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Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Book Review: A Spoonful of Magic by Irene Radford

A Spoonful of Magic
by Irene Radford
November 7, 2017
Publisher: DAW
ASN: B06W2J8BK2

ISBN: 978-0756412913
352 pages
Daphne "Daffy" Rose Wallace Deschants has an ideal suburban life—three wonderful and talented children; a coffee shop and bakery, owned and run with her best friend; a nearly perfect husband, Gabriel, or "G" to his friends and family. Life could hardly be better.

But G's perfection hides dangerous secrets. When Daffy uncovers evidence of his infidelity, her perfect life seems to be in ruins. On their wedding anniversary, Daffy prepares to confront him, only to be stopped in her tracks when he foils a mugging attempt using wizard-level magic.

Suddenly, Daphne is part of a world she never imagined--where her husband is not a traveling troubleshooter for a software company, but the sheriff of the International Guild of Wizards, and her brilliant children are also budding magicians. Even she herself is not just a great baker and barista—she's actually a kitchen witch. And her discovery of her powers is only just beginning.

But even the midst of her chaotic new life, another problem is brewing. G's ex-wife, a dangerous witch, has escaped from her magical prison. Revenge-bent and blind, she needs the eyes of her son to restore her sight—the son Daffy has raised as her own since he was a year old. Now Daphne must find a way to harness her new powers and protect her family—or risk losing everything she holds dear.


I was looking forward to reading this urban fantasy novel. I loved the children—each with their own personalities. The oldest, Jason, is loyal to the main character, Daffy (Daphne Rose Deschants), even though he learns was adopted. His real mother is a horrible witch who used a Zippo for a wand. She escapes the prison her ex-husband, G (Gabriel Deschants-but he does not like being called by his full name), also Daffy’s husband, had put her years ago. I was sort of a surprise when I found out who helped her escape.

Belle and Shara are Daffy’s daughters with G. I enjoyed Gayle, Daffy’s best friend, substitute mother, and partner in her coffee shop and bakery, Magical Brews. Ted Tyler is great as a widowed father of Tiffany, who dances in the same company as Jason. Other secondary characters are Raphe, G’s cousin and Coyote Blood Moon, who is G’s friend. There is Flora Chambers and her husband, Bret, and their son, Bret Junior.

Now to the main characters, Daffy and G. In this story, G cheats on Daffy and she finds out, challenging him about it at their wedding anniversary dinner. She then finds out another secret G has hidden from her from the first time they met, he is a powerful wizard and Sheriff for the International Guild of Wizards, hired to stop magic users who misuse their magic. He tells her if he uses too much magic, only sex can help him. Since he is in faraway countries, he uses other women for one night stands. That he can’t help it.


I didn’t like this, nor the fact, Daffy suspects he has used his magic to manipulate her since they first met so could have someone to watch his baby son and for sex, marrying her eventually after they'd live together for a while. What makes it worse for me, he has no remorse about what he's done, doesn’t change his ways, and continues to lie, cheat, and manipulate throughout the story. I thought maybe the cheating was a lie creatd by his ex-wife, but he actually picks up a woman in another country for a one night stand, so no, he is not a good man.

Daffy does tell him she wants a separation, even files for divorce. She must learn to help her children as their magic powers began to show, even letting her ex back into her life, so he can help them. She even starts to see someone else. There is more concerning her toward the end, but I won’t spoil that for readers.

Anyway, I am not too enamored with the two main characters. It is bits like that make it hard for me continue with A Spoonful of Magic, though the storyline has great promise. And yes, I did finish it.

I give A Spoonful of Magic 3 sheep.





Pamela K. Kinney

About the Author:
Irene Radford has been writing stories ever since she figured out what a pencil was for. A member of an endangered species--a native Oregonian who lives in Oregon--she and her husband make their home in Welches, Oregon where deer, bears, coyotes, hawks, owls, and woodpeckers feed regularly on their back deck.


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