Loving the Lines: The Clandestine Magic Series by Colleen Cowley

Hey there! Today, I have another Loving the Lines for you! Loving the Lines is dedicated to books with stand-out quotes that need to be shared. I’m often moved by passages and lines from the books I read, and I thought this would be a great way to show the love!! Many thanks to all the wonderful writers who inspire, empower, entertain, and make people think. Today, that author is:

Colleen Cowley!

I read the Clandestine Magic series last year and loved it. The characters, the plot, the oppressive 21st century setting where magic and men rule, THE ROMANCE – all of it made for an immersive and fascinating read that I couldn’t put down.

Let’s take a look at the books and some of my favorite lines from each!

About the Books:

If you’re a reader who prefers to know upfront whether a book has a happy ending, what the level of violence or trauma is, whether there are sex scenes and how substantial a part romance plays in the plot, you can find a link to those details in Colleen Cowley’s author profile. One scene in the book includes a character discussing a past trauma, and the link has more specifics.

Publication Date: Sept. 27, 2020

Synopsis: In an America controlled by wizards, Beatrix Harper counts herself among the resistance—the Women’s League for the Prohibition of Magic. Then Peter Blackwell, the only wizard her town has ever produced, unexpectedly returns home and presses her into service as his assistant.

Beatrix fears he wants to undermine the League. His real purpose is far more dangerous for them both.

Subversive is the first novel in the Clandestine Magic trilogy, set in a warped 21st century that will appeal to fans of gaslamp fantasy.

LINKS: My Review | Goodreads | Amazon

Publication Date: Oct. 25, 2020

Synopsis: Women have no ability to cast spells. That’s what wizards have said for generations—and it’s a lie.

In this second book of the Clandestine Magic trilogy, Beatrix Harper wants to expose that lie to protect her sister’s life. Her desperate plan: Train tens of thousands of women in secret, then shock the nation with a display of their magic. She thinks it will work—if only she can keep the details from her town’s wizard, Peter Blackwell.

But that’s nearly impossible thanks to their unwanted magical connection. Peter, meanwhile, fears that his own desperate goal—to counter the terrible weapon he should never have invented—is doomed to fail.

Their plans are about to collide. Disastrously.

LINKS: My Review | Goodreads | Amazon

Publication Date: Nov. 29, 2020

Synopsis: In this final book of the Clandestine Magic trilogy, Beatrix Harper is poised to help her sister accomplish an audacious goal. They’re on the brink of winning back a key right for typics that wizards took away—and maybe, just maybe, getting women more rights in the bargain.

But first she has to rescue Peter Blackwell, trapped in a dark-magic coma. And figure out what a former friend is plotting after nearly killing Peter and disappearing. And stay one step ahead of the vice president’s men.

What her enemies have planned is worse than she realizes. Far worse.

LINKS: My Review | Goodreads | Amazon

Favorite Lines:

From Subversive:

She was so tired of mindless tasks. Of a life that had no relation to the one she’d envisioned. Of fighting for equal rights instead of enjoying them..

Odd how her childhood had faded to a half-remembered, impressionistic muddle, as if it were someone else’s past, while everything after her mother’s death was as crisp as a newly developed photograph. Happiness oughtn’t to be so easy to forget.

He’d cast himself as the evil wizard and would never be allowed to play a different role.

Ella had always struck her as the most honest person she knew, charging in with the truth like a well-meaning rhinoceros when a pleasant fib would be easier.

His self-righteous anger had dissipated an hour after she’d stalked out the day before, leaving chilly regret in its wake. The original plan – blackmail- looked benign in comparison.

“Beatrix Harper, I wanted you.”

From Radical:

She wanted them to be on the same side. She felt the absence of his faith and support as if they were organs she could barely function without.

It wasn’t until she proved her internal compass wasn’t infallible that he realized how much he’d relied on her for navigation through the dangerous waters they both treaded.

They had more faith in each other than they did in themselves.

Don’t give up hope. I mean it. Hope is all we have in this patchwork life.

From Revolutionary:

“No one should have that much power over another person,” he said quietly. “If we do…” he swallowed. “If we do, we’ll discover sooner or later that we’re not nearly as good as we think we are.”

It really comes down to this: Do we have principles, or don’t we? Are we willing to stomach some uncertainty to save people’s lives…or aren’t we?

‘We all have inalienable rights and I won’t impinge on yours’ shouldn’t be a radical idea.

“I know you inside and out,” he said, “and I will never stop loving you.”

“I love you,” he whispered, taking her hand. “Every day of my life I swear I will prove that to you.”

About Colleen Cowley:

1. “Colleen Cowley” is not my normal, everyday name. It is a family name of sorts, though.

2. In my teens, I wrote a really awful high fantasy with a portal and many other clichés. And then I took a novel-writing break that I thought would be permanent.

3. As much as I love The Hobbit, my favorite sort of fantasy is present-day. Because there’s such possibility in the idea that something magical could be happening right under your nose.

4. Regarding No. 3: After I zipped through the first four Harry Potter books and waited impatiently for the fifth, I would occasionally dream I was at Hogwarts.

5. I live with my family beside a possibly magical forest. My wardrobe, though, is perfectly ordinary.

Colleen Cowley writes romantic fantasy in (warped) modern-day settings because, c’mon, who doesn’t secretly wish for some magic in real life?