It certainly looks like centuries-old witches can be as TSTL as silly young girls. At the beginning of Magical Memories, Tempest, an ages-old (and very beautiful) witch decides to drive home after her sister’s wedding. It is dark, it is snowy, it is slick and dangerous. If I were as powerful a witch as Tempest, I’d snap my fingers and be home in an instant. But no, she wants to drive and as she is slip-sliding on the icy roads she runs into a man and breaks his leg.

The man is Michael Deeds, an American and a merchant seaman. Michael is the gruff and manly sort who initially doesn’t want any help from Tempest. Wanting to be independent is a wonderful character trait, but Michael, you have a broken leg and you are in Scotland. I’d say you’re acting pretty TSTL too. Common sense eventually prevails and Michael accepts Tempest’s offer of a place to stay while his leg heals.

Michael and Tempest settle down to a long stretch of living in her comfortable and cozy home. Michael helps Tempest with her greenhouse, her cat Bear takes quite a shine to him, they kiss a lot, and then muse about taking the relationship to a new level. Whem Michael discovers Tempest’s vast libray of books on Magic and witchcraft, all she will say is that one of her ancestors was a witch and she has always been interested in the subject.

Years ago, Tempest feel in love with a Marcus, a male witch who turned out to be a warlock, one who used his powers for harm rather than good. Tempest had to cast a powerful spell to banish Marcus. As the book unfolds, Tempest comes to realize that Michael is Marcus returned, yet different. Michael is a stronger and much more decent character than Marcus was, but still has some of Marcus’s arrogance and imperiousness. Will he choose the right path this time?

Magical Memories was far too “talky” and leisurely paced for my tastes. I would read pages and pages where time passed and passed and nothing much happened. Michael and Tempest would kiss themselves silly then go off to separate beds where he would dream disturbing dreams. Or Michael and Tempest would kiss themselves silly, whereupon she would leave and go off to visit the forest fairies. Or they would spend pages and pages discussing the Craft. I found my eyelids getting heavy, very heavy.

Another problem I had with Magical Memories was that it is part of a series, and there were times when I wondered who was who and what was the relationships were and where did they all mesh together. Having just read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, my conclusion was that Harry was a far more magical character than either Tempest or Michael.

Though I enjoy the occasional paranormal romance, those who prefer it to other romance sub-genres may like Magical Memories more than I, as may those who previously read the first two books in this series. For me, however, this was slow going and not as magical as it should have been.