Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Elemental Magic (Elemental Magic #1)

by Angela Wallace (Goodreads Author)

3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 · rating details · 99 ratings · 49 reviews

Aileen Donovan is an oceanographer with magical control over the element of water. While her normal focus is on research and fighting poachers, she’s about to go up against the stuff of legends—and that’s saying something for a supernatural.

A transport ship is missing and everyone’s eager to get their hands on the cargo. No one knows what exactly it is, but when fragments...more

Paperback, 250 pages

Published November 19th 2011 by Angela Wallace via CreateSpace

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Witches & Wiccans

88th out of 103 books — 11 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 633)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

May 18, 2012 Stacy marked it as to-read

Shelves: kindle

I receives this book in ebook format from the author. This book caught me from the very first page. Aileen is a Water Elemental who doesn't get along with the animals in her element. She is asked to help with locating a lost transport ship from the coast guard. This leads to a mystery of what the ship was carrying and what happened to it. I enjoyed the love story between Aileen and Colin to me it was more of a subplot that happened while the main plot of the book was unfolding. I really enjoyed...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 16, 2012 Susan Ashcraft rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, detective, faves, fiction, fantasy, mystery, novel, paranormal, recommended, suspense

Aileen Donovan isn't just a research scientist at the Undina Reasearch Center in Westport Washington who happens to be attractive and available. Nor is she just Seamus' daughter nor just Keenan's sister. She is an elemental, a supernatural being tasked with caring for the earth and its animals.

Aileen is a water elemental and as such she has learned how to harness her powers to use the water but she is still an apprentice and it certainly doesn't help that the very animals she is tasked to protec...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 07, 2012 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 12x12-challenge, 2012-challenges, abc-challenge, animals, author-review-requests, beach, charmed, ebooks, family, i-own, magic-paranormal, nature, secrets

This review was originally posted on Melissa's Midnight Musings on August 4 2012

This is another book I've had for a while that I really wish I had gotten to sooner.

The first thing that caught my attention is the fact that there are two Charmed references within the first two pages. If you're a long time reader here at Melissa's Midnight Musings, you know that I LOVE Charmed. It's my all time favorite show. So that set the tone for me, and got me thinking, "this is going to be an awesome book."

I...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 31, 2013 Cathleen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was a wonderful surprise to me. The author, Angela Wallace, got my attention with the first page and kept it right to the end.

The story has a wonderful mix of ancient myths, mythologoy and God combined into an interesting and wonderful storyline.

The story centers around a young woman who with her family run an oceanography facility. They are also part of an ancient society of Stewards who were annointed by God to protect all of His creations.

Aileen Donovan is an Elemental and has magi...more

like · see review

Mar 03, 2013 Mistress of the Dark Path rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Aileen Donovan is a woman with a few special skills regular humans don't have. As a water elemental, she can manipulate water and communicate with the creatures in the sea. This made it ideal for her to become an oceanographer and work with her father and brother (who are also water elementals) at their research center in Westport, Washington. Though there is a whole society of people with skills like theirs, it is a heavily guarded secret. Aileen is fine with that, but it does become tricky to...more Aileen Donovan is a woman with a few special skills regular humans don't have. As a water elemental, she can manipulate water and communicate with the creatures in the sea. This made it ideal for her to become an oceanographer and work with her father and brother (who are also water elementals) at their research center in Westport, Washington. Though there is a whole society of people with skills like theirs, it is a heavily guarded secret. Aileen is fine with that, but it does become tricky to cover up when paranormal occurrences begin happening in their area. She is good friends with one of the local Coast Guardsmen, Colin, who gets his hands full with a suspicious ship wreck. What she can't tell him is that there is a lot more going on that normal science can't explain. This is further complicated by an attraction she is beginning to have for him.

Aileen finds herself caught in the middle of solving the mystery behind the wreck and why this one is so different from any others. It begins with a simple job of plotting possible locations for where the ship may have sunk, but quickly escalates into so much more. As it turns out, a sea creature thought to be nothing more than a fable has risen from the depths of the ocean and is causing mayhem and destruction. Not only this, but there appears to be key players who want a strange object that was on board the sunken ship. Based on gathered clues, Aileen realizes that the item could be extremely dangerous if it gets into the wrong hands. She and her fellow elementals must find it first before any more innocent people are hurt. This means lying to a man she is falling for and it makes her job all that much more difficult.

