Title: The Magician’s Lover (The Prophecy Girl Trilogy)
Author: Danielle Austen
Publisher: Xcite Books
ASIN: B00960YQ46
Slights of hand, games of illusion. The Magician’s Lover walks the line between elaborate magic show, Las Vegas style, and erotic supernatural urban fantasy. An original and somewhat unusual proposition. Per the book’s blurb:
Shy receptionist Lindsey Wade can’t believe her luck when a chance encounter with world-famous stage magician Angelito Tarrago leads to an affair. But when he tries to convince her that he possesses genuine supernatural powers – and she might too – her life changes forever.
I must admit, I struggled with this book. While the storyline held much promise, it just never quite managed to establish that all-important rhythm and page-turning stickiness I crave in an erotic romance. The plot development felt somewhat erratic and the various story threads too loosely plaited together to really grab and hold my attention. More crucially, despite the high and varied level of sexual interaction, the core characters just didn’t seem to make solid emotional connections with one another (not until the very end, at least) – and as The Magician’s Lover is billed as having romantic elements, that was something of a problem for me. (I personally think this title would have worked better as a ‘straight’ erotica, with the more traditional romantic elements stripped out.)
That’s not to say the erotic aspects of this book were lacking – in fact, the majority of them were rather hot. However, the sexual encounters in The Magician’s Lover felt very ‘free form’ and, accordingly, I found it difficult to reconcile a fair few of them with the surrounding scenes and passages. For example, there is a scene in which the wife of one of the characters masturbates with a dildo and, as she does so, fantasises about a past affair. Now I had no problem with this sex scene in principle, but it occurred moments after what I believed to be a significant plot development and its inclusion didn’t seem to further the story in any discernable way. I understand that The Magician’s Lover is the first book in a trilogy and that some of the things I’ve perceived as extraneous may come into play later on, but in all honesty, there were so many pieces that seemed ‘detached’ from the main story arc, I was left feeling confused rather than tantalised.
On a more positive note, I do think Danielle Austen has created an intriguing villain in Angelito Tarrago and that it will be interesting to see how she develops him in the next two books. (I must confess, I kept picturing David Copperfield, the American illusionist, in my mind’s eye whenever he appeared on the page!)
If you’re after an erotic novel with group sex, well-written girl-on-girl action, and exhibitionism, this may be one for you. However, if you prefer your erotica protagonists to interact (read: have sex) mainly with each other and like traditional romantic elements, then I suggest you give The Magician’s Lover a miss.
*Please note that a copy of this book was provided free of charge in exchange for a fair and impartial review.
Tickle your fancy? Click on the following links to buy The Magician’s Lover from Amazon.co.uk (Kindle) or Amazon.com (Kindle).
