Review: BLACK MAGIC

SHE HATES USING MAGIC . . .

Ever since the death of her parents, Sara Temple has rejected her magical gifts. Then, in a moment of extreme danger, she unknowingly sends out a telepathic cry for help—to the one man she is convinced she never wants to see again.

HE’S A POWERFUL WIZARD . . .

Jackson Slater thought he was done forever with his ex-fiancée, but when he hears her desperate plea, he teleports halfway around the world to aid her in a situation where magic has gone suddenly, brutally wrong.

THEY’VE BEEN CHOSEN TO SAVE THE WORLD . . .

But while Sara and Jack remain convinced they are completely mismatched, the Wizard Council feels otherwise. A dark force is killing some of the world’s most influential wizards, and the ex-lovers have just proved their abilities are mysteriously amplified when they work together. But with the fate of the world at stake, will the violent emotions still simmering between them drive them farther apart . . . or bring them back into each other’s arms?

In the world of Black Magic, there were once two races of wizards: the good Aequitas and the evil Omnivatics.  The Omnivatics, who often lived in snake-form, are thought to be extinct, cursed long ago for their wicked ways.  Jackson Slater, a geologist and Aequitas wizard, telepathically receives a cry for help from his ex-fiancee Sara Temple, also a wizard, who is half-way around the world in the jungles of Venezuela.  There is a bad history between Jack and Sara, but he cannot ignore her call.  Jack saves Sara from a deranged wizard, and they soon discover there is an evil force targeting their kind causing madness and death, and the evidence suggests that their ancient foe the Omnivatics is responsible.  Despite their mistrust for each other, Jack and Sara are faced with the task of locating and destroying the sorce of evil before the snake-wizard can destroy the earth.

Though the chemistry between them is electric, it took me awhile to accept Jackson and Sara as a couple.  Jackson was likable from the beginning.  He's a down-to-earth, take charge, no nonsense geologist who lives his life "roughing it" out in the field.  Sara likes the finer things in life, like wearing designer clothes, flying expensive helicopters and decorating luxury hotels as an interior designer.  Even traipsing through the South American jungle, she's dressed to impress.  But, opposites attract, and that certainly added to the sexual tension between them.  Sara's character was a bit naive and stubborn at times refusing to see the obvious, but by the end of the story I really liked her.  It was several chapters into the story before we're given the reason for the bad blood between Jack and Sara.  After hearing their heart breaking story, I can see why Sara acted the way she did.

This story had me entertained from the first page.  Wizards and ancient evil snakes are a nice change of pace in a paranormal romance.  At times the plot seemed far-fetched, but overall it worked for me.  This is the first book by Cherry Adair that I've read.  I liked her writing style.  The story flowed nicely.  The author gives us the history of the Aequitas and the Omnivatics in the prologue, which I had to read twice to fully grasp.  It certainly helped me understand future events in the book.  There is an upcoming second book called Dangerous Magic, and I'm looking forward to seeing where the author takes this story.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher.