Midnight Magic [Mass Market Paperback]

"Second Chance" by Rebecca York. Still mourning the loss of her beloved Matthew, antiques dealer Sara visits the Second Chance Gallery in St. Michaels, Maryland. Proprietor Marcus Garrison shows her a strange painting "Midnight Magic". When she looks deep at the picture she soon finds herself at the home of client Cornelia Ballinger who is Matthew's grandmother attending the gala where she first met Marcus; can she change history?

"Ulterior Motives" by Susan Kearney. Popular singer Merline dashes inside Second Chance Gallery to elude the paparazzi and soon looks into the painting Midnight Magic. The next thing she knows is that she is struggling to breath. Tomm from Siraz saves her life. He informs her she is on Space Station Alpha Gamma Five and asks her to sing with him on his remote planet, but she refuses as that is not in the direction of earth. She will soon reconsider his offer as a contract she signed proves too binding.

"Temptation" by Jeanie London. In 1713, Nina and her guardian Gray, who mourns the loss of his wife and newborn, visit portrait artist Master Verbrugees. The painter realizes Nina is an empath so he shows the Midnight Magic. She and Gray see a red haired man in the picture. Verbrugees explains that it is his former apprentice Damian Hart; he next shows them a sketch of what Damian saw in the painting - a picture of Nina and Gray.

These three fine paranormal thrillers will remind the audience of Rod Serling's Night Gallery. The novellas contain fine lead characters though the settings differ with the common thread being the painting that serves as the portal. Though many readers will want to know more about the original sorcerer-artist, MIDNIGHT MAGIC is a delightful anthology.

Harriet Klausner

In the antique shop "Second Chance" resides a painting that is unique. It is titled "Midnight Magic". Legend states that it was painted by a sorcerer as an escape hatch. He did not get what he wanted out of this life and he longed to escape to someplace better. So he used magical paint to create an environment where he could be happy. Once the painting was completed, the sorcerer entered the painting, traveling into the universe he'd created on canvas and never returned. When most people look at the painting, they see only dots. However, once in a while, the painting seems to choose someone who is deserving of a second chance. When that person looks upon the painting, they see shapes, objects, and/or people among the dots. And if the person wants it badly enough, they can step into the painting being transported to the past, future, or even off of Earth; depending on where the painting knew the person needed to go. As this book begins, Mr. Garrison is the custodian of this special painting.

SECOND CHANCES by Rebecca York
Antique dealer Sara Drimmon is contacted by Mr. Garrison to come view his gallery. Sara enters the painting to find herself transported one year into her past, to the first day she met Matt. Matt had been the love of Sara's life. But he had died in a burning building. Arson had been involved. Now Sara has been given a second chance to find love with Matt. She must, somehow, change events without anyone believing she is crazy. This will be hard to do since Matt is only meeting Sara for the first time and Sara's mother had been classified as Depressed before she died.

ULTERIOR MOTIVES by Susan Kearney
Merline Sullivan is a beautiful singer who has lost her voice. While running from the press, Merline takes refuge in an antique and art gallery. The new owner, Sara, locks the doors to keep out the press. While waiting for the press to give up, Sara shows Merline "Midnight Magic". Merline enters the painting to find herself transported to Space Station Alpha-Gamma Five, far from Earth. The medic program upon the station heals Merline while she meets her rescuer Tomm Jabal of Siraz. From Tomm, Merline learns that she is over three hundred years in the future. The beautiful singer must adapt very quickly and hopes to use her singing talent to get back to Earth. Problem is that Dubane Fik, the station's wealthiest resident, intends to cage Merline as his own, personal, song bird...literally.

TEMPTATION by Jeanie London
Set in 1713, St. Michaels, Maryland. Nina de Lacy has a rare talent. However, she knows not if it be a blessing or a curse. With the tiniest touch of someone, Nina sees their death and, during her visions, gives them directions toward salvation. Gray is the only one who has ever been able to touch Nina without consequences. Of course she must be careful. There are those who would call her a witch. With her always is her stoic guardian, Gray Talbot, Earl of Westbury. They had left their homeland and came to the colonies for a chance at a new life. Gray takes Nina to sit for a portrait painting with Master Verbrugges. It is not long before Verbrugges has the two standing in front of "Midnight Magic" and explaining the legend. Gray and Nina both see the same thing, a man staring back at them. Even more startling is the fact that the man they see is nearby. His name is Damian Hart. And Damian had seen THEM in the same painting. Master Verbrugges urges Gray and Nina to meet Damian. Strangely enough, Damian also can touch Nina without consequences. Nina finds herself with a difficult decision and the two men must wait for her to tell them their future.

