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Charton Minster #5
Magic Sometimes Happens
A British fashionista finds love in the last place she’d ever look—Saint Paul, Minnesota—in this heartfelt romance.
When British PR consultant Rosie Denham is hit hard by the loss of her brother, not even a year in Paris can lift her spirits. She was hoping to find love with a wealthy businessman, but now all she wants is a friendly face and some serious shopping. Visiting an old friend in Saint Paul, Minnesota, seems like the perfect distraction—until she meets American IT professor Patrick Riley.
Even without a designer suit, Patrick is the most attractive man she’s seen in years. And he’s equally smitten with Rosie’s posh accent and stunning looks. Unfortunately, their timing couldn’t be worse. With Patrick’s wife leaving him, things are more than a little complicated. But that’s the thing about magic—you never know when it will happen.
When British PR consultant Rosie Denham is hit hard by the loss of her brother, not even a year in Paris can lift her spirits. She was hoping to find love with a wealthy businessman, but now all she wants is a friendly face and some serious shopping. Visiting an old friend in Saint Paul, Minnesota, seems like the perfect distraction—until she meets American IT professor Patrick Riley.
Even without a designer suit, Patrick is the most attractive man she’s seen in years. And he’s equally smitten with Rosie’s posh accent and stunning looks. Unfortunately, their timing couldn’t be worse. With Patrick’s wife leaving him, things are more than a little complicated. But that’s the thing about magic—you never know when it will happen.
- GenresRomance
352 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2014
25 people are currently reading
604 people want to read
About the author
Margaret James
31 books30 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Margaret James
Margaret James has been a member of the RNA for 22 years. She has written thirteen published novels, many short stories, and she also teaches creative writing for the London School of Journalism. Margaret's first novel was A Touch of Earth, a family saga set in Herefordshire where she was born and grew up, and her most recent is The Penny Bangle, set in Dorset and published by Robert Hale. But her personal favourite among her novels is Elegy for a Queen, published by Solidus, a small independent which has a varied and fascinating list. Margaret now lives in Devon, which she loves.
AKA Pamela Bennetts
Please see: Margaret James
Margaret James has been a member of the RNA for 22 years. She has written thirteen published novels, many short stories, and she also teaches creative writing for the London School of Journalism. Margaret's first novel was A Touch of Earth, a family saga set in Herefordshire where she was born and grew up, and her most recent is The Penny Bangle, set in Dorset and published by Robert Hale. But her personal favourite among her novels is Elegy for a Queen, published by Solidus, a small independent which has a varied and fascinating list. Margaret now lives in Devon, which she loves.
AKA Pamela Bennetts
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 14, 2014
Just like The Wedding Diary before it, I found this book an absolute joy to read. There are so many twists, turns and misunderstandings through the lovely story of the ill-matched Rosie and Pat, but the whole book leaves you with an immense smile on your face, feel-good reading at its very best. Margaret James is an accomplished story teller, and the whole book flows beautifully and effortlessly as you laugh, cry and hope that things turn out well for characters you grow to love. She's so good at drawing the subsidiary characters too - Pat's wife Lexie is thoroughly awful, little Polly a perfectly drawn child, Rosie's friend Tess and her unsuitable American husband a wonderful source for much of the book's humour. The dialogue sparkles - the parry and thrust of Pat and Rosie's early exchanges is quite wonderful. And the Minnesota setting is beautifully described - another destination for my bucket list, particularly in the fall. I'd thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys their romance well-written, engaging, entertaining and with a perfect balance of sadness and joy. And, in case you think you need to have read Margaret's other four books first, you really don't need to - but then again, why not?
July 12, 2017
Really enjoyed this. Full review to follow
February 14, 2023
The romance was enjoyable but what is the obsession of authors and English vs America. This seems to have become a big bugbear for me as authors seem to become obsessed with it and make it such a big part of the story and it’s so tiresome and just seems really immature.
The romance itself wasn’t too bad and the relationship seemed to develop nicely for the most part. It follows your typical everything goes nice and smoothly until 70-80% in when some misunderstanding leads to an argument and temporary breakup as most romances do but apart from that it was good.
The romance itself wasn’t too bad and the relationship seemed to develop nicely for the most part. It follows your typical everything goes nice and smoothly until 70-80% in when some misunderstanding leads to an argument and temporary breakup as most romances do but apart from that it was good.
