Your Magic or Mine?

This book was a little slow out of the gate. The story revolved around Gloriana and Marcus...adversaries over the "mathmatic" or "cauldron stirring" approach to magic formulas. This grew into a debate via a practitioners magazine and naturally as the public is usually led like sheep and everyone loves a good battle, public opinion ran strong....or over the top. I feel too much time was spent on the "debates" and what happened at the various ones....just drew it out too much. I realize the author was building up the story line...however didn't need as much detail. The plot was good and the book succeeded in spite of this, not because of it. The soulmates part of the story was very interesting with the adversaries trying to find common ground. I hadn't read the previous books so the soulmate thing didn't occur to me until later in the book. Overall, a good read, once you get around the debates...lol Will probably purchase the previous books, and may have enjoyed this one more if I'd read them in order. Didn't realize there were precursors till I was too far into the book....had to find out what happened after all....lol

Ann Macela is a writer I 'discovered' by accident while browsing in a bookstore. Now I haunt her publisher's site, looking for the date of her next release. "Your Magic or Mine?" is book three in her contemporary 'Magic' series. These stories are a delightful read with humor and passion and bits of light mystery set in a world where magic practitioners exist side-by-side with unknowing non-magical humans. At heart in each story is the concept of the 'soulmate phenomenon', a magical imperative that manifests when the perfect 'other' shows up in a practitioner's life. Gloriana is a professor and a practitioner whose talents lean towards plants and growing things. She tends to be a bit messy, comes from a loving family, and is beginning to feel a pang of loneliness for her soulmate. She's also a firm believer in 'whatever works for you' as far as casting and spells go. Marcus is a professor and a practitioner whose talents inhabit the sphere of theoretical magic and numbers. There's a place for everything (not that he has lots of 'things') and everything in its place. He was raised at a succession of boarding schools and never really 'fit in' anywhere. He has NO intention of EVER taking a soulmate and is glad, glad, glad that he's not weighted down with emotion and 'things'. He's come up with a new equation that he firmly believes will help 'quantify' magic and spell casting. I'm sure you can see where this is going! What in the world do these two have in common? Well...it's more than you think and more than they realize at first. After the publication of his new equation and her rebuttal to 'quantifying' magic, there's such an overwhelming response from readers that the editor of the W2 paper (Witches and Warlocks) arranges a public debate. Before you can say 'fiddle dee dee' these two are ensnarled in a practitioner-wide argument, more public debates, and two groups of extremists whose rhetoric is becoming ever more violent. And if that wasn't enough, the soulmate phenomenon is kicking in with a vengeance! I really, really like Ann Macela's writing. This series is on my keeper shelf and I'm looking forward to the next one, "Wild Magic", coming in Oct09. While magic and the soulmate phenomenon are key players in this series, the stories are really about love and compromise. There's not an overabundance of spell casting or good witch/bad witch or too much angst. Just well-written, well-paced, enjoyable romances with heroes and heroines you'd like to meet and spend time with. That's plenty enough for me!

I've read each of the preceding books in this series and loved them. This one is the most developed in plots and subplots and really explores what can happen when a witch and warlock think they can ignore the Soul Mate Imperative. I also love the fact that she bring in characters from her previous two Magic books. That way I know what's happening in their lives. I don't want spoilers here. I loved the book and can't wait for the next one. Ann Macela just gets better as she delves into her delightful magical world. She's definitely on my pre-order list.

Ms Macela has done it again. Her latest Magic book, Your Magic or Mine? is a winner. Though I have to admit I didn't understand any of the math formulas, that didn't stop me from throughly enjoying the debates between the opposing magical factions and the interactions between the hero and heroine. FOM or THA Ms Macela's magic is a delight. Don't miss this one, it's "mathmagical."

Marcus Forscher and Gloriana Morgan are on opposite spectrums of the magic theory. Whereas the male mathematician believes magic can be quantified into equations; the female botanist believes it is more of an art form than a precise branch of math. He insists his formulas are the modern way to perform magic while she believes the old methods are best. As they debate which is the safest way to cast a spell, neither considered the ancient soulmate phenomena compulsion. This pair is stunned to find they are soulmates as they detest one another. However, each is horrified when their supporters turn violent with one irate practitioner blaming these soulmates for causing magical chaos and plans to rectify the problem by eliminating both of them. The third magical Macela romantic fantasy (see THE OLDEST KIND OF MAGIC and DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?) is a terrific tale of two total opposites arguing over theory, teaming up to prevent a killer from murdering them, and falling in love. The story line is fast-paced even when Marcus presents mathematical equations in support of his magic premise. Their argument somewhat parallels faith in intelligent design and scientific evidence supporting natural selection (Darwinism). Fans will relish this fine entry that in many ways goes to the dogs; hers is Delilah and his is Samson. Harriet Klausner