Emily Croy Barker

An imaginative story of a woman caught in an alternate world—where she will need to learn the skills of magic to survive Nora Fischer’s dissertation is stalled and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman. During a miserable weekend at a friend’s wedding, Nora wanders off and walks through a portal into a different world where she’s transformed from a drab grad student into a stunning beauty. Before long, she has a set of glamorous new friends and her romance with gorgeous, masterful Raclin is heating up. It’s almost too good to be true. Then the elegant veneer shatters. Nora’s new fantasy world turns darker, a fairy tale gone incredibly wrong. Making it here will take skills Nora never learned in graduate school. Her only real ally—and a reluctant one at that—is the magician Aruendiel, a grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past. And it will take her becoming Aruendiel’s student—and learning magic herself—to survive. When a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her “real life” against the dangerous power of love and magic. For lovers of Lev Grossman's The Magicians series (The Magicians and The Magician King) and Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy (A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night).

A Novel

The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic

Grad student Nora Fischer stumbles through a portal into a magical world. Having been transformed from drab to beautiful, Nora finds herself surrounded by glamorous friends. Life seems perfect. But then things take a terrible turn, and Nora must learn magic from a reclusive ally if she's any hope of survival.

Audrey Lord

Emily Croy Barker's The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic is full of romance, adventure and, of course, magic... 'Fun, seductive, and utterly engrossing' Deborah Harkness, author of The Discovery of Witches 'A wholly imaginative and witty debut novel that is unlike any I've read' Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants Nora's life is not quite going as planned. Her career has stalled; the man of her dreams is getting married, but not to her; and there's a mouse in her kitchen... Getting away for the weekend for a friend's wedding seems like perfect timing, especially when she stumbles across the unfeasibly glamorous Ilissa, who is determined to take Nora under her wing. Through Ilissa, Nora is introduced to a whole new world - a world of unbelievable decadence and riches where time is meaningless and everyone is beautiful. And Nora herself feels different: more attractive; more talented; more popular... Yet something doesn't quite ring true: was she really talking to Oscar Wilde at Ilissa's party last night? Or transported from New York to Paris in the blink of an eye? It is only when Ilissa's son, Raclin, asks Nora to marry him that the truth about her new friends becomes apparent. By then, though, it's too late, and Nora realises she may never be able to return to the world, and the life, she knew before. If she is to escape Raclin and Ilissa's clutches, her only hope is the magician Aruendiel. A grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past, he might just teach her what she needs to survive and perhaps even make it home: the art of real magic. For fans of Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy and Lev Grossman's Magicians series, The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker is proof that magic not only exists but - like love - can sweep you off your feet when you least expect it... Emily Croy Barker lives in New Jersey. This is her first novel.

Faith

This remains one of my favorite books of all time and I'm absolutely obsessed with Aruendiel~

'Of course, there's no such thing as magic anyway . . . ' Nora's life is not quite going as planned. The man of her dreams is getting married, but not to her; her academic career has stalled; and there's a mouse in her kitchen . . . Getting away for the weekend for a friend's wedding seems like perfect timing - especially when she stumbles, quite literally, into a magical world where everyone is glamorous and life is one long party. What she doesn't realize, because everything is such fun, is that there's a darker side to her new friends. In fact, it's only after she agrees to marry the charismatic, masterful Raclin that she discovers she's a prisoner in this new world. If Nora is to escape Raclin's clutches, her only hope - and a reluctant one at that - is the magician Aruendiel. A grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past, he might just teach her what she needs to survive and perhaps even make it home: the art of magic. Nora will learn, though, that real magic - like true love - can sweep you off your feet when you least expect it . . .

Becky

This book! I wasn't certain I even wanted to read it at first. I was indifferent to Nora and her issues and I was say waiting for the story to fully develop. Once it did, though, I was hooked. This may be over 500 pages but those pages went so quickly. I'm glad I liked it so much as this book has been on my to buy radar for years but I was uncertain as I heard literally nothing about it. I'm glad it met all expectations and surpassed them. I will most certainly be buying a copy and forcing it into the hands of all friends and relatives. My only complaint was that ending! I wanted more, so much more. It was so smartly done.

I felt like this book reminded me of several fantasy reads I have ventured into before, but in a very good way. They had moments of being reminiscent of that book without over feeling like they were stealing or copying it. It was simply that it had a moment of reminding me with a certain element of the story.

This is such a well-written book. It's well written and well thought out and it was amazing. I simply didn't want to stop reading but I realised I needed sleep and I needed to actually leave the house. I loved the characters. I fell completely in love with them and never wanted to let go. I loved how Nora appeared so other in this new world simply because she was smart and independent and I adored Aruendiel and his intelligence and his entire attitude. I loved that he didn't care what others thought but cared so much about propriety at a ridiculous moment. I just loved the characters, even though I struggled to spell half their names and have no clue how to pronounce them.

Honestly, as soon as I know the release date and title for this book I will be happier with how this book ended. I have never read a book and wanted a sequel more than when finishing this one.

Anna Pinto

Compelling plot, but it just takes soooooo long to get anywhere. I wish this was a 300 page book. By the way, it's nothing like A Discovery of Witches, even though it has a blurb by Deborah Harkness in the cover. That said, I did read it until the end. The characters are interesting and you end up wanting to know what happens to them.

The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic A Novel

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