MAGICAL CHANCES - Mechele Armstrong
The Collector, Book 1
Loose ID - www.loose-id.com
ISBN: 978-1-59632-348-3
Erotic Paranormal Romance

Present Day

Having just been fired from her crappy job, Chloe Richards is desperate. Desperate enough to meet with a man known only as the Collector, who wants Chloe to retrieve a totem for him. Sounds easy enough. Except the priceless artifact just happens to be in the hands of her ex-husband, Drake Marsters. Chloe had left Drake when she had tired of the secrets he kept from her, but now it seems that fate has thrust him back into her life. When Drake reveals the truth behind his family legacy, will Chloe bolt again? Or is she willing to risk her heart a second time to the only man she's ever loved?

As a retired magician, Drake has had a lot of time to think about Chloe, and the reasons she left. But Drake was too afraid to admit to the woman he loves that his magic is not just a form of parlor tricks, but a real gift, an inherited trait. When Chloe tries to steal the totem from him, Drake gives her an ultimatum: he'll hand over the artifact without a fight if she agrees to a weekend with him so he can try to persuade her to come back to him.

MAGICAL CHANCES had the potential to be a great book, but a distasteful heroine kept getting in the way of this reviewer's enjoyment. For one, Chloe is too eager to trust the Collector, whom she knows she shouldn't even while she's agreeing to search for the totem. That was okay, since her financial problems warranted making such a mistake. But to knowingly seduce Drake just so she can steal the totem from him was a bit too much. Drake is a really good guy who happens to harbor a major secret, and warred with himself over telling Chloe the truth about himself. What he sees in Chloe is a character completely different from the one she portrays.

The first in The Collector series, I'm hopeful that Mechele Armstrong's next installment will fare better than this one.

Courtney Michelle