Ann Macela

Irenee Sabel is a good witch, a sophisticated beauty, a member of Chicago’s old-money elite, and a defender of an ancient code of ethics that prohibits the indiscriminate use of power attached to magical possessions. Responsible for confiscating and destroying hidden relics of the sorcery realm still employed by practitioners of the craft for self-centered reasons, she attends an aging warlock’s gala party to burglarize his safe in search of an item of mystical mayhem. But when undercover agent Jim Tylan interrupts her break-in with an undisclosed search warrant from the Department of Justice and Homeland Security, she finds herself not only launched into an escapade after pieces of a legendary evil object but also thrown together with the agent destined to be her soul mate.

A battle over the correct way to cast spells is brewing in the magic community. Theoretical mathematician Marcus Forscher has created a formula to bring the science of spells into the 21st century. Botanist Gloriana Morgan, however, maintains that spell casting is an individual art, and warns against throwing out old methods. Enter the soul mate phenomenon, an ancient compulsion that brings practitioners together through persuasive techniques and powers to convince the selected couple they belong together. But Marcus and Gloriana are prospective soul mates who want nothing to do with each other. To make matters worse, their factions have turned to violence. Something must give way, or there will be dire consequences—the magic will either work for them or against them.

Standard elements of the romance novel—including a decaying plantation house and a terrible secret—are enlivened by outbreaks of the paranormal in this tale of Barrett Browning, a young historian summoned to inventory a library of family papers. With mounting excitement, she discovers that the letters and journals before her are a treasure trove of potential articles that could further her career at the university where she teaches, but venture capitalist Davis Jamison, the owner of the plantation, is intent on keeping the documents private and distrusts her scholarly ambitions. The standoff between the two opponents begins to crumble, however, as Barrett becomes more and more unsettled by evidence of magic and murder in the family's past, and Davis, who has sworn never to trust a woman with his property or his heart, struggles with the realization that he is falling in love.

After a bad relationship, Francie Stevens has decided to avoid any further involvements with computer wizard Clay Morgan, but the hacker plaguing her company's network forces her into an investigation led by Clay, who is determined to win Francie’s heart. Now Clay must convince Francie that magic exists in the form of an ancient force called the soulmate imperative that brings together practitioners and their destined mates. When Francie unexpectedly starts using the imperative itself against him, however, the destiny of their love is suddenly up for grabs.

Daria Morgan is a magic practitioner, one of a group of people who uses magic and spells to do their everyday jobs. Her job: A management consultant. John "Bent" Benthausen is a CEO who, despite every improvement in product and production, can't get his bottom line out of the Red Sea. He needs a management consultant. With her special gifts, Daria gets right to the heart of her employer's problem — crooked employees. Crooked, vicious, employees who are now out to get Daria. Those are just problems one and two. Problem three: There is an ancient force, an irresistible compulsion, called the soul-mate imperative. It's known throughout the practitioner ranks for bringing together magic-users and their mates in a lifelong bond. And it won't be happy until the participants surrender to the inevitable the oldest kind of magic.