Maggie And Arthur's Magic Moment by Leslie Rene

Blurb:

A dangerous spell gone wrong forces the passionate professor of incantations to share tight quarters with her magical college’s leading—and most brooding—alchemist.

Despite the college’s budget cuts that slashed her syllabus, Linguistics and Incantation Translation professor Maggie Linden has almost made it to the end of the spring semester. To celebrate, Maggie attends a magical masquerade on Beltane. Maybe the end-of-year frenzy explains why she kissed a masked stranger at the festival, though her celebration may have come too soon….

An accident in the lab of famous (and famously broody) alchemist Arthur Taliesin sets loose a dangerous, haunting magic called a pall that renders the nicer parts of their academic building uninhabitable. Maggie is assigned to share her tiny basement office with none other than Taliesin himself. With his insufferable attitude and unfortunate good looks, Arthur makes it impossible for Maggie to concentrate on anything—her research, her students’ final exams, or tracking down her mysterious Beltane suitor.

She’ll do anything to get Arthur out of her office, including offering to help him reverse the magic that threatens the school. But Maggie is starting to realize her officemate may not be the conceited grump he pretends to be. In fact, much of what she thinks is true about Arthur is merely a mask….

Review:

Against all odds and in spite of the college budget cuts that slashed down her syllabus, Linguistics and Incantation Translation Professor Maggie Linden has nearly survived the entire spring semester. As a celebration for her success, she decides to go to a magical masquerade on Beltane, where she meets a mysterious masked stranger, dances with him, and kisses him—only to never learn who he is.

When an accident at the lab of a famous Alchemist named Arthur Taliesin looses a dangerous, lethal magic called a pall that renders several areas of her academic building uninhabitable, Maggie is forced to move elsewhere to prepare her coursework. Unfortunately, she’s placed with Taliesin himself. Insufferable, negative, judgmental, and sadly very attractive, her new workplace roommate makes her career miserable, and impossible for her to concentrate on anything. 

Distracted from her students, her research, and tracking down the mysterious man she meant at Beltane, she’ll do anything to divide herself from Arthur and get her own space—including offering to help him eradicate the spell that threatens to dismantle the school they work at. But as they work together to discover a solution, Maggie starts to realize that her officemate might not be the brooding, cold man she once believed. He might have a soft, loving, intelligent center…one she can’t keep herself away from.

Oh. My. GOSHHHHHH. I loved this book so much! I never know what I’m going to get when I read a cozy fantasy novel. I don’t particularly enjoy writing cozy fantasy stories, myself, so I’m always wary when I dive into a cozy fantasy book as a leisure read. But my goodness, this novel is everything I love in a fantasy book.

Featuring middle aged characters (heck yes!) and a world eerily similar to our own, Maggie And Arthur’s Magic Moment is utterly charming. Beautifully written, with simple, sassy, evocative prose, it’s truly a novel that immerses the reader in its high stakes yet cozy atmosphere.

I loved every ounce of the relationship I got to read between Maggie and Arthur. Their banter was enjoyable and had my squealing as I read. Their every interaction had me sitting forward in my seat, paying more attention than I already was. If there was a masterclass for delightful romantic relationships—and the tension that often comes with them—then it would be Maggie And Arthur’s Magic Moment.

Steamy and sexy, I especially adored how the protagonist was a plus-size protagonist. As someone who is self-conscious of my own body due to being “overweight”, I felt very seen in Maggie’s worries, and I loved that someone like us could be so loved, for her size, in this story’s universe.

I also want to make a note about the fact that Maggie’s fear of another relationship was something that hit me particularly hard. It really impacted me as a young divorcee, and I think it will impact many other readers for the better.

I loved the characters so much, but one of my equally favorite parts of this novel was the way the world is presented. Though it largely takes place in a limited amount of space, that space is squeezed for every inch of its worth. The office wherein Maggie met contained some of my favorite scenes!

I particularly liked the intricacies of the magic system in this book. Although simple and somewhat soft, it was the perfect balance of complex to draw me in and made me think about how such a magic system would work in real life. It was always intriguing to see the characters work their magic in the narrative.

Overall, this novel is absolutely extraordinary. A must-read for cozy fantasy lovers!