Magia prohibida

by Jo Beverly

En el Londres de 1812, tras la muerte inesperada de sus padres, la joven Meg y sus cuatro hermanos pequeños se encuentran en la más absoluta miseria y amenazados por un casero sin escrúpulos.

En otra parte de la ciudad, el conde de Saxonhurst debe cumplir la palabra dada a su abuela, la duquesa de Daingerfield. La magia pagana de una antigua figura de piedra actuará como vínculo entre todos ellos, con la participación de criados cómplices, el loro Knox y Brak, un podenco feo y desgarbado, en una sucesión vertiginosa de ágiles diálogos impregnados de ingenio, sensualidad y un desbordante sentido del humor.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Regency, Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Fantasy

389 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 1995

Reviews

[Océano de libros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estoy en un momento en el que me apetece salir de las autoras de siempre e ir descubriendo otras y es lo que me ha pasado con Jo Beverly, nunca había leído nada de ella y este no ha sido un mal comienzo. Además de este primer motivo está el de que “Magia prohibida” aparezca en varias listas como una de las mejores novelas de romántica – histórica y quería saber si era cierto.
Jo Beverly me ha sorprendido en varios aspectos: su forma de narrar es ágil y sencilla e “innova” en el aspecto de traernos a un personaje como Saxonhurst y meter magia en una historia de romántica, dos aspectos que al principio me tenían con la mosca detrás de la oreja pero que después tuve que darle el aprobado.
Meg Gillingham es una joven que pierde a sus padres de golpe y se tiene que hacer cargo de sus hermanos Laura, Jeremy y los mellizos y podemos ver una cara de la moneda que es la de la pobreza y todos los sacrificios que debe hacer para mantener a la familia unida.
Continúa la reseña en: http://oceanodelibros.blogspot.com/20...

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say first off I'm glad I did not see the cover of this book when I was asked to review it. It's not the sort of cover that would usually get me to pick up a book and in fact I tend to avoid them. That said it was an enjoyable read. Sax was so delightfully quirky that I fell in love with him despite his tendency towards destruction (I do have to admit it sounds very freeing to be able to release your tension the way he does). His animals and servants will crack you up. Meg on the other hand was so unbelievably stupid at times that it was hard to really like her. I really did not understand why she did a lot of things she did and honestly she was really lucky that Sax was such a forgiving guy. I felt like Sax really carried this book and was what kept me reading. The story was pretty predictable with the damsel in distress and the playboy swooping in for the rescue but it's what I usually enjoy about these types of books. The only other negative for me was at one point there is a scene in which Meg and Sax are discussing Meg's slimy landlord committing child rape and it was brushed of pretty lightly as a fetish. That really sat wrong with me and knocked this book down a couple notches in enjoyment level.

[Cassandra Dexter Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

La review en el blog... http://alacamaconunlibro.blogspot.com...

[Elis Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meg Gillingham’s parents died suddenly, leaving her to care for her four younger siblings, without a farthing between them. The kindly landlord says he’ll let them stay on in their apartment—but only if Meg pimps her younger sister to him.

Meg also has custody of a crude piece of ancient erotica called a sheelagh-ma-gig



Yes, I've cropped it. If you want to know why she looks so pleased with herself you'll have to Google it. And possibly set your safe search to "holy crap!"

The statue has the power to grant wishes—and make Meg feel naughty all over. But using this power always comes at a price. But the situation is desperate, so Meg girds her loins and makes a carefully constructed wish…

Lord Saxonhurst (Sax to his nearest and dearest) is bloody gorgeous, filthy rich, and damned eccentric (as in, he hires servants nobody else would touch—one-eyed maids with a shady past, crippled butlers, grooms who just got out of Newgate for thieving). And, when it comes to his grandmother, Sax is completely beyond reason. His servants comb the flea markets for the fugliest objets d'art they can find, then lay bets on which piece will get smashed first in his next granny-induced tantrum.