Elemental Magic is a light urban fantasy full of intrigue, paranormal, and action packed scenes. The main character, Aileen, is not your typical UF heroine. She isn't fearless and doesn't normally fight bad guys through physical confrontations. Rather, she is a down to earth woman that is driven to help keep the human population and sea animals around her safe. If that means putting herself in harm's way, then she is willing to take the risks. Despite her lack of combat skills, she does have a few tricks up her sleeve. She can manipulate water to use in attacking her foes and her father taught her how to shoot handguns rather well. This means she isn't completely inept in a dangerous situation, but simply lacks experience in fighting. She does manage to be resourceful and that gets her out of a few messes.

Aileen also has a few insecurities that affect her behavior. She believes her magical capabilities aren't as perfected as other member of her family and she tends to be somewhat introverted, which has resulted in a lack of social graces. It makes for some rather interesting confrontations that she gets into. This also means she doesn't know how to handle her feelings for Colin who is showing obvious signs of attraction to her. It makes for a sweet romantic story set in the midst of action packed scenes occurring throughout the novel. There is rarely a dull moment to be found.

I found the world building and character development to be well done with this debut novel for the series. There is still a lot more to learn, but a clear picture is drawn and the story has a realistic feel. I would have liked to see a bit more about Colin's background outside the coastguard but I'm sure that information will come out in future novels. The romantic scenes in this novel will not go beyond some hot kisses, but that was enough to satisfy me. Overall, Elemental Magic was a great story to read and I will certainly be following the series closely as it continues. I highly recommend those who read paranormal romance and urban fantasy check this one out! (less)

like · see review

Jan 29, 2013 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Good storyline...a slightly different concept from other books about affinities or magical "gifts". Instead of having gifts, there are special people given divine powers to aid in maintaining balance....in this first book, the main characters are water elementals who can manipulate water and "communicate" with sea creatures among other things. In Aileen and Keenan's case, their mother was a mermaid so they had some differences in their affinity.

The main cast of characters are very likable...I lo...more

like · see review

Oct 30, 2012 Beth F. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle, 2012

I’ve been in a reading slump lately. I can’t seem to finish anything I start which is extremely frustrating because I’m typically the kind of reader that never leaves books unfinished or partially read, even if I’m not enjoying what I’m reading.

This, however, was a solid, enjoyable read that caught my attention from the start. It only took me two days to finish the story and I’m interested to read further in the series to find out what happens next. For a free Kindle download from a self-publish...more I’ve been in a reading slump lately. I can’t seem to finish anything I start which is extremely frustrating because I’m typically the kind of reader that never leaves books unfinished or partially read, even if I’m not enjoying what I’m reading.

This, however, was a solid, enjoyable read that caught my attention from the start. It only took me two days to finish the story and I’m interested to read further in the series to find out what happens next. For a free Kindle download from a self-published author, this
was such a refreshing find!

Aileen Donovan is a water elemental, which means she can manipulate water with her mind and communicate with sea creatures. Aileen works for an elemental research center that oversees the balance of the ocean and its creatures, which primarily consists of reporting
polluters and poachers to the appropriate human authorities. Aileen’s job description changes abruptly when a ship carrying a mysterious supernatural cargo sinks, and the ship’s wealthy, shady owner begins
making unreasonable demands on Aileen.

*cue ominous clouds and strikes of lightning*

Water elementals, as well as their fire, earth, and air counterparts work in conjunction with the Stewardship, an international agency that
oversees all four elements to ensure a balance. The Stewardship, as well as all elementals, were anointed by God to serve the Earth after Adam and Eve were shunned from Eden, which I thought was an interesting and unique premise. It also set a “clean” undertone for the entire story which was unexpected for something in the UF/PNR genre.

The author openly admits her Christian beliefs in the author’s note, and as an extremely flawed Christian myself, I’m not opposed to
reading the occasional Christian fic. However, it isn’t something I usually seek out because I find most of it offensive or in bad taste
for one reason or another (ie, fake, idealistic, closed-minded, poorly written, poorly executed, etc.) This author, however, found an
appealing balance of clean but not so squeaky as to be unrealistic. It was also belief-centric without being preachy. At all. It was good.