October 26, 2025
So sad I couldn't get this in paperback after seeing it in an old copy of Writing Magazine. I listened to this on Audiobook. It was the first Audiobook I've ever listened to and it was a dreadful experience. It was narrated by a woman who had a plummy posh voice that grated. She voiced the mens voices as well in a stupid gruff voice and her London accent for the MFC's friend was simply awful. She sounded Australian. I really had to grit my teeth at times the Audio was that bad. After spending £8 I was going to see it through. I did like the story though, I just wish I'd got it in book form.
July 24, 2025
Magic Sometimes Happens
A light, humorous, engaging romance novel. An enjoyable continuation of the Charton Minster series with ongoing confusion (too much?) between the two principles. Growing up in a British household with parents who had immigrated to the U.S., I was repeatedly struck by how British the American suitor sounded. That said, Margaret James is such a good writer, so humorous and adds so many twists and turns, it was a very good read.
A light, humorous, engaging romance novel. An enjoyable continuation of the Charton Minster series with ongoing confusion (too much?) between the two principles. Growing up in a British household with parents who had immigrated to the U.S., I was repeatedly struck by how British the American suitor sounded. That said, Margaret James is such a good writer, so humorous and adds so many twists and turns, it was a very good read.
January 23, 2017
This took quite a while to get going. I wasn't super excited to read it but the characters were well developed and generally likable so I persevered. It had a satisfying conclusion but I don't think I'll be recommending it.
December 14, 2014
Rosie Denham needed a distraction. Losing Charlie had taken its toll on her and her quest for falling in love had fallen short. Her decision to travel to America had come at the exact time Tess had invited her to come to Minnesota to catch up. Tess had married Ben Fairfax, an American professor/author, she met in Vegas and was living the dream.....shopping! Rosie joins her friend in St. Paul for a time before she heads back home to get herself established in her own business, helping beginning entrepreneurs get their own businesses off the ground.
Patrick Riley and Ben have been friends since childhood, both struggling to get out of the desperate lives they lived. Ben grew up living in a trailer park with no real future and Pat was at the disposal of an abusive father and a mother who didn’t believe in leaving him. Pat is a professor of IT and married to this high school sweetheart, Lexie. After accepting a dinner invitation from Ben, Pat is quite taken by surprise by the lovely Rosie. She is quite British, he thinks, very proper and lovely. What is he thinking? Ok, so his wife has decided to leave him and that she and the children, Polly and Joe, are going to be living with her boyfriend Mr. Wonderful and do all sorts of things he never has time for because of his work. How he wishes his wife and kids were home, how maybe he could buy a home, they could work on their relationship and he could be a better dad and he could have it out with the Brit! But there is something to Rosie that he just cannot ignore. She has set off a spark within him that he has not felt, he feels, ever before.
Rosie was not expecting such a handsome professor to show up for dinner. Actually, her expectations of any friend of the conceited, self absorbed Ben was nothing at all like Pat. Did I blush when he looked at me? This was not the time for falling in love! Rosie had things sorted in her head and Pat was not part of it. But then again, he did look like he was interested.
I thought this story was very well written. The characters were fully brought to life with their struggles as well. Both Rosie and Patrick have pasts that are keeping them back from moving on. Once they reveal their secrets to one another their bonds become much stronger
Patrick Riley and Ben have been friends since childhood, both struggling to get out of the desperate lives they lived. Ben grew up living in a trailer park with no real future and Pat was at the disposal of an abusive father and a mother who didn’t believe in leaving him. Pat is a professor of IT and married to this high school sweetheart, Lexie. After accepting a dinner invitation from Ben, Pat is quite taken by surprise by the lovely Rosie. She is quite British, he thinks, very proper and lovely. What is he thinking? Ok, so his wife has decided to leave him and that she and the children, Polly and Joe, are going to be living with her boyfriend Mr. Wonderful and do all sorts of things he never has time for because of his work. How he wishes his wife and kids were home, how maybe he could buy a home, they could work on their relationship and he could be a better dad and he could have it out with the Brit! But there is something to Rosie that he just cannot ignore. She has set off a spark within him that he has not felt, he feels, ever before.
Rosie was not expecting such a handsome professor to show up for dinner. Actually, her expectations of any friend of the conceited, self absorbed Ben was nothing at all like Pat. Did I blush when he looked at me? This was not the time for falling in love! Rosie had things sorted in her head and Pat was not part of it. But then again, he did look like he was interested.
I thought this story was very well written. The characters were fully brought to life with their struggles as well. Both Rosie and Patrick have pasts that are keeping them back from moving on. Once they reveal their secrets to one another their bonds become much stronger
December 20, 2014
Romantic fiction about two people meeting, and not getting that they should totally hook up! ;)
Rosie goes to visit a friend. She is mourning and does not want to talk about it(and it takes a while before we are told why, she really should not hold it inside.) She is busy and wants to forget.
