Title: Call It Magic
Author: Janet Chapman
Series: Spellbound Falls #7
Started out somewhat promising…then tanked
I would like to thank the late Janet Chapman, Berkley, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I feel like I’m sacrilegiously speaking ill of the dead—rest in peace, Ms. Chapman—but that’s not going to stop me from giving an honest review.
I wanted this book to be good so that it would honor Chapman’s memory, but deep down I knew there was little chance of that, because I suspected a good chunk of the book was ghost written. And my instincts did not, unfortunately, mislead me. I made it through 78%, then was so disgusted by the characters and god-awful writing that I didn’t have the desire or will to spend any more time with them.
The beginning held promise with its light tone and optimistic, magical air of anything being possible, perfect for a small town semi-fantasy romance. The characters’ jobs and the setting had loads of action potential. Katy was likable, and Gunnar was…present…but what really stole my heart were the children, namely Shiloh and Angus. They were both such adorably precocious sweethearts. About the only thing—but it’s kind of a big thing—that weighed on the first half was the glaring fact that this cannot be enjoyed as a standalone novel. I’ve only read one or two other relevant books, and that was years and years ago, so I knew almost nothing of the history, lore, and “rules” of the series, and was not able to appreciate the characters I was clearly supposed to love already, nor was I familiar with the background of Wolfe’s and Katy’s situations.
Generally some missing background information is expected when one’s come into a series late—(really late; this is the seventh book in the Spellbound Falls series, which I understand to be a spin-off or extension of the eight-part Pine Creek series, plus the recent spin-off of the Spellbound Falls series, From Kiss to Queen, factors in heavily. So this is essentially book #17. You pretty much need to have read most of Chapman’s previous work to fully appreciate this story.)—but when that missing background information is the motivation and history for a lead character, it’s a problem. A big problem. I had no fucking clue what Gunnar was doing in Spellbound Falls. I also had no idea what the hell he was. A spy? An assassin? Some other sort of mercenary? I get that he had searched for Katy on behalf of Jane, but I don’t know why he remained involved in that situation once the world knew where she was and that she was fine. Something about Jane trying to set him up with Katy…? But how and why did he get involved in the fire department? How was he elected temporary chief when he’d only been there a couple of weeks and no one in town knew the first thing about him? It was not at all clear, and by 78% it should have been. Heck, it should have been by 8%.
Next, a minor issue—I was turned off when it was revealed what happened to Katy. I had suspected something of that nature, of course, but having it confirmed… Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I couldn’t handle that kind of reality, it was just too dark to suit the otherwise light, fairytale-ish tone of the story, as I described above. And part of it didn’t make sense—so the guy just left her to starve and die or what? Why didn’t he untie her before he left? Did he just assume because she had a couple weeks of survival training that she’d be able to get free, or was he expecting housekeeping to find and help her—in which case, why did she say it took her most of the day to untie herself from the bed and made no mention of housekeeping? That would make me assume housekeeping had been told not to tend that room, which leaves me to wonder if he meant for her to get seriously ill and be discovered after a day or two with a big hullabaloo. It just didn’t make sense.
But what really ruined the book was the characters’ immaturity, unprofessionalism, melodrama, and lack of common sense. Or maybe common courtesy. Or both. Anyway, it started, to my memory, with the crew pulling that prank on Katy and Welles. Small pranks I could believe, but leaving fellow crew members dangling from high up and having to figure out how the heck to get down? How was that okay? It was very juvenile and unprofessional, but worse—what if Katy and Welles had needed to respond to a call? They couldn’t, not with any haste. I couldn’t believe the perps didn’t get punished somehow.
Another thing that I couldn’t believe was allowed—I understood, in theory, the value of the community campfires. I still don’t think they were at all a good idea, but whatevs. What I don’t understand is why that second or third one was allowed to get out of hand to the point that people had to get out of the way when a call came through. Wouldn’t that be rule #1—don’t block the fucking driveway so the ambulances and fire trucks don’t have to worry about running anyone over as they hurried to respond?
Then the party in the woods. That Wyatt guy, whoever the hell he was and whatever the fuck he had to do with anything—something to do with that mysterious history of Gunnar’s that was not explained—started beating on Gunnar while they were on the job (the Wyatt guy was a cop, or at least acting as one) and supposed to be searching for party-goers. I imagine that alone would warrant some serious reprimand—but then all the other male crew members and cops started beating on each other even though they had no idea what had instigated the violence to begin with. Meanwhile, a member of their team sat nearby recovering from being throttled and beaten by a crazy dude. I mean…seriously? When all was said and done, they had done absolutely nothing helpful on that call except send that one crazy guy to the hospital.
Then the call to the house where the boyfriend was unresponsive. This was officially the beginning of the end for me. First—Gunnar tagged along for no reason other than to see if he could get Katy to ride back to the station with him. Are you kidding me? He was not needed, he got in the way, he insulted his crew, and he embarrassed himself. Second—the way the responders talked to the patient. Holy shit. There was zero objectivity there, zero professionalism. One, Katy caused the patient unnecessary pain just because he annoyed her. Two, Gunnar took the time to lecture the kid. Three, Gretchen (one of the EMTs) called the patient a stupid shit. Four, Gunnar proved his uselessness by asking how old the kid was when that information had been relayed during the call. Five, Katy said the kid had arrested development and got snarky about the kid’s life decisions, which caused the kid to give a snarky response, which apparently tempted Katy to punch him, because she leaned toward him with a clenched fist; it also caused Gretchen to call him a dumbass. Katy then threatened the patient with assault. Six, Gunnar had the gall to tell the kid Katy was behaving in a professional manner (which is not only a crock of shit but blatantly contradicts what he tells her later). After that horrifying exchange, Katy wanted to step out to get some air while the others loaded the kid into the ambulance. Gunnar told her that wasn’t appropriate, and she more or less told him, HER BOSS, to fuck off.
I definitely want them around if my life needs saving.
If I had a physical copy of the book, I would have torn those pages out and burned them. That horrendous behavior was an insult to all medical professionals, and it was some of worst, most disrespectful and ignorant writing I’ve ever seen.
I want to make it clear that Katy’s behavior in that scene was a huge departure from the kind, compassionate, competent, and professional Katy I met and liked at the beginning of the book. I HATED this Katy. Her character was painfully inconsistent.
I could go on and on about issues this book had, but this review is already overlong and the highlights have been hit. It pains me to say it, but overall, this book was a hot mess with horrible characterization, a plot that lacked focus, and a story that was overshadowed by its own mythology.