I enjoyed the story, but I only gave it three stars instead of four because the romantic aspect between Aileen and Colin the Coast Guard hottie felt unnecessary to the plot as a whole. It could have been left out and I might have given the book a higher rating. Mainly, this was because Aileen and Colin had been friends for years before the story started and although Aileen is oblivious, it’s obvious that he has unrequited (but boring) feelings for her. Unfortunately, the love angle fell a little flat and their kisses and eventual declarations of love were emotionally underwhelming for me. It was
almost like that part of it was written in because love stories are what get people to pick up a new series. I think maybe the author could have added a teensy-weensy bit of angst and drama to their love without turning it into something tawdry and that would have been a
sound improvement. So we’ll see how it goes with the next one!
(less)

like · see review

Apr 27, 2012 Stacy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just got done reading “Elemental Magic” by Angela Wallace, which she sent to me as an ebook. If you are a fan of element bending like in “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” you’ll find a lot to like here, as I did.

The protagonist Aileen has supernatural abilities – she is able to manipulate water in order to help sea creatures and others. There are other “elementals” in the world, able to work with fire, air, and earth. As members of the Stewardship, these elementals are tasked with protecting the ea...more

4 likes · like · see review

Apr 29, 2012 David Fournier rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Young teens and up.

Shelves: own-on-kindle, read-2012

I really enjoyed reading this book. It had the right balance of mystery, suspense, romance, and the paranormal. Angela Wallace did an excellent job of making the characters seen like normal every day people, not super-heroes/villans like some authors tend to do in their stories.

I recommend this to everyone from young teen and up. And plan to read the next book in the series "Dry Spell".

Thanks Angela.

1 like · like · see review

May 26, 2012 Jasmin marked it as to-read

This was a great book. I loved the characters and the way that they were written. The way that scientist were the elementals at the same time was very clever. The romance was during all the chaos was a great addition to the story line and the book as a whole. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a next favorite. And I can't wait to read the next in the series.

1 like · like · see review

May 31, 2012 Monica-marie Vincent rated it 4 of 5 stars

From the moment I started this book, I was swept up in a tidal wave of the story. Angela Wallace's Elemental world was easy to lose myself in because she made it such an integral part of this world we currently live in. I can't wait to read the sequel Dry Spell when it comes out this summer! I say pack your boats to get in on this story!

1 like · like · see review

Nov 04, 2012 Ian rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars

Aileen is a water elemental whose job is to protect the oceans. After a ship mysteriously sinks taking with it the entire crew and the cargo, mysterious things start happening in her small coastal community. When people come into contact with a strange coral like substance found on the body of one of the sailors, they seem to go insane.

Adding to her troubles, an evil alchemist is determined to get the cargo for himself and he's decided that she is in the way.

Together with Colin, a sai...more

1 like · like · see review

May 11, 2012 Audrey Cawthorpe rated it 4 of 5 stars

A big thank you to the author for an ebook copy of her novel. This book is a nice light read (not light subject wise but in that you could take it with you and read it over a weekend). There is lots of interesting little tidbits about a secret world and mythology we as humans know nothing about. We also get introduced to the characters and get a feel for them without a big in-depth back story, or chapters and chapters at the beginning getting to know them (which in my opinion can often start a b...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 27, 2012 Katie Mercer rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was sent an e-book copy of Elemental Magic by Angela Wallace and I was pretty excited for similar reasons to why I was excited to read Seanan McGuires Discount Armageddon - both authors are taking a slightly different angle to the traditional UF read - McGuire threw in cryptozoology and Wallace threw in elemental manipulation. Most of the other books I've read that use elementals as a theme are more traditional sci-fi/fantasy/historical, so it was interesting to see it from a more 'modern' ang...more

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 27, 2012 Kris rated it 5 of 5 stars

I received this as an ebook from the author herself. Elemental magic had me from page 1! I love paranormal and anything that involves the ocean, so I was intrigued by the write up on Goodreads.com. Aileen is an oceanographer who works at a research facility with family and other elemental users. Their element is water and they know how to use it! Elemental Magic has mystery, intrigue and even a love story all exquisitely rolled into one. The author has a magical way with words and I could envisi...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 23, 2012 Jennifer R Ricketts rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: received-for-review-from-author, faves

The author graciously gave me a free copy of her book for my Kindle for review. I was pleasantly surprised by the story--after so many books have come out lately where the main character possesses some type of supernatural power, I was excited to read about a girl who can control the element of water. This was something different and fresh for me to read.

