The Magic Of You (Malory Novels)

As wild and reckless as the most incorrigible of her male cousins, Amy Malory has reached a marriageable age and has set her sights on a most inappropriate mate: the straight–laced American ship captain who once nearly had her Uncle James hung for piracy.

Warren Anderson is shocked by the brazen advances of his despised enemy's beautiful niece. Though determined to resist her, he burns for the enchanting British minx. And an impassioned heart implores him to surrender to a love that could stoke the smouldering fires of a family feud into a dangerous, all consuming blaze.

Warren is too stubborn and grouchy for me. I love troubled heros, but I think he was too exaggerated and I couldn't find anything to like about him. While I fell in love with almost all the other heros JL has created (Tony, James, Colt, Angel, Chandos, Lachlan, you name them) Warren kept stepping on my toes.

Amy is also stubborn and determined and her love for Warren seemed more of a fixation then love. Some reviewers have said that it is quite refreshing to have the woman hunt the man for a change, but Amy's 'courting' reminded me of a spoiled child who only wants to get a new toy that her parents wouldn't buy her.

Also, the funny scenes which are so great in the previous Malorys (especially Gentle Rogue and Tender Rebel) are missing. JL tries to write them, but they were unbelievable and forced and just didn't come to life.

And finally, the difference in age is just too big. Two people separated by almost a generation (20 years) don't have almost anything in common and couldn't possibly fall for each other.

Oh, but the scene of Georgina giving birth was immensely funny.

This gets 3 stars for featuring the 'older' Malorys, not for the book in itself. Not a re-read.


4th book in the Malory Series   April 30, 2001
Abbys (Riverside, CA United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

First off, here is the series in sequence: 1. Love Only Once 2. Tender Rebel 3. Gentle Rogue 4. The Magic of You 5. Say You Love Me 6. The Present: The Malory Holiday Novel

Even in the first book of the series, Love Only Once, Amy was described as a dreamer, aggressive and strong willed. She speaks her mind and shows her heart. So if you like woman who are the seducer in the book then this one is for you. As for me, I normally prefer the man being the seducer while the woman are innocent and naive, however, in this circumstances, I wasn't offended by the way Amy reached out to Warren. Ms. J.L. wrote it well and it wasn't disgusting or degrading to woman. Warren had a dark past that made him hard and distant to love so it is understandable that Amy should be the one to reach out to his hard heart and try to make it soft again. The Malory family conflicts, bickering & arguements is once again an add on spice to the book.

I have notice that all books in this Malory series (except for the first one) contains lots of repetitive informations. There were times I had to skip parts wherein a Malory or two will start discussing the story or happenings of the previous books, sorta like a short summarization for those who have not read it. For readers like me who have read the series in sequence, It's kindda useless info. and i won't lose anything to skip it... At first, this style of writing didn't seem to bother me but when I got to the third book of the series, the summarization of the first two books was getting to me. Imagine my restlessness when i was reading the 4th and the 5th book! I skipped more parts then cuz I didn't need to read the summary of the 3-4 previous books which i already know about. Whew! I say it would have been better for Ms. J.L. to leave readers some thrill to pick up each book and read each story for themselves.


Little Romance, Annoying Protagonists   July 28, 2006
RJRo20 (California)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I definitely agree with some reviewers about the annoying protagonists. While I did find Amy likable at first, soon after her initial appearance with Warren, she suddenly turns into this bold, needy, and obsessive person! Her desperate actions to gain Warren's attentions really turned me off. Warren, on the other hand, is still hotheaded and stubborn--and now a HUGE grouch as well! He rarely ever warms up in this story, which is very unappealing. There's too much bickering involved and hardly any romance. Of the sparse love scenes, they are comepletely uninspiring. I actually wished that Amy and Drew would have hooked up instead; I found their brief encounters more exciting! If you're curious as to why I'm giving this book a generous three-star rating, it's only because I enjoyed reading about Jeremy--who's so delightfully funny--and got to catch up with my favorite JL couple: James and Georgie. If you want to re-visit old friends from previous Malory books (i.e., LOVE ONLY ONCE, TENDER REBEL, GENTLE ROGUE), then get a copy of this book at a library. Otherwise, I wouldn't suggests purchasing it.


Different from the rest...   June 23, 2005
H. Walter (Minnesota)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Now, I started to read this series out of order (I first read A Loving Scoundrel- loved it), but at the time I didn't really know there were several books before it!

So, this book, The Magic of You, I just recently finished it and read it in one night. I love all of the Malory books, only being a bit disappointed with Derek's story, but this one seemed different from the rest. Amy was thought to be this sweet innocent child, but suddenly she has her eye on the grumpy American Warren and won't let him go. Some parts I thought were so outragous and/or ridiculous that I couldn't help by laugh or roll my eyes, but this was a nice change from the usually sappy and predictable stories in this series. Of course, you KNOW that they will end up together, and you KNOW that everyone will be unbelieveable gorgeous, but I enjoyed the humor in this book and I love the way Ms. Lindsey writes romance.

I recommend this book to all, especially if you are a fan of Lindsey. But, try to read the books in order, then you can just skim through the parts in each book that reviews a family members story- especially in The Present. ;)


I Love Everything Johanna Writes....   March 13, 2000
Caroline P. Hampton (Columbus, Ohio USA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

And, this is one of my all time favs. Amy is sweet, spirited, willful, loving and determined. She's everything a romance novel heroine should be. You can't beat this fast-paced and adventure some book for a book ole' fashion drink of love. Warren is a great male lead. He's strong, big and not really looking for a "love." He never really knew what hit him. Amy is everything he could ever want. I love and adore this book and constantly hope for more and more Malory Novels. Keep 'em coming.