15.3.12

Book Review: It's A Kind of Magic by Carole Matthews

Emma and Leo have been together- on and off- forever. But their relationship seems to have lost its sparkle.
When Leo turns up at Emma's thirtieth birthday dinner unforgivably late and horribly late and horribly drunk; she can't help wishing things were different. If only someone could wave a magic wand over him and turn him into a reliable, considerate boyfriend it would certainly save her a lot of trouble.
Then Leo's path crosses with a decidedly unusual girl called Isobel and, as he falls under her spell, Emma sees him altering before her very eyes. Soon she regrets wishing for a 'new' Leo at all. And, surely, Isobel can't be for real? One thing's clear, if Emma's going to win him back, she'll need to do some changing of her own.

The very lovely Carole Matthews sent me this book when she saw on Twitter that I wasn't too sure about books with fairies in them. Well, I have been well and truly converted as It's A Kind of Magic has a fairy as one of the main characters and I loved it.
Leo and Emma have been on and off for years but it is the final straw for Emma when Leo turns up very late and very drunk to her 30th Birthday meal. She ends their relationship, convinced that she will not be able to change Leo and he is not the kind of man that she wants to be with. Leo is pretty upset about losing Emma as she has always taken him back in the past. But then he bumps into Isobel and his whole world changes; Isobel is a fairy and she sees Leo as her earthly soul mate. Leo suddenly has a very beautiful girlfriend who will do anything to make him happy and more importantly doesn't want to change a thing about him.
Emma can't quite believe how quickly Leo moves on and begins to regret her decision. Her own mother tells her that she should never have tried to change him, he may have been a bit unpredictable and unreliable but that doesn't mean that he wasn't the right one for her. So now Emma wants Leo back but she has Isobel to contend with. How do you compete against a fairy and exactly how long is Isobel planning on staying around for?
It's A Kind of Magic is a really lovely read. I loved the magical element of Isobel being a fairy and it reminded me a little of the fairytale nature of Cecelia Aherne's books. Carole Matthews once again delivers her story with large handfuls of humour and charm and I really enjoyed the will they won't they aspect of Leo and Emma's relationship.
So if you are looking for a really lovely book or like me, have a bit of a downer on fairies then look no further than It's A Kind of Magic, I enjoyed every page.

Dot Scribbles Rating 5/5

3 comments:

jessicabookworm said...

Oh I really love all things faerie! Am always looking for more contemporary reads about them though, this one sounds like something to consider.

Kim said...

Great review, Dot. I loved this book too, so glad you got to read it.
Carole Matthews always comes up with entertaining and enjoyable stories, which are so much fun to read.
I must dust off my copy of It's a Kind of Magic and escape into it's covers once again.

Dot said...

Jessica- I really enjoyed it Jessica, you should give it a go, Carole Matthews writes lovely books!

Kim- Thank you! She's great isn't she, it's nice to go back and re-read old favourites isn't it!

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