A Gift of Jacinth

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Dr. Douglass McCandliss feels like life is getting away from him. His ex-wife took his children two years ago and he has been searching for them and was losing all hope of finding them. One night, wasting time, he goes into an antique store and purchases a silver teapot. No idea why, he just did.

What he did not know is that Jacinth, a genie, was in the teapot! Jacinth helps get his kids back, to prove she is a genie, and then Douglas needs help his kids. He convinces Jacinth to stay on as his nanny until he can find a true nanny. Plus, he still has 2 wishes left........

This book is a fantastic mix of love, real life, magic, and hope. There is a 3rd book in this series and I cannot wait to start it!

Book 2 in the series. The three books do echo each other a bit, and I read book 3 before this one, so there were quite a few spots that were repeated. Distracting a bit, although did give a bit more details here and there, still felt like could have been written separately a bit more. This one focuses on Jacinth, the djinn who comes to Douglas after he buys her vessel. Good story, and love the kids. Would highly recommend this book and series, but suggest you read them in order for a better flow of the story.

Jacinth has such a beautiful heart!

This lovely romance picks up right after the HEA in Wishes in a Bottle as Jacinth embarks on a new venture with Douglas, the man who acquires her magical teapot and is absolutely flabbergasted at the idea of a genie - Djinn - willing to grant him three wishes. He wants nothing to do with any of it, until Jacinth asks, "What do you want more than anything in the world?"

Having lost his two children two years before when they were kidnapped by their non-custodial mother, all Douglas wants is to have them safe back at home. This isn't your mother's Bewitched, where a snap of the fingers gets the intended result with no regard for explaining how it all happened. The details shown in this story are exquisite as both Jacinth and Douglas balance taking care of the children with keeping the Djinn secret safe.

The issue of a romance between Jacinth and Douglas is not insurmountable, but it is fraught with baggage that Jacinth carries from her own Djinn/human parental combination. I loved how the author paid attention to both sides of this complex situation, and loved even more how it was all worked out in the end. Like the first book, this is a standalone romance, though there are overlapping events that this book shares with the next book, so if you're as enchanted by the story as I was you'll want to dive right into Book 3, A Cat for Troy, as soon as you can.

I did have a minor issue with the timeline (how can Douglas be born a year or so after the '60s and still be only 31 today?) but that was easily overshadowed by the excellent story and intriguing action. These books are unlike any paranormal I've ever read before, and for the creativity and ingenuity alone this series is well worth adding to your collection. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.