s bubble of happiness is popped when Luke’s ex-wife, Karen, shows up in Sugar Maple, claiming the spirit of Steffie, their dead daughter, is in trouble. Despite wishing Karen a thousand miles away, not to mention the shock of learning Luke had a daughter, Chloe can’t leave Steffie’s spirit in danger. Turns out, Chloe’s old nemesis, Isadora, is the one holding Steffie’s spirit hostage and will only release her if Chloe undoes her banishment. It’s up to Chloe to rescue Steffie’s spirit, save her town and her relationship with Luke before Isadora destroys all three.
Action, danger, and a surfeit of magic blend together as things take a dark turn in this sequel to Casting Spells. Laced with Magic is even more engrossing than its predecessor, though the joy and energy that came from the first book is markedly lessened by the desperate situation the characters are in. Chloe and Luke remain incredibly likeable as, to my surprise, was Karen. These three endeared themselves to me in part because of Barbara Bretton’s use of the first person. The story switches from each of their perspectives (clearly labeled, which I appreciate), giving me a more intimate inroad to their thoughts. Because of my attachment to these characters, I couldn’t put Laced with Magic down because I wanted to see everything work out for them.
I was delighted to return to the town of Sugar Maple once more in Laced with Magic. Chloe’s store, Stick & Strings, continues to be a knitter’s dream, and the town itself a fascinating one. The other residents of Sugar Maple, from faeries to vampires, werewolves, and so forth remain interesting, but I am sad to report they are less likeable than in Casting Spells. Still, I was captivated by Laced with Magic and, given the cliffhanger Ms. Bretton ends the story with, am on the edge of my seat for the next Sugar Maple book.
Things are finally going right for Chloe Hobbs. Her latent sorceress powers have finally kicked in, she saved her town from being pulled beyond the mist, she banished the power-hungry Fae leader, Isadora, and best of all, she’s in love with Luke Mackenzie, the town’s chief of police and only resident full-blooded human. But Chloe’s bubble of happiness is popped when Luke’s ex-wife, Karen, shows up in Sugar Maple, claiming the spirit of Steffie, their dead daughter, is in trouble. Despite wishing Karen a thousand miles away, not to mention the shock of learning Luke had a daughter, Chloe can’t leave Steffie’s spirit in danger. Turns out, Chloe’s old nemesis, Isadora, is the one holding Steffie’s spirit hostage and will only release her if Chloe undoes her banishment. It’s up to Chloe to rescue Steffie’s spirit, save her town and her relationship with Luke before Isadora destroys all three.
Action, danger, and a surfeit of magic blend together as things take a dark turn in this sequel to Casting Spells. Laced with Magic is even more engrossing than its predecessor, though the joy and energy that came from the first book is markedly lessened by the desperate situation the characters are in. Chloe and Luke remain incredibly likeable as, to my surprise, was Karen. These three endeared themselves to me in part because of Barbara Bretton’s use of the first person. The story switches from each of their perspectives (clearly labeled, which I appreciate), giving me a more intimate inroad to their thoughts. Because of my attachment to these characters, I couldn’t put Laced with Magic down because I wanted to see everything work out for them.
I was delighted to return to the town of Sugar Maple once more in Laced with Magic. Chloe’s store, Stick & Strings, continues to be a knitter’s dream, and the town itself a fascinating one. The other residents of Sugar Maple, from faeries to vampires, werewolves, and so forth remain interesting, but I am sad to report they are less likeable than in Casting Spells. Still, I was captivated by Laced with Magic and, given the cliffhanger Ms. Bretton ends the story with, am on the edge of my seat for the next Sugar Maple book.
hisaacson's review against another edition
4.0
Full review at:
http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/2009/11/laced-with-magic.html
http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/2009/11/laced-with-magic.html
wordnerdy's review against another edition
3.0
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2017/01/2017-book-12.html
The second Sugar Maple book was kind of a bummer after its predecessor! Sure, there's plenty of knitting and magic and magical knitting, but the plot hinges on the ghost of a dead child being trapped and tortured! And the author seems to think it resolves nice and neatly but I thought the end was kind of messed up. I mean, it's still a somewhat silly cozy fantasy type story and I did read it in one sitting, but man, seriously. Not a cheerful outing in this series. B.