The main character, Aileen Donovan, is an elemental with control over water. There are other people who also can control water as well as peop...more

1 like · like · see review

May 10, 2012 Stephm rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal, favorites, nook-book, elementals

This book was great. The author introduces us to Aileen, who is a water elemental. Aileen is trying to finish her apprenticeship when she gets called in to offer her insight to a lost transport ship. Once they find the bodies and ship, Aileen and her family (who are also water elementals) realize that there is something different about this case. Along for the ride is US Coast Guard Colin Benson (Aileen's love interest, she doesn't realize it at first). This book doesn't just look at the investi...more

1 like · like · see review

May 18, 2012 Valerie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I received the ebook from the author after entering the Goodreads first read contest. The book was an easy read, the main character a water elemental. Her dashing hero(to be in the beginning) a member of the Coast Guard. While we find out from the beginning that he has a crush on her, we aren't really given any reason why. I offer this as an example of the type of depth I find the book to be lacking. I found the book interesting but lacking in color and details which rendered it a bit flat for m...more

like · see review

May 05, 2012 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks-i-own, arc-and-given-by-authors, books-to-buy-in-english

I had the chance to get a ebook copy of this book by the author herself, so first thank you to Angela Wallace and thumbs up for publishing this amazing novel all by yourself!

I have to admit that i didn't have expectations when i started reading this book. Ther storyline seemed full of promises but with so many story about magic, elements and all it's hard to find real original storyline. I have to say Angela Wallace delivered an amazing story and more!

I was hooked after only the first chapter. I...more

1 like · like · see review

May 04, 2012 Jenny Franklin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I was sent an e-book copy of Elemental Magic by Angela Wallace and I was pretty excited to read it for a few reasons. I am a big fan of books that have anything to do with paranormal and mythology. To have a book that was both, was really exciting. The author did a great job at getting you hooked into the story and it was easy to imagine everything going on. It was a nice change for it to be about Elementals, instead of the usual vampires and werewolves (altho I do like those as well) it was jus...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 13, 2012 Niall Teasdale rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy

I'd go more around 2.5 stars really, I find this one a little difficult to rate and I'm giving the benefit of the doubt, so to speak.

I picked up the sample of this from Smashwords and was intrigued more or less despite myself, so I put it on my "too read" list as much because it seemed a little outside my normal reading as anything.

Our heroine is Aileen Undina, one of an elite group of people with the power to control one of the four elements; in her case it's water. She is not a "kick-ass femal...more I'd go more around 2.5 stars really, I find this one a little difficult to rate and I'm giving the benefit of the doubt, so to speak.

I picked up the sample of this from Smashwords and was intrigued more or less despite myself, so I put it on my "too read" list as much because it seemed a little outside my normal reading as anything.

Our heroine is Aileen Undina, one of an elite group of people with the power to control one of the four elements; in her case it's water. She is not a "kick-ass female" so if you prefer your female leads to be able to take on the world without breaking a sweat, don't go here. Aileen is insecure, something of a romantic, certainly a workaholic, and typically oblivious to the attentions of Colin, the hunky Coast Guard who we all know she'll be solidly in love with by the end of the book, even if she isn't. I guess Elemental Magic falls into the paranormal romance category, but there is enough "action" plot in there to keep one interested even if you find romance a bit boring.

My problem with Aileen early on in the book was her tendency to get into trouble she could have avoided by not keeping secrets she had no real reason to keep. She's a scientist, an oceanographer, and dedicated to that, but her reasoning goes right out the window as soon as things get a little odd. It seemed like a plot device rather than realistic behaviour, especially since she hated keeping these secrets from people she had no reason to. Once she got over this things got a fair bit smoother. The McGuffin for the story did not seem to operate entirely logically either; that could be just me.

The copy I read included a sample of the next of Ms Wallace's books, Dry Spell. I'll be looking out for it. With the introductions out of the way, I'd like to see a good plot married to interesting character development, and that's often easier in the later books in a series. The teaser certainly had an interesting punchline (even if, given the title, I can almost see the plot from here).

All in all, not bad, certainly better than I might have imagined, but not quite as good as I feel was possible.(less)

like · see review

Jun 04, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: giveaway-read

I received this book as a goodreads giveaway, and am very happy that I did.

