Romance is complicated with werewolves and magic

Once again, I selected a book that was second in a series. This time, it was “Spirited Legacy” by Kate Baray. Sometimes the gist of the first book becomes clear in just a few chapters, but this one wasn’t.

The story centers on the relationship between Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smith and John Braxton. In a normal situation, this would be a romance with complications, but this is a fantasy, so there’s not much normal to be found.

In book one, Lizzie learns that her new boyfriend John is the Alpha Lycan, lead werewolf of the Texas pack. She also discovers that she has long hidden magical powers. She has no idea where the magic came from or why her powers have been “warded” or bound until now.

She and John have just returned from Prague, having survived a kidnapping and harrowing duel with the evil spell caster, Worth. Worth had pulled the life out of one spell caster and put Sarah in some sort of coma. It was Lizzie’s untrained magic that saved them, and she still hasn’t begun to understand what powers she has or how to use them. Further confusing is the fact that John asked her to be his mate, and she accepted.

What exactly does the mate of an Alpha Lycan do? Is it like being a political wife? If so, fiercely independent Lizzie wants nothing to do with it. Though they’ve known each other a short time, she feels he is “the one,” but Lizzie isn’t ready to hand over control of her life.

They’ve been arguing about John making decisions without consulting her when Lizzie receives a call from Harrington. He’s taken charge of the ancient library where Lizzie, John and Worth had their showdown, and he wants Lizzie to come to Prague to assist in translating the huge collection of magical books. He hopes she can uncover a way to help Sarah.

In a fit of anger, she agrees to come immediately. To her great surprise, John has finagled himself onto the team. Once there, Lizzie learns that the entire team has specialized magic skills, and the burly security guards are actually dragons. She also discovers that the library has a resident ghost, Mytilda, who uses an Ouija board to spell out answers to questions.

The foremost purpose of the team is to find a way to restore Sarah’s health with a secondary purpose of learning how Worth pulled the magic out of his victims. Before long, Lizzie learns she has much more magical power that she thought.

With the help of Mytilda, Lizzie learns to cast protection wards, searching wards and even how to teleport. That experience drains a great deal of her power, leaving Lizzie blacked out for over a day. It takes a visit from Sarah’s healer, Harry to fully wake her. Though feeling better Lizzie’s powers are greatly diminished and she must rest in order for them be restored.

Resting is not part of Lizzie’s make up. When the team finds out where Worth has been hiding, they leave her behind, but with a little help from some friends, Lizzie and Harry arrive just before the team goes in to search Worth’s home. Lizzie finds a tapestry that could be the key to Worth’s power. More harrowing escapes ensue, but eventually Worth gets away and the team returns to Prague to decipher the tapestry and save Sarah.

Lizzie and John return to Texas where they plan to introduce her to his Pack. She must introduce him to her parents, but get some important questions answered first. But the peace and quiet only lasts a few minutes. Suddenly Lizzie must learn what it means to be an Alpha’s mate.

Does magic exist? I believe that we don’t know very much about our special abilities, so we shouldn’t write magic off just yet. Your public library has lots of magical, fantasy books for you to enjoy. Why not make plans to go in and check them out?

AT A GLANCE
BOOK:
“Spirited Legacy”
AUTHOR: Kate Baray
PUBLISHER: Amazon Digital Service LLC
PUBLISHED: July 5, 2014
PAGES: 286

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