Sophia's Reviews > Nothing Less than Magic

Something magical happens when a relationship counselor guru’s husband leaves and she gets hit by a cable car. Can a new lease on life give the second chance she never realize she needed? Stacy Finz has long been on my list of authors to try and I was tickled to get this chance with her latest which seems to combine women’s fiction and magical realism for one enchanting story.

Nothing Less Than Magic turned out to be a beautiful and most apropos title when all is said and done with this story. I’m not generally drawn to big city settings, big career characters, or characters in the process of separation, but with the right writing style and several other factors, I can be drawn in. Those other factors? The city being San Francisco splitting time with a small mountain town in the Sierra’s and the big career and new separation being part of a catalyst for change and growth. And, the season is fall with fun autumnal and Halloween activities.

Confession time, I had the wrong impression when I first acquired this book and thought it was Southern fiction. ??? Yeah, no! All California and mostly picturesque Northern California for the most part. And, not even close to the typical Southern fiction vibes. The heroine, Chelsea, got into relationship counseling and it launched her into the career she has now as motivational speaker and online influencer as a local celeb who is growing her business even bigger meanwhile her own relationships are in shambles with ex-husband and estranged younger sister. She was the type who went into psychology after experiencing a horrific inexplicable loss of both parents in her childhood and this shaped her as an adult.

Now, there is a huge shocker about two-thirds of the way through this book. The author did a gutsy thing with this story and readers will either go with it and enjoy what comes or it will knock them right out of the book and not care for what comes in the last third of the book. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but just cautious future readers to be open to a huginormous toss up for Chelsea right when it seems all is falling into place for her. Forewarned is forearmed and all that.
In truth, there are hints along the way and I was one that paused and flipped back to early parts and realized I blew past the subtle hints. It knocked me for a loop, but I was able to re-engage and appreciate what the author did. Different, but a good read.

So, this one hit the emotions with Chelsea struggling even in middle life because she never dealt with her grief and issues from the way she lost her parents and her struggles with her relationships, but triumphant in the end as she did this very thing and had some deep and needed changes in her life. Again, this is a blend of women’s fic and magical realism with strong romance involved.

My full review will post at The Reading Frenzy 10.3.24.