Patrick's wife tells him she is leaving and taking the kids. I should think she is a B, which she is. But at the same time, it's not her fault if she fell for someone else. And he does realise during this that he should spend more time with his kids, and how fun it is to spend time with that. He was very work focused before. So, good for him to grow.
When these two meet there is something. But as this is more than just romance, they go their separate ways, but they still think about each other. I liked that. Love is not all falling in instalove, spending days in bed and getting married the next month. Here they think about each other, and worry about reaching out. But hey, there is also romance in this book so they do finally get together, get to know each other (slowly!), and fall in love.
Like I would steer you wrong, of course there is a HEA too.
Friendship, love and a bit of everyday drama.
Rosie goes to visit a friend. She is mourning and does not want to talk about it(and it takes a while before we are told why, she really should not hold it inside.) She is busy and wants to forget.
Patrick's wife tells him she is leaving and taking the kids. I should think she is a B, which she is. But at the same time, it's not her fault if she fell for someone else. And he does realise during this that he should spend more time with his kids, and how fun it is to spend time with that. He was very work focused before. So, good for him to grow.
When these two meet there is something. But as this is more than just romance, they go their separate ways, but they still think about each other. I liked that. Love is not all falling in instalove, spending days in bed and getting married the next month. Here they think about each other, and worry about reaching out. But hey, there is also romance in this book so they do finally get together, get to know each other (slowly!), and fall in love.
Like I would steer you wrong, of course there is a HEA too.
Friendship, love and a bit of everyday drama.
July 5, 2016
It’s taken me a while to get around to reading this but I’m glad did because it’s a charming book. Budding PR entrepreneur Rosie Denham visits a friend in the United States and meets Patrick Riley, recently separated dad of two. The pair find themselves attracted but, giving Patrick’s situation and some event in Rosie’s life that isn’t revealed until later, both are wary. It is only when Patrick is given the opportunity to work for a short time in London that their love begins to grow and develop. During the course of their developing love, Rosie learns to deal with a past tragedy and Patrick learns how to have fun with his children. Their viewpoints alternate with each other, making it a fast-moving novel, and I really liked not getting bogged down in too many details. The novel also sees a welcome return of Fanny, the very eccentric PR expert. I missed the three earlier novels in Ms James’ Charton Minster series but I have just purchased them. A thoroughly enjoyable read and one I have no problem in recommending.
August 15, 2015
If you're about to read this, make sure you don't have any plans. It's one of those books – you know, the ones where you encourage the kids to watch a movie and tea gets delayed.
I'd read, and enjoyed, The Silver Locket in the past, but I don't tend to read a lot of contemporary romance, so although I expected to like this, I didn't expect to like it this much.
The characters are fun and believable and there's a lovely vein of acid wit running through the novel that keeps you on your toes, (and anyone who includes a description of Gatsby as 'nasty people having a bad time' gets my vote!)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, couldn't put it down, shed a tear at the appropriate points and gave a rousing cheer at the end. (Then promptly hopped online to buy The Penny Bangle to see what Granny Cass got up to in her youth).
I'd read, and enjoyed, The Silver Locket in the past, but I don't tend to read a lot of contemporary romance, so although I expected to like this, I didn't expect to like it this much.
The characters are fun and believable and there's a lovely vein of acid wit running through the novel that keeps you on your toes, (and anyone who includes a description of Gatsby as 'nasty people having a bad time' gets my vote!)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, couldn't put it down, shed a tear at the appropriate points and gave a rousing cheer at the end. (Then promptly hopped online to buy The Penny Bangle to see what Granny Cass got up to in her youth).
October 30, 2014
I loved this story and couldn’t wait to find out how things would pan out for the lead characters, Rosie and Patrick. The complexities of Rosie’s family relationships were also really interesting and all the characters were exceptionally well-drawn. Meanwhile the action moved from Minnesota, to London, to Paris, providing a great range of atmospheric settings. In short, a wonderful, compelling and very moving read.
December 18, 2015
A contemporary romance, “Magic Sometimes Happens” is a mix of self-discovery and romance as both characters use their relationship to evaluate themselves.
Read full review in the 2015 Holiday issue of InD'tale Magazine.
Read full review in the 2015 Holiday issue of InD'tale Magazine.
January 12, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were likable and easy to relate to. I totally loved Patrick!
March 15, 2015
I really liked this book. She needed someone after Charlie died and found him. Wanted to hurry through to see if they would end up together
April 10, 2017
this was a good story. Not the usual chick lit tale I was pleasantly surprised.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews