A terribly disappointing book. I've read and enjoyed everything else that Melanie Rawn has ever published, and enjoyed them all, but this book was a major departure - and really just not good. Rather than epic fantasy soap-opera (like her previous works) this is a modern-day supernatural romance - with the emphasis on romance. I've noticed before that Rawn has a distressingly conservative streak regarding relationships, but it's easier to excuse when the characters are living in a pseudo-medieval world that DOES care a lot about the production of heirs and women NEED to have children, blah, blah. But in modern-day New York (not that the setting of the book EVER feels like New York), it's, to me, inexcusable.
Holly McClure is a practicing witch (good) and also a massively wealthy and successful novelist. She mysteriously falls for a blue-collar Irish cop who doesn't know that she's a witch OR rich. When he finds out she's rich, her has such issues with her making more money than he does that he tries to break up with her. Basically, the guy is a jerk through-and-through, there is not ONE attractive thing about him. Why Holly likes him is a total mystery to the reader. Anyway, Holly has a rival, who is ALSO a sucessful, Anne-Rice-type novelist, who is a Slut and a Bad Witch. Her hi--jinks lead (slowly - this book is very long and rambling) to a showdown with Evil Occultists which gets some people murdered and her cop boyfriend dragged into the mess... along the way gratuitously insulting New Yorkers (and all city folks), goths, most pagans, most fans of bad supernatural novels such as this one, etc. (Although, surprisingly, there is a positive portrayal of gay characters, and pains are taken to portray Good Paganism as a positive religion). Still, in the end, Holly and the cop Get Out of the Big Bad City, Settle Down on a Nice Country Farm and Have Children. I roll my eyes. ( )

TBR

In the author's note at the end of the book, Melanie Rawn explains to her readers that because of her bout with depression, she felt like she had to do something different and something not at all like her previous books. This book, to me, is altogether a different beast.

Set in the current day, Spellbinder tells the story of a coven of modern day witches and warlocks in their battle against a sociopath with delusions of grandeur on a previously unseen scale - basically he wants to conquer death and become a god. Also joining the fray is a New York cop who just happens to fall madly in love with our heroine, the Spellbinder, a most unique and potent individual.

It took me a little while to force my way into the book. I thought a lot of the banter between Holly and Evan was charming, but their falling out seemed very contrived. I was completely overwhelmed by the unending stream of detail regarding stones, flowers, herbs, incenses, days of the year, colors ... and how those various things contribute to spells. The addition of a whole slew of mythos from around the world just added to the jumble. I even had to read the final confrontation three times to try to understand what was going on... and I'm still not sure I know what the author was trying to convey there.

At the end of the day, though, I thought the book redeemed itself. It also doesn't hurt to have a hero that's (like me) approaching middle age, but still manages to get the girl... ( )

Many years ago, in fact enough years ago that I really don't want to admit to them, I read Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince etc., and enjoyed them. This book's afterword explains why she took so long to write something new, depression can be ugly.

This is an interesting story of a group of magicians, the focus is Holly McClure, whose blood can "fix" spells and make them more potent. Her boyfriend and her coven have to fight evil in New York City, and it's an interesting mix. Yes, it has romance, but it's not "a romance" per say, it is as it is billed, a love story with magical interruptions. Evan Lachan is a great balance to Holly and he has to deal realistically with his own issues before dealing with hers.

I enjoyed the read and I look forward to the sequel Fire Raiser. ( )

This was a pretty outstandingly terrible book. I borrowed it in hopes - Melanie Rawn isn't a bad fantasy novelist. But her character here is a terrible Mary Sue, and not even an unusual or special Mary Sue - she's an Irishwoman, a Southern belle, and a famous fiction author who has a lot of money (and it gets ground into you that she has a lot of money, since the love interest is an alpha male who can't stand the fact that she makes more than he does). I kept feeling like this was a 1980s novel, one of those ones that are romance masquerading as literary fiction - but it isn't.Then, to add insult to injury, the plot doesn't go anywhere - just sort of meanders around, never gripping your interest. I couldn't even finish it, it was so boring.Do yourself a favor: skip this one and just go for some paranormal romance that's written by a real romance novelist. ( )