It has finally happened. All my life I’ve heard of the trope where a royal young lady falls in love with the stable boy, but I’ve never actually read a romance where that was present.  Again The Magic by Lisa Kleypas opens in Hampshire, England, in 1832. Lady Aline Marsden is the oldest daughter of the Earl of Westcliff. Her best friend and closest confidant is the stable boy McKenna who she has grown up with. But their relationship has budded into much more than friendship as they have blossomed into young adults. And that spells disaster for the fate of McKenna if the Earl finds out. Separation, a terrible accident, crossing of continents, new friendships, and deaths occur in rapid succession.

Jump to 1844, a changing world, a new Earl (Aline’s brother, who is more open-minded), and visiting Americans. Is love possible for either Aline or her sister Livia? A desperate alcoholic is on the brink of no return as he drinks himself to death. A woman stays in hiding due to grief and unwillingness to be hurt ever again. A man seeks revenge. And the new Earl, Marcus Marsden tries to keep everything afloat with modernizing investments in American technologies, a radical idea that other gentry are not open to. There are so many different fascinating threads of character stories in this novel that kept me hooked, eager to know their outcomes. I adore the loving, but no-nonsense, Mrs. Faircloth who is a surrogate mother to both Aline and McKenna. In my opinion, this is the best book yet in the series. The development of Ms. Kleypas’s writing is richer, the descriptions more alive, and the character development better flushed out. I can’t wait for the next book.

Kleypas, Lisa. Again The Magic, Avon Books, 2004.

These 2 images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.