White Magic (Topaz Historical Romance)
Four Stars!Charmingly written, witty tale sure to please historical Regency aficionados.  --Romantic TimesLord Noah Edenhall is shocked when his closest friend, Anthony Prescott, Viscount Keighley, commits suicide after receiving a Dear John note from a woman with whom he intended to elope.  After covering the matter up to make it look like a simple accident, Noah decides to track down the mysterious woman he knows only as A.  He comes to believe twenty-eight year old Augusta Brierley is this woman. Augusta's step-mother Charlotte insists that Augusta attend several balls and teas during the London season she feels it is Augusta's duty as the daughter of the Marquess of Trecastle to go about in society and wed.  Augusta wants nothing to do with society except to speak with Lord Belgrace about a matter of great importance.  The unconventional beauty is also greatly occupied with her 'work'. At the first ball of the season, Noah finds Augusta.  Dressed in an almost gray gown and a curious necklace, she's not quite the vixen he imagined, but he's certain she's an accomplished heartbreaker.  He sees her meet with Lord Belgrace, who appears put off by her forward behavior.  Noah intercepts Augusta on her way back to the ballroom and,  inflamed with lust, kisses her.  Her appearance, combined with his own reaction make him wonder if she somehow has enchanted her victims. Reding had me hooked on page one, but her decision not to reveal information that would have been in the forefront of the heroine's thoughts continued to pull me out of the story.  Time and time again, for 220 pages, Augusta thinks about her 'work' and her 'urgent need to meet with Belgrace'.   The implication is that Augusta is a witch, but later we find this is hardly the case.  Once the secret was revealed, I enjoyed the romance much more and was thoroughly enchanted by the last third of the novel. With her superb knowledge and admirable skill, Reding captures the romance and grace of Regency England!Phoebe Imel  --Copyright © 080198 Literary Times, Inc.  All rights reserved--FromLiterary TimesThis very satisfying historical romance runs the gamut of emations; it also leaves just enough unsaid to make you want to read the next book in the quartet. --Rendezvous Magazine