Mary‘s review of Visions of Magic
In the ten years since magic has reemerged in the world, witches have become feared and hunted. For weeks Shea Jameson has been haunted by visions of fire. When she unintentionally performs a spell in public, she becomes one of the hunted. Her only hope is Torin, a dangerously sensual man who claims to be her eternal mate.
The hysteria of the Salem witch trials has spread throughout the world. Women who are accused or even suspected of being a witch are rounded up and incarcerated. Shea’s aunt was convicted and burned at the stake in a public spectacle. Since then, Shea’s been on the run from her past, hiding who and what she is from both the world and herself. But it all goes to hell in a handbasket when she zaps a guy trying to rob her. A mob gathers, ready to kill her on the spot when a stranger shows up, envelops her in fire and flashes her away, saving her life.
Torin, her savior, claims to be her Eternal, destined to love her, protect her, and be with her forever. And he wants to mate (yes, he uses the word “mate”) with her almost immediately. When I got to that part, I felt my eyes roll and breathed out a heavy sigh of disappointment. Really? Another story where there’s an instant connection because their love is destined? Another one where the guy is pushing this whole insta-love thing and the girl’s protesting the whole time until, of course, she falls in love and then falls into his arms?
But wait! With this story, there’s a twist—Torin and Shea have actually known each other for hundreds of years. It’s not insta-love; it’s a love that’s lasted despite Shea’s multiple reincarnations, despite her not remembering Torin until the Awakening of all the witches of the coven, happening in this lifetime. Being an immortal, Torin could only watch and wait for his witch to remember him and return to him. Ah, now that…that works.
Once Shea starts to remember, she not only remembers him and their love but the terrible thing she and her coven did for power as well as what they had to do to fix it. It’s the reason her whole coven of witches had to forget and live without power for hundreds of years and why she has to trust Torin or fail at the task she must complete to help right the wrong.
Okay, back to the whole mating thing. Turns out that it’s a month-long affair of lust and copulation which will then bind the two of them together, making both of them stronger and giving Torin a soul. A month of hot, steamy, do-it-anywhere-anytime sex. Even while they’re being hunted by people who want them for a variety of purposes (including the President, who wants Shea as the face of change and acceptance of witches and an evil scientist who wants the witches’ power for himself), they’re ready to jump each other at the drop of a hat. Um, don’t you all have a task to complete? Magic to learn? Spells to remember? Witches to save? Hot sex will only get you so far, people. Back to the plot, please.
Because there’s so much time spent mating and becoming one, the ending, which could have been totally kick-ass, what with the task and a magical foe trying to stop them, felt really rushed, which was kind of disappointing. There’s a ton of set up for the rest of the series (we never find out exactly how many witches were in this coven but it seems they each have their own Eternal and their own task to complete), which also leaves a lot of loose ends flapping in the wind. However, the potential for a really good series is there, and I’m definitely going to check out the next book to see how it all develops.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
This book is available from Signet. You can buy it here