And he's in a fix. Seems five years ago, he promised the old cowdragonbitch that he would be married by his 25th birthday or she could choose his spouse for him. Word of a Torrance—which, to Sax, is gold. Thing is, he forgot all about it until granny's missive reminded him—and his 25th birthday is tomorrow!



Sax weighs his options; there's the shrieky little social climber whose family would eat bat shite to hook up with an earldom, there's the stinky fishwife by the harbor. And there's…

…there's…?

This is when a servant brings up Meg Gillingham. Seems she knows someone who knows someone, and hey, since he's fond of taking in strays, why not?

Sax decides to roll the dice. Hey, he'd rather marry a camel than whatever the dragon has in mind.


(Yes, they did. They put makeup on a camel.)

So he sends Meg a proposal of marriage. Basically, "Marry me. You'll be a countess. Show up tomorrow at the church or the bunny gets it."



Meg has little choice; she agrees, and the deed is done. That afternoon they stop by the Gillinghams' apartment to get their stuff; problem is, Sax won't leave her side, and she's scared to tell him about the sheelagh, since she figures he might be pissed if he finds out he was hexed into this mesalliance. So she hangs onto one of the house keys, figuring she'll come back at night and get the sheelagh when nobody's looking.

Which means she has to find a reason not to go through with the wedding night.



Only when she goes after the sheelagh, it's not there. Instantly she knows what happened, and that the sheelagh's price for her family's deliverance will be high indeed. Can a countess be hanged for murder? She can if the dragon has any say in it.

The protags in this are deliciously quirky, which makes this whole marriage-of-convenience story a lot of fun, and there's plenty of danger and adventure to keep things moving. Four stars.

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es el primer libro que leo de Jo Beverley y bueno a veces no sabía por donde quería ir.
Pienso que es un libro largo y abarca muchas cosas pero no sabe darle un buena conclusión. En realidad la historia transcurre en muy pocos días en navidad y es poco creíble todo lo que pasa y que se enamoren en una semana. Y las escenas de cama solo hay una y casi al final y muy por encima. También es verdad que lo leí estando mala y puede que por eso no disfrute tanto del humor de la novela. Menos más que me costó 2 euros de segunda mano.
Me gustaría leer de esta autora su saga Malloren pero ahora tengo miedo de que no me gusten. Y es que está autora me la habían vendido como similar a Mary Balogh y la verdad no le he encontrado el parecido.
La verdad me he quedado un poco decepcionada con la novela pero me ha entretenido suficiente para ponerle un 3.

[ReadKnitHoard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so disappointed in this book. *sigh* The beginning was delightful, charming and full of warm fuzzies. Very promising of 4 stars. Then, in the middle of the book, it got…stupid. Seriously. WTF moments of TSTL in addition to the Big Mis was just…no. Nuh-uh. I totally wanted to bitch-smack the heroine for a lot of things. Just…no. And the ending was just too pat, IMO.

I'm so happy this isn't my first introduction to Jo Beverley because there's no way I'd pick up another one of her books after this. And I want to note that I had no problem with the magical element of things, I enjoy a bit of improbability in the hands of the right author. I do seem to have a problem with anyone being TSTL and the Big Mis that would be solved if people just talked to each other? *headdesk*

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, even its strange bits. I thought the quirky characters and outlandish plot worked well in this historical setting.


I haven't been this entertained by a book quite sometime. I could hardly put it down to get on with my day to day things, but I'm sad that I finished it before the weekend.

Is Jo Beverley's writing always this off-the-wall? If it is, we'll be meeting again (me and her work).

[Magda Tatiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

En la búsqueda de una lectura ligera, para pasar el guayabo de un par de lecturas algo pesadas, me encontré con esta historia, que por la sinopsis parecía que me iba a dar lo que estaba buscando con desesperación: un poco de diversión. Magia prohibida tiene una premisa interesante, es de lectura fácil, tiene humor al estilo cándido y picaresco, pero fuerza demasiado el argumento, presenta situaciones inverosímiles que le quita gracia a la historia y hace poco creíbles a los personajes y el tiempo en que se sucede toda la narración es muy corto, como para creer que toda la historia se transcurre en dos días. Tuvo sus buenos momentos, se le abona que tiene buen erotismo, pero no fue una lectura satisfactoria.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed this book for Romance Reader At Heart.


RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:


Our hero, Lord Saxonhurst, or "Sax" for short, is a very rich earl who has only one day to find a bride or his grandmother will choose one for him. Enter his housekeeper, who suggests Meg, our heroine, whose parents passed away, leaving her and her siblings in dire straits. Sax agrees to this suggestion as he'd rather marry someone who'd be grateful to him, than some rich and bored debutante from the ton. Now, Sax's not just gorgeous and sexy, he is a generous and kind man who has surrounded himself with a group of people and animals in need of his care and attention. He's also a man that has to deal with the `rages' that come upon him once in awhile. In order to assuage them, our hero has a need to smash things, but the only place he allows his `rages' an outlet is in his bedchamber. The motley crew of which his staff is comprised of, is well aware of their lord's penchant for breaking things and is more than glad to search all of London for the ugliest items for him to break.

While our heroine, Meg Gillingham, is plain in looks, she's smart and so naïve that we can't help but love her. For the past three months, ever since both of her parents passed away, she's struggled to make ends meet, even though she's in a possession of a `magic stone' that could ease her way. On Christmas Eve, after her landlord suggests she give him her younger sister for his mistress in exchange for letting them continue to live in the house, Meg finally relents and wishes upon a statue. When the Earl of Saxonhurst's proposal arrives, she knows that her wish has been answered, but is still apprehensive about it until Sax shows her that his offer is the better of two evils. From there on we're treated to a unique story of marriage of convenience that involves an evil grandmother and bastardly landlord.

FORBIDDEN MAGIC is so different from anything that I've read from this author. It was such a welcome and enjoyable read after some quite dark stories that I've gone through in the past month. From the plot to our hero and heroine, Ms. Beverly has introduced us to a bunch of eccentric and quite colorful characters that I've ever read in a romance novel.

I'm used to Ms. Beverly's style of writing, and I thoroughly enjoy her work. Besides being well-written, this book was fun and amusing, and coming from Jo Beverley, historically accurate. The dialogue was witty and all the characters charming, even the dog and a parrot. I highly recommend this light-hearted read full of odd characters and laugh-out-loud moments.

Melanie

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a marriage of convenience Regency historical that includes an element of the paranormal/magic.

Sax, the Earl of Saxonhurst, is an earl - a very eccentric earl who has a unique personality. Somehow, he collects unwanteds (e.g., giving lawbreakers and handicapped servants positions in his household, adopting an ugly dog), but he is never deliberate or condescending about it. Rather, this behavior stems from a genuinely generous (if sometimes capricious) heart. At the same time, he is also a man of many appetites...and he possesses what can only be described as animal magnetism, for lack of a better term.

The heroine, Meg Gillingham, is a plain former-governess who is struggling to support her four brothers and sisters after the sudden deaths of their parents. She is practical to the extreme...except for her wild and well-founded belief in the pagan statue that her mother has left in her care. Through a series of events that includes a desperate wish on the pagan statue, Sax and Meg agree to marry without having set eyes on each other, thus solving her financial problems and a family problem of his own.

As Sax and Meg uncover each other's depths and little secrets (e.g., Sax nearly goes cross-eyed when he discovers Meg's hidden undergarments are intricately embroidered), they find themselves falling in love with the spouse that fate has thrown their way.

This story is fun and does devolve into a little bit of a madcap caper in the last third; however, the characters are wonderful and I always enjoy reading it.

