Your Magic Touch by Kathy Carmichael

Your Magic Touch by Kathy Carmichael

Tabloid reporter Frannie Fielding arrives at Haliday Hall with three ghost hunters to investigate possible ghost infestations.  The blue blood Haliday family has been blackmailed into allowing them into their Newport, RI mansion.  Sinclair Haliday, a dead ringer for Mr. Rochester or Mr. de Winter, is determined the only story the group will leave with is a of a failed attempt to find ghosts. 

The three hunters are actually matchmaking wizards who are determined to promote a love match between Frannie and Sinclair.  Unfortunately, their wizardly magic is rusty, resulting in the impression that Haliday Hall is rampant with ghostly activity.

In this fond spoof of gothic romance, both magic and sparks fly as Frannie tries to resist Sinclair's magic touch.

What a cute novella this turned out to be.  While the events that led up to Sinclair and Frannie being in the same place were quite wild (a misbehaving cousin of Sinlair's making a porn movie that somehow winds up in the hands of Frannie's boss--a not-to-be-trusted gossip magazine owner who uses the material to insist that his reporter, Frannie, and a bunch of ghost hunters be allowed to use Haliday Hall??)  But if you can swallow that, the idea of three matchmaking wizards pretending to be ghost-hunters following a kleptomaniacal dove in order to find their targets should be a breeze by comparison.  As can the idea that Sinclair and Frannie can fall in love over the course of approximately 24 hours.  And yet, even with because of all that craziness, this book is a bit of a gem.  This is not the book to read when you want something character driven, angsty, and meaty that will stick with you for a long time.  This is the book to read when you want something floaty, flirty, and fun to while away an hour or two.  It will put a smile on your face for sure.

For all of the speed with which the plot occurred, there was a fair amount of characterization for the page count.  Frannie and Sinclair were both likable and engaging but Maury, the wizard afraid of ghosts, stole the show for me.  The end of the book suggests a sequel featuring Harrison, the black sheep of the Haliday family, but looking on the author's website, I couldn't find the actual book.  If it exists, I would happily pick it up to spend more time with those Zany wizards and (hopefully) get a peek at Sinclair and Frannies HEA which really is more of an HFN at the ending point of this book.  All in all, an enjoyable read even if, or perhaps due to, it being rather light-weight.