Teresa Medeiros – Breath of Magic
Author: Teresa Medeiros
Genre: Romance
When I was thirteen I read a three-in-one book about time travel to see what the heroine would do to get back to her own time and hold on to love. I’ve been a sucker for them ever since.
Breath of Magic follows a Puritan woman named Arian Whitewood who faces death by drowning. She is accused of witchcraft. Arian is a girl I could identify with — having an unfair ‘trial’ and easily labeled. The innocence that is Arian, I knew instantly she was a touching and beautiful young woman.
A pendant given to Arian by her mother enhances her gifts. With her powers, she is whisked away to the ‘present’, landing on Tristan Lennox’s doorstep. Throughout the book she tries to gain the respect and trust of a man who couldn’t love a goldfish. Ruggedly beautiful boy billionaire Tristan is a hard man, not interested in love or anything associated with it. His mistrust is linked to a childhood spent in an orphanage watching other children be adopted until he finally grew out of the system. But it’s not hard to notice that Tristan finds Arian’s ‘weird’ behavior enticing.
I was able to believe the struggles Arian was facing, being three hundred years away from home and thrust into a place with ‘flying dragons’ (helicopters), tall metal buildings, and people jamming the cities. Although I couldn’t see myself facing the fear she endured, at times, I could put myself in her place — when she tastes ice cream for the first time or when she tries to understand the women and clothing of this new time.
At times we encounter serious moments with Tristan and his cruel behavior — as in when he accuses Arian of being a fake, wanting nothing but his money. However, the light-hearted feel of the book balanced out the darkness. The side characters bring wittiness to ease the tense moments and I was grateful for Arian’s stubbornness and wit.
What I enjoyed most is the detailed history of harsh punishment with women accused of something they either believed in or they weren’t. It was exquisitely done. The characters came across as pure life. Each twist that their past unfolded pushed more secrets to the surface that Arian and Tristan had to face together and alone.
The book was well written for the time. I only wish I was able to read it the year it was released. Any die-hard fan of romance may not be particular on the year, so if you believe ‘Love conquers all’, Breath of Magic may be your thing.
With love there comes people who oppose it, people who don’t want to see others be close to someone they care about. The struggles Arian faces in an unfamiliar time are only the tip of what she will face.
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