review 1: Wedding Magic By Patricia CoughlinGrade B+“Owen, you have to listen to me. Something happened upstairs. I know this is going to sound crazy, but you have to listen because I swear every word is true. I think there’s a ghost in your house.”Sophie Bennett has never been lucky in love herself but makes her living successfully planning weddings for people who are. When Sophie is picked over her two stepsisters to be in charge of the biggest wedding of the season, she knows this could be her time to step out of her stepsister’s shadows and shine. Her first task is to get the owner of Ange de la Mer, or “The Princess House” as it’s called, to agree to let the wedding take place there in eight short weeks. Sophie will do anything to get the house for her client, eve... moren if it means dealing with the unhappy owner and his even more unhappy house guest who will stop at nothing to make sure the wedding doesn’t take place at Ange de la Mer.Owen Winters is a successful writer who can buy anything he wants which is what he did when he bought Ange de la Mer on a whim. He never expected to have a live in ghost who likes to move his beer bottles and leave wet towels in his bed. When Sophie Bennett shows up on his doorstep one day asking to use his house for a wedding his first response in to say no, that is until he realizes that Sophie can see the ghost too. He agrees to let them use the house hoping that Sophie will be able to help him with his ghost problem. As they spend more time together Owen soon discovers that Sophie might be able to help him not only get rid of his ghost but she might also be able to get rid of the ghosts from his past and help him start to live his life again.This book was such a great surprise and I could not put it down because I just had to find out what was going to happen next. I find that there are few books out there like Wedding Magic and I wish there were more because it was so nice to have a paranormal romance without any characters being non humans. I find that in many paranormal romances the characters are vampires, witches, ect. and not humans living normal human lives. Granted there was a talking ghost in this book but I did find it a much more “normal” paranormal romance then I’m used to and I really enjoyed it because of this fact.I loved both of the main characters and I found they way they were drawn together and how their relationship evolved to be written so beautifully. Sophie, I felt, hovered the line of being annoying but every time I felt she was going in that direction she did something to make me laugh or she stopped the “poor me” routine, put on her big girl panties and did what she needed to do. Owen is everything that an alpha male lead should be and I would like to add him to my list of book boyfriends. The only thing I had a problem with were that it took him so long to come to his senses about Sophie. I understood it took that long for the flow of the story but as a reader I got impatient and wanted them to get to the romance stuff sooner.The ghost aspect of the book was the best part and it kept Wedding Magic from being just another love story and made it into something so new, exciting and wonderful all at the same time. I really loved how the ghost helped bring the two characters together and how the ghost went from being kind of scary and evil to almost being a fairy godmother in disguise. I really loved that all of the questions and mysteries in the book were tied up at the end and you knew exactly what happened to every character. Without the ghost and the mystery surrounding the ghost I can’t say that I would have liked Wedding Magic as much as I did.This was the first book that I’ve read by Patricia Coughlin and I cannot wait to read books that she’s written. I thought this was one of the best books that I have read in a very long time and I can even see myself re-reading it. It was a very quick read and the story makes it hard for you to put it down. It’s the perfect book to get lost in on a nice sunny day by the pool or the beach. Again, I loved this book and if you enjoy a great paranormal romance this is a book that you have to read. review 2: Wedding Magic by Patricia CoughlinContemporary Romance – Aug. 2nd, 20114 starsLight and entertaining, this contemporary romance is a charming beach read.Sophie Bennett works with her stepsister in their wedding planning business. She is the background girl who puts out all the fires and keeps thing together. Conservative and responsible Sophie secretly longs for excitement. When she is assigned to book a beautiful house for a wedding she must persuade the grumpy new owner, Owen Winters to agree. When they first meet Owen wants nothing to do with a wedding planner, let alone have people over at his house. He wants to be alone! Embittered and divorced he doesn't believe in love. But the pretty wedding planner named Sophie somehow gets him to agree! Throw into the mix a strong willed ghost named Ivy who once owned the beautiful house. Ivy feels that Owen needs a woman's touch and wants to pair up Sophie with Owen but doesn't want a wedding at ‘her’house. This was an easy and lighthearted read about two lonely people who find love unexpectedly. Both are at times in their lives when they are at crossroads. Owen is unwillingly attracted to Sophie and finds himself demanding to spend time with her or he will not let his house be used for the upcoming wedding. With Sophie he slowly looses his bitterness and starts to fall in love again. Meanwhile, Sophie becomes a bit of a Cinderella when a mentoring ghost gives her a make over and some good advice. And she discovers she isn't quite as conservative or boring as she thinks. Sweet and cheerful this is a book to make you believe in the power of love less