[Sick Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

En general me pareció bastante entretenido y súper gracioso.
Sax, el protagonista masculino, es adorable y algo excéntrico, lloraba de la risa con sus tonterías. Una de las razones por las que amé un poco el libro.
Meg tiene un serio problema con la comunicación. A ver chica, ¿no podés hablar un poco con tu pareja? La mitad de los problemas se los hubiesen ahorrado de forma sencilla. Muchos enrollos al pepe.
Me hubiese gustado que desarrollen más a los hermanos.

[Mary Craven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked this one. Am becoming a fan of Jo Beverley and plan to read as many of her books as I can. While this book is not connected to others she has written, I still loved the characters and how they develop. The Christmas setting just added to the enjoyment as I read it during a July heat wave.

[Estefanía Álvarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

Magia prohibida es un libro divertido y con mucha chispa gracias a los personajes que forman parte de la historia, ya sean protagonistas o secundarios, pero peca de tener demasiadas tramas y obstáculos, haciendo que al lector no le quede claro cual es el hilo importante.


http://mislibrosyotrashistoriasquemeg...

[Danielle Doelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I smiled the whole time

[Tanya 313 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really charming.

I loved Sax he was sweet and sexy and a little unorthodox. Meg was was the same - I loved that she wasn't the usual fainting, scandalized virgin - she was plucky, though infuriating at times - like why try and force a relationship between Sax and his grandmother - especially when she didn't know the history between them!

The story was cute and the motley cast (Susie, Monk, Owain, Knox, Laura, etc.) were entertaining! Historical romances are coming back around for me these days :)

[Jade · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sure that I have read other books by this author and loved them, but this one was a little bit of torture. I managed to make it through half the book, but I give up. I quit. I can't do it anymore.

The problem is, the heroine, Meg, is an idiot who creates her own problems and keeps jumping on a merry-go-round of repetitive idiocy that just makes the story intolerable. Or, rather, any scene with her in it intolerable, but that's 99% of the book.

The basic premise is interesting. Meg needs to marry because her parents died, she's penniless, and her landlord wants her sister as payment. She makes a desperate wish on a statute that either is or at least that she believes is magic. A week later, she gets a visit from a maid who tells her she works for an Earl who needs to get married within 24 hours because he made a promise years and years ago to get married by a particular date that's essentially the next day or his hated grandmother gets to choose his bride. They're both desperate, it's either her or he'll pick a random name out of a hat, why not make a marriage of convenience for the both of them? She reluctantly agrees, thinking he must be a madman to agree to do this (never mind that she's equally as desperate but never questions her own sanity. And she never once asks him in the first half WHY he hates his grandmother so much - she just doesn't think they can have a true marriage because of it. Because he hates his grandmother. For reasons she doesn't know. That may well be valid. But they somehow ruin this marriage. Okay.)

From that point on, she's wracked with guilt - WRACKED - thinking he'll hate her for duping him into marriage. She's convinced the statute forced him into it, never mind that either could have walked away and, oh yeah, he's doing it because of a promise he made SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE SHE EVEN WISHED ON THE DAMN THING.

She then periodically decides - based on a grand total of ZERO evidence - that she married a madman. Like, every other chapter. She'll get along with him one chapter and really want to have sex with him. End of that chapter, BAM!, he's a madman again and she's feeling guilt and why god why and what did she get herself into and get off the merry-go-round of character stupidity, will you, Meg?

Then she leaves the statute behind because she is too embarrassed to tell her husband about this heirloom from her mother, which is what it is (because of course she is - she thinks he's a candidate for Bedlam but heaven forbid he should see a risque STATUTE). So the lecherous landlord gets his hands on it because of course he does and she's too mortified to tell her husband about it because of course she is because then he'll hate her for forcing him into this marriage. Because she's an idiot. A massive, massive dumbass. A massive, massive dumbass who prides herself on her honesty and integrity and then lies to her husband every other chapter and invariably about things that she either doesn't need to lie about and/or that only make her own problems worse.

