In a sweet novel filled with flowers, magic, and everlasting love, J. C. Cervantes takes us to Mexico, to the magical hacienda “la Casa de las Flores,” where a family of women have woven their magic for generations using the enchanted flowers they grow on their beautiful flower farm. “The Anatomy of Magic,” focuses on Lily Estrada, weaver of memory magic. Each of the women in the Estrada family wields her own kind of floral magic.

Lily is heading to the family hacienda after a tragedy occurred during what should have been a routine operation in her work as an obstetrician in Los Angeles. She needs to be home with her family to heal from her heartache, but as is soon revealed, Lily has still not recovered from a different kind of tragedy that happened a decade ago. A tragedy that she will need to confront if she is to move on because for the last ten years, she has forced herself to diminish memories that would have caused her pain.

As we learn about Lily’s romantic heartbreak, the boy she grew up with and fell in love with who broke her heart when he abruptly told her he didn’t love her, we see how she has hardened her heart. Lily didn’t have the support of her close-knit family, because she used her magic to shield her feelings for him so that they wouldn’t know. That worked in her favor, she thought, when Sam abandoned her. At least she didn’t have to face her family with explanations she didn’t have.

But now, as she returns to her birthplace to heal, she must confront Sam, who also has returned to La Ventana, a small town in the Mexican highlands, to run a horse ranch. Will Lily be able to find the fortitude to face Sam and ask him why he behaved the way he did? What possible reason could he have had to be so cruel? And when, in a misguided attempt to make things right, Lily sets off a catastrophe on her family’s magical flower farm, what will it take to make it right? Will Lily, even with the help of the other Estrada women, be able to fix the horrible wrong that Lily wrought?

Cervantes’ writing is is filled with poems, with cryptic “magical” images as the first person narrative makes Lily’s feelings and the purpose behind her actions crystal clear. We can see the mistakes she makes, the regret she feels, and the love she has for not only Sam, but her wonderful family. We also are treated to the setting, a magical flower farm, that makes us want to go out and plant scented flowers because even though we can’t have our own magical flower farm, just inhaling the scent of aromatic lavender, peonies, and roses is a kind of magic of its own. Cervantes also explores the very real human need to fix our mistakes and we watch with bated breath to see how far Lily would go to right the wrong that she perpetrated. Just what will someone give up for those they love?

While this is a romantic fantasy, it’s one filled with some deeper questions about life, sacrifice, and resilience. And while this book is, in a way, a sequel to “The Enchanted Hacienda,” it’s about a different sister with a completely different plot. Only the setting and the family members are the same. So while newcomers to the Estrada family will be able to enjoy this story on its own, those who read the first book will revel in a return to that enchanted, magical, serene place. Escape for a while into the beautiful, serene world of magical flowers, heady aromas, beautiful scenery, gorgeous horses, and a feel-good tale of love, forgiveness, and family.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.