Dark Magic
Magic Series, Book 6

Cheyenne McCray

Publisher:
St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Release Date:
November 4, 2008

Genres:
Fantasy
Paranormal Romance

ISBN:
Print
9780312949594

Bookmark Rating:

Reviewed by
Kimberly

Review Posted:
October 2008

As captain of San Francisco’s elite Paranormal Special Forces unit, Jake Macgregor’s life is now dedicated to saving his city from complete annihilation by the powerful forces of evil which have been attacking San Francisco.  Though allied with magical beings from Otherworld to defeat the dark magic creatures which threaten the safety of our world, as the leader of the PSF, Jake takes on the most responsibility.  With so much going on and the fate of San Francisco looking increasingly grim, the last thing Jake needs is to be distracted.  Even so, Jake finds himself more and more drawn to Cassia, a mysterious beauty whose secrets he longs to discover. 

Cassia of the gray D’Anu witch coven is not all that she seems.  Through her birthright she will soon possess magical powers far beyond anything she has ever known.  But Cassia soon finds that power comes with a price.  She will have power almost without equal, but she can never have Jake, the man she longs for.  Yet when Jake’s life is threatened, Cassia cannot help but interfere to save him, setting off a chain of events that could either lead to disaster or to a love beyond her wildest dreams. 

Prepare yourselves ladies and gentlemen, because Cheyenne McCray has delivered another rip-roaring, passionate adventure.  DARK MAGIC is the final and, in my opinion best, book in Ms. McCray’s fantastic Magic series and it will keep you on the edge of your seat from first to last. 

As an avid fan of the series, I have been waiting impatiently for DARK MAGIC.  Ms. McCray pulls out all the stops in the battle of good versus evil, with heart-pounding action sequences that kept me reading into the late hours of the night.  In DARK MAGIC we get to see all the species of Otherworld as the final battles take place.  All of our favorite characters are back from the previous Magic stories, plus new Otherworld beings arrive to fight the forces of Darkwolf and his army.  I’ll forgo the details to avoid giving any spoilers, but suffice it to say I could not put this book down. 

At the center of the action are Jake and Cassia.  While I was eager to see how the war would turn out, it’s the romance between Jake and Cassia that is the center of the story and integral to the outcome of the battle.  Their love story was both incredibly sexy and heartwarmingly tender.  As much as the action kept me in suspense, so to did the romance.  Ms. McCray kept me wondering how it would work out for Cassia and Jake and I was rooting for the two of them to find happiness. 

Cassia I have found an intriguing character from the start.  She has been likeable but mysterious for the majority of the series and it is a delight to finally learn all her secrets.  After Shadow Magic, I wasn’t sure anyone could pass up Hannah as my favorite heroine in the series, but Cassia did.  She has a purity of heart and a strength of character that drew me to her and I was avidly turning the pages of the book, desperate for Cassia to find happiness with Jake. 

As for the Jake Macgregor, the hero of the tale…I think by the mere mention of his name the temperature just went up in the room.  The former Marine-turned-captain of the Paranormal Special Forces team defines what it means to be a strong and sexy hero.  Jake is sexy, self-sacrificing, caring, strong, and true to himself.  He gives everything that he is to Cassia and those endangered by the forces of evil he is fighting against.  Simply put, you can’t find a hero better than Jake. 

I was also incredibly impressed with Ms. McCray’s attention to the development Darkwolf and Elizabeth-Junga, the villains of this series.  It has been fascinating to watch them from Forbidden Magic to this story.  I was surprised to find myself invested in what was happening to these two and the fact that I had moments of sympathy for the evildoers of the Magic series is a testament to Ms. McCray’s skill as a writer. 

Though DARK MAGIC is the final book in the series, Ms. McCray gives enough detail so that new readers will be able to follow along.  Though technically the book stands alone, I would encourage reading the other books first so as to have the emotional investment in the outcome of the story.  As sad as I am to see the Magic series end, in DARK MAGIC Ms. McCray has delivered an amazing story that is sure to leave fans of the series more than satisfied.  Simply Magic!

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