Spellbinder: A Love Story With Magical Interruptions

by Melanie Rawn

Book Overview

There is magic in the big city literally. New York City has a small, and by preference discrete, population of witches and wizards who live and love and go dancing just like everyone else. Holly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765354365
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Tor Fantasy
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.7" x 1.1" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful

This was another great book by Rawn. I only wish she wrote more books.

A pleasant surprise

After finishing this book, I am no longer upset it wasn't the third book in the Mage Captal trilogy. Wow, what a fun and pleasant change in general writing subjects. This cast of characters could easily generate tons of new novels about their adventures. I still can't wait for the next book set in Ambrai, but more about this group would be very welcome as well.

Love and Magic

Spellbinder (2006) is a singleton Urban Fantasy novel. The cover says it is a love story with magical interruptions. The love story is both lusty and stormy, between two Irish with terrible tempers and different backgrounds. She is a Witch and he is a mundane, yet he accepts her magical abilities in much the same way that he embraces her musical talents. Holly Elizabeth McClure is a Virginian from the hills and woods of the Blue Ridge country. Magic runs in her family; dozens of her aunts, uncles and cousins are also Witches. She is a Spellbinder, whose blood enhances the spells of others. Her rare talent was discovered at the age of ten, when a vampire tried to make her one of the undead so that he could use her blood forever. Evan Liam Lacklan is a Deputy Marshal in the United States Marshals Service. A former NYPD officer, he is the son of a beat cop who never got promoted higher. Still, Daniel Lacklan has friends and they got Evan his current job protecting Elias Bradshaw, a federal judge in New York City. In this novel, Susannah Wingfield was a close friend to Holly in college. She now works in Bradshaw's office and introduces Holly to the other staff members as an article writer doing research. After interviewing everyone else, Holly finally reaches Evan, a six foot four hunk with ostrich-hide cowboy boots. By the end of the first week, they have become lovers. The initial disruption comes when Bradshaw casually shows Evan a New York Times Book Review on Holly's latest bestselling novel. Evan gets very upset when he finds that Holly is making much more money than him. After a short sulk, Evan accepts the situation and everything returns to passionately normal. Then another disruption occurs when Evan is fired from his job for punching Flaming Fleming in the stomach (to protect him from probable assassination). He pushes Holly away so that he can work out the problem on his own. In the following year, Evan finds that the memory of Holly is always with him; she is part of his soul. In this story, Alec and Nick, Holly's honorary uncles, accost Evan and Holly in a restaurant and invite themselves to dinner. Eventually, Nick reports the suspicious usage of his former bookstore. Holly visits the store and finds that it has been converted to an occult shop, with a rather complete inventory. Holly initially thinks that the store is quite humorous in a way. She meets Noel, the shopkeeper, browses the shelves and then buys a book of satanic fairytales for children. Later she reconsiders, reporting the store to Bradshaw, the Magistrate of New York City (and Environs). Denise Claudine Josphe gets her Measure taken by Holly and Ian on orders from Bradshaw. She is very upset, especially when she starts to forget key aspects of her magic. She visits an occult shop where she has shopped before and meets Noel, who suggests a few embellishments to the Voudon spell she is preparing. Flaming Fleming is a nondenominational fanati

Unexpectedly pleased

I took the opposite tact as the other reviewer coming into this one, thinking we were getting a less than par book in order to please the masses. Instead I got a book that I was happy to have read, one that evoked emotion. Granted, the book did take a little getting used to, as well as the fact that the book, through the first 100 pages, seemed to be nothing more than a love story with some magic. You come to find that this is necessary in order to develop the rest of the story and make the plot more believable. As I said above, on several occasions Rawn was able to evoke emotion, which is what I remember from reading her Exiles series. On a technical note, I don't quite understand why a different font in italics was used so much. It is hard to concentrate on and at times distracts from the story. This isn't to say that italics are bad, only that the different semi-cursive font in italics was a poor editing choice. I am glad that Rawn was able to return to her writing after such a long sabbatical, and even more happy that she was able to tackle her depression and come out ahead, judging by this book. But I sure hope she will continue writing Exiles and the Captal's Tower. 4 stars.

Another amazing piece of magic from Melanie!

I love Melanie Rawn. Not just for her books; as a person, she has shown remarkable strength and integrity in her life, conquering things that have felled lesser people, and battling illnesses that would have crippled some writers. She is amazing. And this book, Spellbinder, in my opinion is her crowning glory. Filled to the brim with emotion, magic, and the very stuff of life, this book is a brilliant achievement for Melanie: a seamless mesh of modern witchcraft and contemporary fantasy fiction, a rich tapestry of joy and sorrow, success and failure, learning and experience. Her protagonist, Holly, is one that many can empathize with: a strong independent woman who, burdened by a frightening gift, continues to press on, living fully and richly without apology, despite the many threats and dangers which surround her. And Melanie's other characters, especially the love interest Evan, are full of depth and intensity, and are (pardon the pun) completely spellbinding. Truly, Melanie has a gift for storytelling, bringing her readers right into the world she has created. As a practicing witch AND a fantasy fan, I am a very avid collector of witchcraft and magic fiction. Too often I have been disappointed with books that fall flat, with weak storylines or plots based around battles between good and evil, where the fundamental differences of opinion are never really clear. Too many "men in black shirts" who are twisted and dark with no explanation as to why, and too many "men in white shirts" with spotless gleaming hearts, untouched by the shadow of the world. Completely unrealistic. Not so at all with Spellbinder. This book is definitely a keeper. I never buy hardcover books; my budget won't stretch that far. I bought this one without a thought. Thank you, Melanie. You truly are a wordsmith of great talent and skill.