Review: Fluffy, lightweight novella with typical romance novel characters.  Not enough time for relationship development.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 9, 2010
MACKENZIE'S MAGIC by Linda Howard.STORY BRIEF:Maris is a horse trainer.  Someone plans to harm her favorite horse, and Maris is hit in the head.  She wakes up in a motel room the next day with a concussion.  Mac is with her.  He was recently hired to work with her on the horse farm.  Together they try to figure out what is going on and what to do about it.  Maris has no memory of what she was doing before she was injured.  Maris realizes she is attracted to Mac.REVIEWER'S OPINION:This was about half the length of a typical romance novel.  It was a "falling in lust" story.  There was no time for any relationship development.  It was shallow.  I wanted more intrique, unique characters, and more interesting plot and dialogue.  But if you loved the series, you might like this out of curiosity.After the mystery and danger is over, a chunk of time is spent with Maris' family in Wyoming.  There is the cute little toddler, all the hunky men, their wives and children.  Everyone is loving and protective.  It was a pleasant time.OTHER BOOKS:There are five Mackenzie books.  The first three were much better than books 4 and 5.  This is book 4.  For a list of my reviews of all five books, see my 5 star review of Burn posted 7-11-09.CAUTION SPOILER:I didn't understand the scene in which Maris was hit in the head (which was told and not shown).  Apparently the bad guy was starting to inject the horse when Maris arrived.  He hits her in the head causing a concussion, but she is able to get on the horse and ride away.  Can one be concussed and still mount and ride?  Why couldn't the bad guy finish the injection as she was mounting?  I wanted more details and showing, not telling.DATA:Kindle count story length: 1462.  Swearing language: mild.  Sexual language: mild.  Number of sex scenes: 1, about a page long.  Setting: current day mostly Kentucky and Wyoming.  Copyright: 1996.  Genre: contemporary romance.