A review by daychaser
Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas

2.5

Is it time to hang up my hat on Lisa Kleypas books? Unfortunately this one did not work for me. I read it as people compared the tropes to Judith McNaught's Paradise, an all-time favorite of mine, and while the tropes were similar, the characters felt way too generic and archetypal which left me totally emotionally disconnected.

There's also just way too much melodrama, which I know is par for the course in romancelandia but the motivations never balance it out.

The heroine, Aline, is infuriating. Her whole reason for keeping McKenna away is that she doesn't think he will love her due to scars on her legs she got from a bad (nearly fatal) burn. I get being sensitive and worried about this but this mans has shown that he would move HEAVEN and EARTH for her and for the entire book she keeps him away because she thinks he won't like her anymore because of her legs. OMG this was so frustrating I can't like this mans was 50 shades of obsessed and she was torturing McKenna and herself and FOR WHAT

Aside from that (which was what basically the entire plot hinged on and was the main driver of my apathy for this book) McKenna's revenge was pretty weak too- both the reasons for it and the execution of it. I wanted angst and REVENGE, not some watered down pining.

Additionally the spice was tedious.

I actually didn't mind the side-romance since I was so annoyed with the main romance so at least there was a glimmer of something.

Very mediocre. Didn't give. Where's the lamb sauce