The second Sugar Maple book was kind of a bummer after its predecessor! Sure, there's plenty of knitting and magic and magical knitting, but the plot hinges on the ghost of a dead child being trapped and tortured! And the author seems to think it resolves nice and neatly but I thought the end was kind of messed up. I mean, it's still a somewhat silly cozy fantasy type story and I did read it in one sitting, but man, seriously. Not a cheerful outing in this series. B.
bookwyrmknits's review against another edition
This has the potential to be a good book (and I did really enjoy the first in the series) but it is just not what I'm in the mood to read right now and so this is not a good time for me to be reading it.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
carolsnotebook's review against another edition
3.0
I love that Chloe embraces both sides of her background in this book, she is both human and a sorceress. She’s still learning her powers which provide some laugh out loud moments, like when Luke ends up the size of a Ken doll. Luke is amazing to me, willing to stand beside Chloe in the face of things he can’t even begin to understand. That’s true love. In a romance, the hero and heroine are most important to me, and I adore these two.
Their relationship does have some rough spots, which is to be expected given the circumstances. I thought the way they struggled through was realistic. The sparks aren’t always there, but they never abandon each other. They’re a couple that simply belong together, which makes me smile.
This one deals with magic a lot, between Chloe’s growing powers, the town’s dilemna and the Fae leader’s goals. Having a human around complicates things. Luke knows the town’s secrets but his ex-wife doesn’t and the townspeople want to keep it that way, no matter what they need to do to accomplish that.
On a side note, one of my favorite characters from Casting Spells was back, causing mischief, but once again there to help Chloe when she needs it. I doubted we’d see him again, but thankfully I was wrong.
I’ll be looking forward to the next installment. I have to admit I’m still hoping for the happily ever after.
Their relationship does have some rough spots, which is to be expected given the circumstances. I thought the way they struggled through was realistic. The sparks aren’t always there, but they never abandon each other. They’re a couple that simply belong together, which makes me smile.
This one deals with magic a lot, between Chloe’s growing powers, the town’s dilemna and the Fae leader’s goals. Having a human around complicates things. Luke knows the town’s secrets but his ex-wife doesn’t and the townspeople want to keep it that way, no matter what they need to do to accomplish that.
On a side note, one of my favorite characters from Casting Spells was back, causing mischief, but once again there to help Chloe when she needs it. I doubted we’d see him again, but thankfully I was wrong.
I’ll be looking forward to the next installment. I have to admit I’m still hoping for the happily ever after.
bibliocatts's review against another edition
2.0
You really have to be a knitter to get all of the references.
rebeccasreadingrambles's review against another edition
4.0
Another great book in this series. Again, really a "mystery" here, other than solving problems and learning more about the towns history / Isadora's plan. This one was full of emotion and dark powers and romance. Poor Chloe has so much on her plate I can't imagine dealing with it all. There are some very big choices to be made in this book, about love, about fate, about choosing a town over a child, etc. It was really well done and easy to read. The characters are interesting and I'm looking forward to see more and maybe even learning more about them. I thought there was so way in heck this all works out and I can't wait to read more of this series.
Spoiler
I loved the ending. Even though Karen died, she was reunited with her child and that's all that mattered to her. And Chloe and Luke are going to hopefully stay together in Sugar Maple. Yay! Except.....Sugar Maple is gone. What a great cliffhanger!arcookson's review against another edition
2.0
Not as good as Casting Spells. I found the "how committed is he is ex is back" plot trite and boring. I didn't like the narrative switching from Chole to Luke to his ex, Karen. I think the story suffers because of the switching perspectives.
imbookingit's review against another edition
4.0
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 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.
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 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.
quinnster's review against another edition
3.0
The jumping around between Chloe and Karen was confusing at times! Especially when things were moving along quickly and things were already slightly confusing as it was, but I still enjoyed it. I do wish there was a bit more interaction with the residents in Sugar Maple since they're always fun.