Spellbinder

Spellbinder is a contemporary fantasy romance. A bit of witchcraft, black magic and love – all added to the cauldron for a tasty reading treat. This is at once familiar Melanie Rawn work and unfamiliar Melanie Rawn work. Rawn has always provided wonderful characterization, protagonists and extras that truly come to life for the reader. Usually, however, her wonderful characters are in addition to intricate world building and intriguing fantasy infrastructure. Spellbinder, being set in contemporary New York, doesn’t require the world building, and witchcraft has much material to build on without creating it from the ground up. This isn’t to say that she has taken shortcuts to create this story; just that she was able to create a
wonderful new story without having to concentrate as hard on the background scenery.

Holly, the spellbinder, is a rare type of witch. Her unique blood makes her sought after by both the good witches and the inevitable bad witches. This is a bittersweet gift. She can use her gift to help others, but it doesn’t help her own witchcraft much. So while being sought after by the bad element of the Craft, she also has to be wary of those that wish to use her blood for good. Add this to her success as an author, makes her wary of people trying to get close to her for ulterior motives.

Luckily for Holly, she seems to have found someone who isn’t after her money or her blood. Evan Lachlan, U.S. Marshall seems to like her for herself alone. Of course, true love has never had an easy road to travel. And Holly’s road is an obstacle course riddled with Voodoo queens, power-hungry magic users, interfering friends and family and murder.

I found Spellbinder to be both a good romance as well as a good fantasy. Quite often one or the other gets shortchanged when combined. I truly enjoyed her take on witchcraft and its many facets, as well as her insight into the twists and turns of modern day love. Melanie Rawn hasn’t disappointed this reader with her foray into contemporary fiction.