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You can almost feel the magic Susan Anton brings to Midnight Magic. You can feel it between the hero and heroine, in the passion of fighting for a kingdom’s good instead of personal gain, and in the legends of old.
A legacy was handed down to the descendents of Arthur Pendragon: a pendant for the woman, a ring for the man, and a scroll bearing instructions by Merlin on how to recall King Arthur from Avalon during England’s darkest hour.
After defeating William de Leon, son of Hugh de Leon, in battle, King Stephen knights Alberic, the bastard son of the Earl of Chester, on the battlefield. Alberic receives all of Sir Hugh de Leon’s possessions—including a ring that Hugh de Leon wore in honor of his wife, a Welsh Princess, whose family claims lineage from that of Pendragon, the fabled King Arthur.
The death of her father and brother left Gwendolyn de Leon and her sisters, Emma and Nicole, to deal with the aftermath alone. The new Lord of Camelen wishes to send Nicole to a convent (you can hardly blame him, though, since the child tried to skewer him with a dagger) and Emma to the king’s court—and he wants to make Gwendolyn his wife. But she’s already betrothed to Madog ap Idway, the man her father thought best suited to wear the seal of the Dragon on his finger and help bring about King Arthur’s return if needed.
Only one man in the woman’s life is worthy to wear the ring. Guess who can’t remove the ring from his finger, not even with goose grease? Alberic of Chester. But he doesn’t even believe in magic, and neither one of them can fully read or understand the scroll. For all he knows, they’d summon one of the dragons, or a giant, or the Ass of Wickedness, instead of King Arthur. Mayhap, Gwendolyn can make him believe in magic with her love?
Ms. Anton has written a medieval romance that flows well and isn’t easy to put down—even when the potatoes are boiling over on the stove. Her hero is loveable without coming off as a sickening fake, and the heroine is the right mixture of stubbornness and submissiveness. It’s refreshing to once again read a heroine who isn’t ready to shove a knife in the hero’s gullet if he so much as looks at her sideways. Let Midnight Magic carry you back in time, where more than one kind of magic can capture your heart and imagination.
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