And then she's concerned the landlord knows about her wish because that's logical on exactly no planet or that he'll maybe make a wish of his own on the statue, never mind that it only works for women and really only for her. And the stupidity spirals out of control to a level that could be visible from space. (Seriously, even if the landlord knew about the wish, SO FREAKING WHAT? What could he possible do about it? Tell other people? Nobody would believe him. Tell her husband? SO WHAT? He wasn't forced into this marriage by your wish, zitbrain! But by her keeping it a secret for absolutely no good reason, he CAN try to blackmail her, demanding her sister as payment. Again. WELL DONE, MEG, YOU INCREDIBLE DUMBASS.)

Meanwhile, her husband seems to have appalling interior decorating taste and breaks the occasional hideously ugly piece of china, so HE'S the crazy one.

I can't take it anymore. I get that romance novels have to introduce tension and drama, but I have a big problem when 99.9% of the problems in the book are created by one character with her self-righteous head shoved so far up her own ass. I'm done.

I'm giving it two stars because I quite liked several of the supporting characters. Just not the main one. At all.

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forbidden Magic is about a family that needs help. The family has that one person who is willing to do almost anything to provide for them. In this book the main character is a young woman named Meg Gillingham. She lives in London with her two sisters and two brothers. Their parents died and that left Meg in charge. Lucky for her their mother owned a magical object that only the women of the family could use. This object could do whatever a person wanted just like making a wish and having it come true. With Megs family gone and money running out Meg is instructed by the landlord an old friend of the family’s that he will make her a deal to continue living in the house. Unfortunately the deal is not one Meg will agree with. With the deal out, no money left and it being winter, Meg has to make a choice. Will it be between the terrible landlords offer or the mysterious dazzling Earl Saxes offer of marriage?

My opinion on this book is that it is incredible! I feel like the author did an amazing job with the details of the books and the characters. There were certain parts where the two characters, Meg and Sax were being intimate. In these parts of the story there was so much heat and passion which gave me mental pictures. You felt you could almost be in it, even though at these certain parts that was a little uncomfortable. The point was the author could make you feel exactly how the characters were being portrayed. The most detailed character to me was Sax because he was described as so many things. He was almost confusing. You never knew what he would do next. He was unpredictable as well as the story. The connection between all the characters was crazy. The characters were so different. Every character almost had a whole different personality and the author combined it all. I felt the story was typical but the author gave it so much of a twist you wouldn’t even realize.

I have always had challenges staying engaged with books but with this book people couldn’t get me un- engaged. That made this my favorite book of all time!

[Elb4966 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main female character (Meg) is not very likable. She is a self-righteous, unreasonable, know-it-all who creates her on problems. 1st she creates this situation of her having to retrieve a family statue from an "enemy", because she did not want to tell her husband its true purpose and left it for anyone to take. All she had to do was say it was a memento from her dead mother (which it was) and that she wanted it and it would have been in her possession. 2nd She states she can not be with a man who hates a close family member (grandmother). But she never took the time to determine if her husband's feeling were justifiable. She did not ask him to explain himself, she just took for granted that she was right and he needed to conform to her wishes and when he did not, she states it is his fault they are arguing and she will not try to have a good relationship with him until he does not hate his family member. 3rd She asks her husband's friend about the root of the problem between her husband and his grandmother and when he tries to explain (without giving away the confidence of his friend), she dismisses what his explanation without considering any of the implications. 4th Meg's husband goes out of his way to make their marriage work and she does things to cause problems in it because she resents the way the marriage occurred. She seems to resent that the wedding helped her more than it helped him, so she is making problems wherever she can.

Besides wanting to protect her family (siblings), not including her husband, Meg is not a likeable character.

I have not finished the book and I do not know if I will.

[Susan Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book should have been five stars. You've got one of the best heroes ever. He's hilarious, eccentric, gorgeous, kind, loves to help both animals and people who are outcasts. I loved him.