***** This novel will haunt your imagination for quite a while after your completion of it. Each author tackles a different time and place, yet remain linked by way of the painting. I give one word of warning though; this book is only for those who believe in the magic of possibilities. Excellent! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

"Midnight Magic" is a collection of three stories themed around a painting that is able to give people a second chance at their lives.

"Second Chance" by Rebecca York sets the stage for these three stories, introducing us to the painting "Midnight Magic" which is a door to a different time and place for those who are ready to use it. Sara Drimmon owns an antique shop and is still recovering from the unexpected death of her fiancé Matt in an arson attack nearly a year before. She is invited to visit an antique shop and, when there, sees the painting Midnight Magic and is told that it can give her a second chance. Not expecting anything to happen she takes a closer look at the painting and finds herself back in time to a party a year before where she first met Matt. She has a second chance with him and presumably the opportunity to change events so that he doesn't die in the fire - but will she mess up the opportunity.

The device of going back in time to re-live your life is an interesting one. Right from the beginning Sara behaves differently in the hopes of changing the course of history, partly through choice and also because she knows so much about Matt this time whereas last time around this was their first meeting. She has to keep secrets from him this time as she doesn't think he will believe her if she tells him the truth, but in keeping her counsel she is behaving oddly to him. Will their relationship actually continue as it did first time around or will he be put off? Sara soon discovers that events are different in this timeline and that she may not be able to save Matt this time around either. Although an interesting story it felt rather superficial on many levels. It was hard to get much sense of the characters and the plot device of Sara keeping her knowledge of the future to herself sometimes seemed to be awkward - I felt like saying "just tell him and get it over with!" In such a short story it's difficult to really work with the characters and plot but the 'baddie' seemed to behave in a remarkably foolish way at the end, just so the story could wrap up neatly. It was an interesting read but nothing special.

"Ulterior Motives" by Susan Kearney uses the same device of a magical painting for a very different effect. Merline Sullivan is a famous singer hounded by the paparazzi. When taking refuge in an antiques shop after a car accident she finds herself drawn through the painting to somewhere completely new - and without oxygen. As she passes out she sees a man leaning over her. When awakening again she finds herself in a hospital on a space station somewhere a long way from earth and three hundred years in the future. Her original rescuer, Tomm Jabal from the planet Siraz, tries to help her with information about the world they are in but she's a rather headstrong lady and finds herself making a contract to sing with someone else. It goes rather wrong, she has to be rescued; when the action shifts to a pastoral planet she still finds herself being pursued by a nasty man.

The concept of the painting that allows people to travel to different times and places has great possibilities but the execution of the story in this case wasn't very good. The plot seemed very facile in that Merline seems able to escape remarkably easily from her problems, she settles in to an entirely new world incredibly quickly and her singing is apparently so fantastic it's known galaxy-wide. The hero in the story is a rather shadowy figure - we never really learn much about him and his thoughts and feelings - and his interactions with Merline are rather cardboard and one-dimensional. The story didn't really have much tension, it felt sometimes more like a travelogue as Merline wanders through this new world, guitar case over her shoulder. This isn't a story with much depth or characterisation - fine for a light read, disappointing for someone who wants a little more from a paranormal romance.

The third story in this collection is "Temptation" by Jeanie London set in 1713. Nina de Lacy and her guardian, Gray Talbot, Earl of Westbury, have moved to the United States. Nina is blessed or cursed with the ability to see the death that people are likely to suffer if she touches them - she can give them advice during this touching to help them to change some of their decisions to move towards a better death. Gray Talbot is the only person she has ever met whose touch doesn't cause her to live these experiences. However when she and Gray see the face of a red-haired man in the painting Midnight Magic and discover that he is a local shipbuilder and artist she finds another man who she can touch and whose behaviour and decisions are very different from Gray's. Nina feels a real debt to Gray but she can't avoid the attraction to Damian the artist - which man should she choose?

This story is a very different feel to the other two in this varied collection. Although set 300 years ago the historical accuracy isn't that strong - the names of all three protagonists aren't right for English or Scottish people of the period - and Nina's behaviour is strikingly unusual for a titled lady of 18 years old. She has to decide between Gray and Damian and although the story is interesting and it's not easy to see what the conclusion will be, the actual conclusion is probably one that would not appeal to many of the readers - myself included. Damian seemed rather unheroic for a hero and Gray wasn't much better as he didn't seem to really connect with Nina or to understand her. Some of the background detail such as shipbuilding and the artist arranging his portrait was well written but the characters never really came to life and it was a rather disappointing story overall.

Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Helen Hancox, 2007

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