Review by Booklist Review
Victoria Cartwright is in denial of her special powers, but when her beloved grandmother leaves her the key to a wardrobe that only the true successor to her ancestor's powers will be able to open, she succeeds and finds a carousel unicorn. Burdened with her grandmother's debts, she decides to see how much the unicorn is worth. Rory MacKenzie sees the unicorn as the end of his family's debt to his Scottish village. His ancestor carved carousel figures, which brought in tourists, but after his involvement with an American woman, the carousel stopped working, and the villagers blame their financial losses on Rory's family. But he is more captivated by Victoria than the unicorn. Despite their prickly relationship, the two dream the same lurid dreams. Neither wants to truly examine the reason for this phenomenon, but in the end, it becomes unavoidable. Snappy dialogue can't disguise the characters' true insecurities, giving depth to Blair's otherwise breezy, lighthearted tale. --Maria Hatton Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Despite her best attempts at denial-"I am so not a witch"-Victoria Cartwright has inherited a legacy of magic, along with the key to a mysterious wardrobe, in Blair's third Witch novel (following the bestseller My Favorite Witch). Upon her beloved grandmother's death, Vickie receives the magic key to grandmother's old wardrobe-never before opened-and a promise that it contains Vickie's destiny. To Vickie's puzzlement, her destiny turns out to be an exquisitely preserved antique carousel unicorn. Though it's oddly familiar to Vickie, the unicorn is recognized right off by Scotsman Rory MacKenzie, a handsome loner, when Vickie appears with it on a television antiques show. The unicorn happens to be the handiwork of Rory's ancestor and the key to ending his family curse. The two meet and immediately set to bickering, first over Rory's manners-Vickie quickly concludes that he's "a lack-wit shoddy-mannered Scot with more beards than brains"-then over his designs for the unicorn. Of course, they're just working their way toward confronting their mutual attraction, but sassy dialogue, rich sexual tension and plenty of laughs make this an immensely satisfying return to Blair's world of witchcraft. Fans will welcome back familiar characters in supporting roles, but newcomers will take to it just as well. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