The book started out as a 4 or 5 star book. And then our heroine becomes an idiot. When she comes to clear out her belongings from her rental, she leaves her most precious, magical, obscene possession behind so her husband won't see it. It's in a bag for God's sake. (She needs to move because she and her siblings are destitute after her parent's death and her evil landlord will only allow her to stay if she surrenders her 15 yr old sister to his lust.) This leads her to take ridiculous risks. At one point she discovers the landlord raping a 13 yr old servant. Apparently that's okay because nothing more is said about it. Really? She's supposed to be a moral person.

Just before she and her dream husband are to have sex, his grandmother arrives and he throws her out. Without knowing ANY facts, Meg decides his behaviour is appalling and she can't have a relationship with Sax until he mends his relationship with his grandmother. So she's treating her husband, who saved her from being literally thrown out on the street, like crap for something that has nothing to do with her and with no knowledge of their background.

These flaws were so irritating they ruined what should have been an awesome romance. It had great secondary characters, flawed funny animals and the best hero ever. What a shame.

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read so long ago during my historical binge period. It is interesting to see the books I enjoyed over the years and how my tastes have changed. Back in the day, I used to love these rakes finding a convenient wife. The said female would have to train and tame this "domineering" male and win them into love. I guess I was a romantic back then.

Still, this one was enjoyable because Ms. Beverley is a talented writer. She creates fun characters and writes a good and easy plot to follow. No plot holes. No contrived conflicts, just good enjoyable historical romances.

[Sha · Rating 2 out of 5]

07 Oct 2020

Plot: Impoverished woman makes wish upon a magic stone in order to save herself and her siblings from poverty and child molesters.

1. This was one of the first light-hearted histroms I ever read and I still have a soft spot for it. But that's not enough to counter the utterly unavoidable and flimsy conflict, argh.

2. The good parts: The hilariously excellent hero and his house of misfit employees and animals. The magic element (which was well done). The plot moppets.

3. The Bad Parts: A few chapters in, the perfectly logical so far Meg gets a firm hold of the idiot ball and refuses to drop it for the rest of the book. Pretty much every problem is a direct consequence of her doing really dumb shit and trusting all the wrong people. Argh. Plus, the sexual stuff was very drawn out and mostly replaced any emotional connection between the characters.

[Zaskya Benítez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro que he disfrutado desde el minuto uno, principalmente por Sax quien ha sido de mis protagonistas masculinos preferidos, me he divertido mucho con sus salidas, personalidad y manera de tratar a la gente. Por su parte Meg, me ha desesperado millones de veces, tiene muy malas ideas y su inseguridad la hacía meterse en miles de situaciones innecesarias. A pesar de eso, la historia es maravillosa y aunque es lo primero que leo de la autora, no será lo único.

[Ahgase · Rating 3 out of 5]

ชื่อไทย มนตร์รักต้องห้าม
อยากบอกว่าพล็อตดีมาก
แต่เนื้อเรื่องไม่เท่าไหร่
อ่ารแล้วง่วงหน่อยๆ ขัดใจนางเอก
แบบมุงสามารถโกหกได้10383เรื่อง
แต่ไม่ทำ อ้ำอึ้งๆ พระเอกซะอีกที่ดูไม่มีไร
แล้วยุ่งจังเรื่องยายเนี่ย กุล่ะงงมาก
ยุ่งทำไม ยุ่งเพื่อ? อยู่ดึๆก็ดีแล้ว
ส่วนncดีเหมือนจะแซ่บ เล้าโลม(?)ดีมาก
แต่บทนั้นมัน เอ๋าาาา เสร็จละเหรอ5555

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Ilze · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. The premise was very interesting - a marriage of convenience where the bride and groom had literally not set eyes on each other before the wedding. The heroine's constant state of nervousness about something she felt she had to hide at all costs from the hero (who was delightful) was pretty annoying, but what finally made me abandon the book was the point where plot elements like pedophilia (the "philia" part is a complete misnomer), rape, flagellation and murder almost submerged the love story entirely. I've read romances where one or more of these events occur, but child rape is too far out in left field for me in a romance book.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

OMG, this was several orders of magnitude better than my last venture in old romance novels from the Pacific Beach, WA lending library! I learned about pagan sheela na gigs (worth the Wikipedia read), the relationship was pleasantly egalitarian despite the Regency time period, and the protagonist and her beloved had both hot sex and witty repartee. Exactly what you want in a beach read!

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character is assertive enough to try to try to heal the breach between the hero and is his awful grandmother and not assertive enough to do any number of things that would have solved her problems in avoiding penury and getting into trouble with the sheelagh.

[LIBERTY · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oggi vi propongo un romanzo di Jo Beverley, autrice di romance piuttosto nota che, pur avendo scritto alcuni romanzi che hanno suscitato la mia curiosità, non ho inserito tra le mie scrittrici preferite. MAGIA PROIBITA rappresenta qualcosa comunque di atipico, rispetto agli altri testi letti della stessa autrice, in quanto viene anche pubblicato nella collana I ROMANZI MYSTERE. In effetti l'elemento magico è presente, ma definirlo un fantasy o un paranormal è alquanto forzato, ben conoscendo entrambi i sottogeneri. Piuttosto si tratta di una storia natalizia, con la tipica atmosfera che sembra permettere tutto e avverare qualsiasi desiderio.
Meg Gilliangham è la figlia maggiore di una famiglia per bene finita in miseria. Dopo la morte dei genitori, i figli infatti si sono trovati in serie difficoltà economiche e alla vigilia di Natale il loro proprietario di casa, Sir Arthur, bussa alla loro porta con una proposta indecente. Meg è pronta a tutto, a qualsiasi sacrificio, pur di salvare i propri fratelli, ma Sir Arthur non è interessato a lei, ma piuttosto a Laura, la sua sorellina di appena quindici anni.
Sir Arthur le dà un ultimatum. Le concede due settimane per trovare il denaro dell'affitto, o permetterà loro di rimanere solo se Laura diventerà la sua amante. Meg, disperata, decide di ricorrere a una statuetta magica, la sheelagh, tramandata dalle donne della sua famiglia, che ha il potere, utilizzata solo da alcune persone, di avverare (anche se con terribili conseguenze) qualsiasi desiderio.
Meg chiede che la situazione si risolva e la risposta è l'eccentrico e bellissimo Lord Saxonhurst. Questi, infatti, allo scadere delle due settimane di tempo, riceve una lettera dalla nonna che gli ricorda un suo impegno di cinque anni prima, dove dava la sua parola d'onore che al compimento di venticinque anni avrebbe preso moglie. Il suo compleanno si celebra l'ultimo dell'anno, praticamente il giorno dopo.
Tutte le possibili aspiranti sono fuori città per il periodo natalizio, ma la soluzione gli viene data da una sua domestica che conosce la famiglia di Gilliangham, in quanto la sorella aveva lavorato per loro quando ancora erano benestanti. Meg è in condizioni economiche disperate e accetterebbe sicuramente la sua proposta.
I due sposi si vedono per la prima volta il giorno delle nozze, malgrado i timori, i dubbi e le incertezze e qualcosa di magico (che niente ha a che fare con la statuetta) scocca tra di loro e Sax non può credere alla fortuna che ha avuto, in quanto Meg è intrigante, assennata, parsimoniosa, tutto quello che non ha trovato nelle altre.
Meg si affeziona subito a Sax, al suo cuore generoso, alla sua attenzione per il prossimo, ma a dividerli c'è il segreto della sheelagh che Meg deve recuperare a tutti i costi, dando il via a rocambolesche avventure che porteranno i due giovani sposi a vivere situazioni incredibili, che saranno poi coronate dal trionfo dell'amore e della giustizia, come è tipico di questi racconti.
Storia carina, con una trama che si sforza di essere meno banale del solito, pur, come dicevo, presentando notevoli ingenuità, basti pensare al modo in cui Meg si fida della nonna di Sax, che lei non conosce minimamente e che, per il solo fatto di essere anziana, dovrebbe essere un concentrato di bontà. Se al livello di intreccio è funzionale per farla cadere nelle grinfie della strega, dal punto di vista di coerenza psicologia del personaggio appare alquanto inverosimile in una protagonista che ci viene presentata come assennata e attenta.

