A Little Light Magic-Joy Nash

A Little Light Magic
Joy Nash
Leisure, Jun 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780505526939

Victoria “Tori” Morgan has been alone for a long time; her parents are dead and recently Great-Aunt Millie Whitaker passed away. She has no one so it did not take much of a decision to move to the house she inherited from her late Great Aunt on the Jersey shore. Her plan is to convert the dilapidated “pachyderm”, at least the front, into a new age shop selling tarot cards, candles and crystals, etc. She hires contractor Nick Santangelo to renovate the edifice to state code.

Tori believes that Nick agreed to take on her job due to a magician Cajun candle given to her by a witch. Nick has enough flakes in his household without dealing with another one though he is attracted to her. His teenage daughter insists she is in forever love; his Nonna is a shoplifter; his brother works for him though they differ on the meaning of work as he wants to be a starving actor living off his brother until he gets his break; mom has menopause issues that make her a walking time bomb. Finally there is Tori who wants him to sire her baby, but does not want him.

The magic of this joyful romance is the changes in the lead couple. Initially Tori comes across as an eccentric flake with no concept of business or relationships while Nick appears as a nasty know it all; as they become acquainted with A LIGHT LITTLE MAGIC called love, they seem to blossom. Although the plot is thin, fans will enjoy this fine character driven tale as the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Harriet Klausner