Suddenly Spellbound

Romantic and arcane troubles continue to multiply for luckless untrained witch Ivie McKie in her cheerful second contemporary outing (after Suddenly Sorceress). When Ivie’s not shopping at secondhand stores for designer clothes, she’s looking forward to her wedding to Atlanta veterinarian Jack Blake, a former magician. Although she’s promised Jack that she won’t use magic again, her father has other ideas. He wants her help with a spell, and worse yet, he’s suddenly acquired a distractingly sexy apprentice named Liam McDougall, who’s giving Ivie doubts that no almost-married woman should be having. Before long, breaking her no-spells promise is the least of Ivie’s worries, and she finds there’s a lot more to Liam, and her magic, than she expected. The story sometimes gets bogged down with heavy-handed plotting, but Ivie’s snarky attitude and determination will entertain fans of screwball comedies. (Apr.)