"three fine paranormal thrillers"

"Second Chance" by Rebecca York. Still mourning the loss of her beloved Matthew, antiques dealer Sara visits the Second Chance Gallery in St. Michaels, Maryland. Proprietor Marcus Garrison shows her a strange painting "Midnight Magic". When she looks deep at the picture she soon finds herself at the home of client Cornelia Ballinger who is Matthew's grandmother attending the gala where she first met Marcus; can she change history?

"Ulterior Motives" by Susan Kearney. Popular singer Merline dashes inside Second Chance Gallery to elude the paparazzi and soon looks into the painting Midnight Magic. The next thing she knows is that she is struggling to breath. Tomm from Siraz saves her life. He informs her she is on Space Station Alpha Gamma Five and asks her to sing with him on his remote planet, but she refuses as that is not in the direction of earth. She will soon reconsider his offer as a contract she signed proves too binding.

"Temptation" by Jeanie London. In 1713, Nina and her guardian Gray, who mourns the loss of his wife and newborn, visit portrait artist Master Verbrugees. The painter realizes Nina is an empath so he shows the Midnight Magic. She and Gray see a red haired man in the picture. Verbrugees explains that it is his former apprentice Damian Hart; he next shows them a sketch of what Damian saw in the painting -- a picture of Nina and Gray.

These three fine paranormal thrillers will remind the audience of Rod Serling's Night Gallery. The novellas contain fine lead characters though the settings differ with the common thread being the painting that serves as the portal. Though many readers will want to know more about the original sorcerer-artist, MIDNIGHT MAGIC is a delightful anthology.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted April 22, 2006

Summary

A magical painting, a mystical gateway...

Legend has it that a heartbroken artist used magical paint to create the beautiful "Midnight Magic" - and then stepped into the painting and was never seen again. Or so Sara Drimmon is told when she visits the Second Chance Gallery in Rebecca York's "Second Chance." Sara experiences the magic for herself when the painting sends her into her own past and gives her a second chance with her first love.

Then it's Sara's turn to introduce someone to the painting— and she chooses Merline, a beautiful singer who's lost her voice. In Susan Kearney's "Ulterior Motives," the painting sends Merline thousands of years into the future, where she is no longer a superstar. Is Merline ready to trade stardom for love?

In Jeanie London's "Temptation," an artist urges Nina de Lacy to look deeply into the painting. But Nina has her own magical way of seeing into the souls of men—and now she must choose between the destiny "Midnight Magic" offers her and the two men who wait for her to tell them their future...