by Garthia Anderson

Love Spell, March, 2003.
Paperback, 309 pages.
ISBN: 0505525372
Subgenre: Paranormal

In an alternate reality Seattle, magic is perfectly normal. Wizards and sorceresses run magical consulting businesses and have unions. People who have no magical ability whatsoever, like Petra Field, are actually rare. Petra's parents are magical, and teach at a prestigious university. So when Petra finds magical, permanent bloodstains on her new rug, she calls for a wizard to fix it. A handsome green-robed man calling himself Vorador from Emerald Renaissance Garments is one of the wizards who answers her call. Vorador informs her that the bloodstain is the result of a violent crime and cannot be removed until the crime has been solved and the victim put to rest. Vorador attempts to fix the stain, but Petra has an unfortunate effect on wizards, and the spell backfires, leaving a hole to another dimension in her floor. Vorador decides to stick around to solve the murder mystery -- and to spend more time with the attractive woman who makes his magic and his heart go haywire every time she's around.

Spellbound in Seattle immediately throws the reader into a sexy, madcap comedy that is as entertaining as it is outrageous. Normally, it's best that a book start right in on the action, and leave the back story for later. But this is one case that proves the exception. The magical world is quite interesting, really, but it's confusing. A bit of explanation at the beginning of the book as to how the wizardry was discovered and how magic was eventually integrated into modern society would have been very helpful. But, that minor quibble aside, Garthia Anderson has a charming style and a good handle on dialogue. This is a series that has much potential.

Spellbound in Seattle is available for purchase on Amazon.com

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This review was published in the June-July, 2003 of The Internet Writing Journal.

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