Enchanted No More by Robin D. Owens
Trade: $14.95
Harlequin-Luna (January 2011)
ISBN: 9780373803231
Favorite Line: “My family needed you and you failed them.” (p. 23)
Jenni Weaver left the magic community after it failed her in her time of need. She lives on the Mystic Circle cul-de-sac in the human world and has tried to bury her past where she was known as Jindesfarne Mistweaver. She wants to forget the day her family was butchered as they balanced energy to help the royal fae travel to another dimension, and the salt and silver her only surviving relative threw at her as he disowned her. But when her former lover, Aric Paramon re-enters her life with urgent news about her brother, Jenni can no longer distance herself from the magical machinations which destroyed her family.
I am thrilled with the introductory book in Robin D. Owens’ newest series: Mystic Circle. It begins in the human world 15-years after the heroine’s family was massacred as an urban fantasy. But then it moves to the fae world and becomes an epic fantasy novel. The book follows Jenni on her path to accepting who she is, making peace with the past and finding love. It is a romance. With all of those factors in place, you know you’re in for a wild, yet satisfying ride.
Enchanted No More shows a world where half-bloods (half-fae/half-human) are sneered at and treated as second class citizens. It is blatantly prejudiced and everyone accepts it as the norm. There is no bucking the system until Jenni arrives. Jenni is a half-blood who knows from experience the lowly status given to halflings. She wants no part of that world. She actively works to change the system by encouraging half-bloods to strike out on their own away from the feudal system the fae employ. It is aggravating and at times infuriating.
The over arching story line, which connects all of the story lines is about a darkness trying to consume the light. That story allows Jenni to be put into different, enlightening situations with her former lover, Aric.
Aric has no idea why Jenni is so angry with him and herself. He is loyal to the fae court, but he also has watched the Eight (ruling lightborn fae) ignore the lesser fae and fail to assist Aric’s family. He wants change, but I don’t think he would ever reach or actively fight for change without Jenni.
Enchanted No More will take you on a journey of redemption. It will make you burn with anger, smile with triumph and nod your head with approval as Jenni learns from and about the past and chooses to make a future.
I read an electronic copy courtesy of Netgalley, but this is definitely a book that I will buy and shelf with my other keepers.
Scooper Speaks 