Lisa Kleypas, Again the Magic

Again the Magic

Lisa Kleypas

Avon, Feb 2004, $6.99, 400 pp.

ISBN: 0380811081

In 1832 Hampshire stable boy John McKenna and Lady Aline Marsden, oldest daughter of an earl, exchange vows of love. However, her father angrily shouts at Aline that her feelings for John prove she is her just like her whore of a mother. He warns her that if she fails to end it, he will destroy John. A heartbroken Aline tells her father he better help John start a new life or she will give her virgin body to the first available bum which will cause scandal to the family name. Aline tells John that she never loved him as he is beneath her. Her dad arranges an apprenticeship with a shipbuilder for the former stable boy.

Twelve years later, John arrives back in Hampshire accompanying his American business partner Gideon Shaw. John hates Aline for her "betrayal", but is shocked she is not married. He begins to learn the truth about how much she sacrificed to keep him safe from her now deceased father's reach, but even before that he knew at first sight that he still loves her. This time he vows he will not let her go.

This an exciting historical romance that readers will enjoy due to a strong cast. The story line engages the reader from the moment Aline and her father confront one another, but really takes off when John returns to England after years in the United States. Though having her amiable brother as the earl instead of her acrimonious father takes away from the potential squabbles, fans will enjoy this fine second chance at love tale.

Harriet Klausner