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Title: Bewitching
ISBN: 0671778633
Author:
Jill Barnett
Publicate Date: 1993-10-01
Publish: 1993-10-01
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Mass Market Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $34.25
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
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1: Saccharine sweet, superficial silliness.
Fantasy Romance with cavity inducing sweetness.
If it was possible to form cotton candy into a romance novel, this book would be the outcome.
Like cotton candy, the story is cloying, smells funny and leaves a weird taste in your mouth. The plot and characters could not have been spun any thinner.
Joyous is a happy, sweet young witch from Scotland. Skilled magic and reasoned thought are simply beyond her capabilities. She plans to rusticate in England and work on her spells and incantations.
Alex is a Duke from England. Warm emotions like love and compassion are beyond his capabilities. He has just been jilted and plans to marry the next Lady he meets.
Unfortunately for the reader, they meet each other and marry. Joyous confesses to being a witch. Alex hopes that if she is discrete and doesn't practice her magic that they will be able to survive Wicca adverse English society.
Joyous doesn't get it. She ignores Alex's command and continues with her bumbling, magical efforts. This is slightly amusing in a Three Stooges sort of way.
In response to her continued witchcraft efforts, Alex becomes more dictatorial. Joyous becomes more cute and clueless. And the Reader becomes more irritated and bored.
That's it, the book and characters in a nutshell, which is exactly where they belong.
Unless you have an amazingly high tolerance for pain, I would not recommend this exercise in spun sugar witchery.
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2: Whisper-light fairy tale of a witch in love.
This is a very slight fantasy/romance that has been stretched to 452 pages.
This Romance is either a minor homage to the TV Show, "Bewitched", or a banal parable of how we need to keep Joy and Magic in our lives.
The two protagonists are painfully one dimensional.
The good witch heroine, Joyous, is Delightful, Blissful and Gay. The Duke, Alec, is Intellect, Reason and Determination. Basically, they are extreme emotional types, not flesh and blood people.
Like "Bewitched"'s Aunt Clara, Joy's witch skills are negligible.
The reader is bombarded with examples of Joy's complete incompetence. Her misstated incantations, dangerous finger snapping and treacherous sneezes result in uncontrolled magic and mayhem. This slapstick silliness, initially amusing, gets old real fast.
The hero, Alec, dour Duke of Belmore, has an untouched heart. In all of his dealings he is controlled, proud, logical, predictable and dignified. So when he is jilted by his betrothed he immediately marries the next unknown woman he meets; Joy. Huh?
Joy marries him because she knows that he needs her, even if he doesn't realize it. On their wedding night she tells him that she is a witch. Alec doesn't take it well, but decides to honor the marriage. He has one caveat, no more witchcraft for Joy. Happy, happy, joy, Joy is OK with that, she is convinced that Alec will change and eventually embrace Joy, love and magic. Yawn. That's the story with a few additional inanities.
Can unemotional, ice-cold Alec accept Joy, love and magic into his sterile, frozen heart? Will he learn the true value of Joy, love and magic before it is too late? This story had the depth of a greeting card.
Personally, witless Joy bored me senseless. Uptight, negative Alec was totally resistible. The story was 300 pages too long and incapable of holding my interest. Bewitching, no. Benumbing, yes.
Not recommended.
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3: I am totally Enchanted by Bewitching!
Pink roses, a hair eating weasel named Beezle, dancing statues on the roof, tree hugging, clocks that all told the wrong time and spells that go constantly haywire. This book has it all from start to finish. I'll leave the storytelling to the editorials and explain why this book is a must read! I've had this book for quite a few years now and I have read it so much the book is falling apart. Jill Barnett mixes a boat load of humor with an enchanting romance that makes this book just perfect. Be prepared to laugh out loud at some of the situations Alec and Joy find themselves in. Hilarious is too mild a word.
Little by little Joy chases away that cold, hard Duke that makes up Alec Castlemain. Alec is hard and controlling and joy is totally uncontrollable. A perfect combination that is pure magic!
It literally had me laughing and then crying. He is a hero that you can't help but pull for. He was brought up without knowing love and it takes him a while to realize that is what his life is lacking. He is not charming, but somehow he manages to do just that. His is a tortured soul and he needs Joy's love more than anyone ever did, and she is patient and loves him enough to fight for it. How anyone cannot find Joy a complete and utter, well, joy, is beyond me. She has so many qualities that make her endearing and lovable. You can't help but be drawn in. I found myself wincing when she would cast one of her disastrous spells, crying when she was hurt, aching for the need in Alec, and simply laughing out loud at her spells gone wrong. Even the secondary characters of Richard, Neil and Steven are well developed, thought out and lovable!
Jill Barnett's mixture of love and laughter is a winning one and it would be a pity to pass this book up. She is my favorite author and this is just a sampling of why! This book along with most of her other books have a permanent home on my bookshelf. Yes! It is that good!!
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4: Unless you REALLY like fantasy in your Regency read...
...then I would recommend skipping this one.
Alec is cruel, selfish and unfeeling to Joyous for about the first 90% of the book. Yes, there are a few occasions of a kind deed on his part but overall his behavior is close to reprehensible. This is why it was difficult for me to enjoy his change of heart at the very end of the story.
As for Joyous, well, I can't say that I blame Alec for all of his shortcomings related to her. She simpers, bumbles, and "disobeys" Alec whenever possible. I suppose some people would find her character charming, innocent, refreshing, etc. I did not.
One usually expects a bit of tension between the protagonists and a build up to the big, happy ending in this genre but Bewitching was so drawn out I lost interest about half way through.
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5: C+, Cute
If I were a fan of historical novels, this would have gotten bumped up a grade.
It's very cute. The story is adorable. The plot line is different than most of what I come across.
Jill, the protagonist is a bubbly, innocent, spitfire. Alec is a brooding, practical, nobleman.
Throw in few humorous episodes and you get this.
Would have been funnier had she accidentally exploded some elves. But I digress. That's just my twisted side.
Cute, historical novel.
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