It is a great, fun read. I found the characters enjoyable, and, although they can wield water (I kept picturing Katara's movements and water manipulation from Avatar: The Last Airbender) they were all believable, and likable. I quickly liked all of the characters, and very quickly became interested in Aileen and Colin's relationship. The story is well done. Not too complicated, with more focus on characters than on creati...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 20, 2012 Raven rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the story. It has a supernatural plot, but it is not the normal supernatural story. The characters are Elementals. They control what connects with their Element. The elements correspond with Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. According to the story, the Elementals were created by God. Although the views of the author differ from my beliefs, I still found the story enjoyable and was caught up trying to solve the mystery within the story. I enjoyed the twists the plot took. It is a fair...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 09, 2012 Sheila rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I got Elemental Magic, I thought it was a YA story. Boy, was I surprised to find out it not and I'm wondering why I thought that. It's a paranormal, a mystery, a romance. I loved it! I liked how Greek mythology is part of the story and is told through the characters as they try to solve the mystery of what is sinking ships off the coast of Washington. As Aileen and her brother, Keenan, hide their supernatural powers from the Coast Guard officer, Colin, they work on solving the mystery. Alon...more

1 like · like · see review

May 23, 2012 Daniela rated it 3 of 5 stars

First off, ignore the cheesy cover art. My biggest concern with the cover is that it portrays a teen, whereas Aileen Donovan is actually 26. I think it takes away from the intelligence of the novel and makes it look like another addition to the lame teen genre, when honestly, it’s not.

The novel is a little short, especially for the first in a series. That’s my way of saying; I wish the novel had more of back story about the four types of elementals- water, fire, air, earth. Also, about their phi...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 21, 2012 Jennifer Wells rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The premise of Elemental Magic sounds intriguing, and I’m happy to say it doesn’t disappoint!

Aileen is a water elemental still honing her powers. Suddenly, she is put to the test when a ship laden with mysterious cargo goes missing, a sea dragon attacks, and she joins her friends and family in a race against a dangerous alchemist to find the missing cargo.

Plenty of magic keeps the story moving at a rapid pace. The addition of creatures like mermaids, nereids, and sea dragons keeps the reader wo...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 27, 2012 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fun, exciting read that was both light and directed to an adult audience. (Not kinky adult, just not teen.)

The magic was perfectly included in our world and different enough from other urban fantasy I've read to feel fresh and original. The characters were just deep enough to allow you to connect but not overweighting the rest of the story. It had an exciting story and generally a good ending that still left me excited for the next book.

I enjoyed it a lot and will definitely be reading the oth...more

like · see review

Nov 25, 2012 cathepsut rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012, urban-fantasy

The heroin was a little too naive for my liking and for me the story lacked suspense. The big, bad villain was a little flat and not very scary -- I would have wished for more of a backstory of the supernatural powers and politics of this world. I found the combination of Greek mythology and Christian faith a little strange. The romance was lukewarm.
Considering that this is a self-published novel that I got for free through the Kindle Lending Library, it is still a solid story with likeable char...more

like · see review

Feb 02, 2012 Diana Murdock rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love, love, love all things paranormal. Mainly because I believe there is way more to this universe and its energies than most people give recognition to. That being said, Ms. Wallace could have gone overboard with the manipulation of elements and the character's special powers, but she didn't. By letting my imagination run along side of the novel, I could see this happening in our world - if we were fortunate enough to see it, that is. The events that take place and the "elemental powers" tha...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 08, 2012 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved the blending mythologies in this book. Cetus, the Nereids, Elementals and Alchemists mixed all together with a few other magical elements to create a fun, fast-paced ride on the coast! Aileen is a very real character who often lets her own feelings and desires get the best of her, and the relationships between the cast of characters is great.

1 like · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 21 22 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (2)

Genres

Fantasy

15 users

Fantasy > Paranormal

14 users

Fantasy > Magic

8 users

Mystery

8 users

Romance

5 users

Romance > Paranormal Romance

5 users

Suspense

4 users

Contemporary

3 users

Fantasy > Urban Fantasy

3 users

Occult > Magick

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

The Chocolatier's Wife
by Cindy Lynn Speer
Destiny United
by Leia Shaw
Hide'n Go Seek
by Dale Mayer
A Touch of Ice
by L.J. Charles
A Gift of Ghosts
by Sarah Wynde

About Angela Wallace

Angela Wallace has been penning adventures ever since she was sucked through a magical portal as a child. What she saw and whom she met gave birth to exciting and complex fantasy worlds where defying the laws of physics was a bonus. She has since come back down to earth, only to discover this mortal realm has magic of its own. Now she is quite at home in the world of urban fantasy, though believes...more

More about Angela Wallace...

Books by Angela Wallace

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Elemental Magic

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Elemental Magic
avg rating	preview: Elemental Magic Goodreads rating: 3.98 (99 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13572214-elemental-magic?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364671033l/13572214.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13572214-elemental-magic?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Elemental Magic by Angela Wallace[/url]

Elemental Magic (Elemental Magic #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website