[Bia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hola, hola…amiga, las malas experiencias literarias siempre están ahí…al acecho…y mientras me leía una serie de esta increíble autora, no pude evitar toparme con una de las peores novelas de mi vida. ¡Y de romance histórico! Imagínate mi horrorrrrr. La verdad es que aborrecí esta historia y su protagonista femenina. Aunque el masculino fue mejor…ni su audacia me ayudo a levantar el ánimo. Aquí te digo porque la ODIE.

Mi opinión…
¡Odie esta novela!!! No, déjame aclarar, ODIE A MEG. Arrgggg ¡qué mujer tan irritante! Nunca había odiado tanto a un personaje desde la segunda entrega de los Hades Hangmen de Tillie Cole.

Los personajes…
Meg estaba desesperada por salvar su vida y de la de sus hermanos, sobre todo la de Laura que tenía una amenaza de violación por su casero. Entonces por casualidad (o por la estatuilla de la discordia), se casa con este hombre magnifico que les da seguridad, pasión, amor a sus hermanos, respeto, comprensión, y la salva de todos los problemas que tiene. Sin embargo, y por cuestiones que nunca entenderé, ella se reúsa a quererlo, incluso a desearlo, cuando el tipo es el más lindo y seductor conde que haya pisado la tierra.
Además, se niega a tener intimidad con él, alegando el odio que Sax siente por su abuela. ¡Por la de él! y solo hablo con la vieja por diez minutos. O sea, ¡DIEZ FUKING MINUTOS!!! ¡No la conocía de nada!!!, e incluso cuando le contaron la historia de lo mala que había sido con su nieto, siguió defendiéndola. WTF!!! Ella es una MALA protagonista, de verdad.
Y a pesar de que Sax es un hombre de ensueño, y lucha por ella, la comprende y es más bueno que el pan (es decir, el hombre da cobijo en su casa a animales desvalidos y a criados discapacitados por Dios), ella lo rechaza y traiciona en repetidas ocasiones.

En Fin…
Estoy decepcionada. La historia me venía gustando mucho y se volvió una kk cuando Meg optó por el camino de la traición. El castigo de la estatuilla debería haber sido que se quedará sola y Sax se enamora de otra. Ya está!!! Lo dije!!!

[LadyAileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

È davvero una storia originale.
La trama è articolata e tiene col fiato sospeso fino all'ultima pagina anche perché non mancano alcuni misteri da risolvere. Ho notato, però, quanto sia dominante la componente di mistero e “giallo” più che la storia d’amore tra i due protagonisti. Inoltre sono soprattutto i pensieri e le azioni di Meg a dominare basti guardare soprattutto la prima parte del romanzo.
Per quel che riguarda la caratterizzazione dei personaggi ho trovato Meg irritante e un tantino ridicola soprattutto quando inveisce contro la statuetta per le cose brutte che le stanno accadendo o per come ha sposato Sax. Se avesse riflettuto in realtà è lei la vera colpevole e perfino il suo matrimonio in realtà può essere frutto di semplici coincidenze mentre lei si ostina a credere che abbia intrappolato il marito con una magia. Sax invece è buono ma davvero eccentrico.
Simpatica, invece, la presenza di Knox il pappagallo che ce l’ha con le donne e il matrimonio per cui vi lascio immaginare le gag.
Per quanto riguarda la sensualità si respira soprattutto nelle ultime pagine del romanzo anche se Sax fa di tutto per sedurre la mogliettina. Per quel che riguarda l’ambientazione anche se le vicende si svolgono nel periodo natalizio c’è ben poco che lo ricordi.
Io lo considero un simpatico romanzo d’evasione, ironico e coinvolgente.