Review: Just Enough Magic by Stacey Zackerly

Being the same age, and living up next door to each other, Kyle and Nykki grew up the best of friends. Nykki had a way of getting Kyle to go along with her plans, which usually included Kyle taking on a female role to participate in whatever game Nykki had in mind. What made this a little unique was the fact that Nykki was partially a witch, and could actually turn Kyle into a real girl, that Nykki dubbed Tiffany.

As they got older, and drifted somewhat apart, Kyle didn't spend much time as Tiffany, but during the summer after high school graduation Nykki was anxious to have a female friend to share in her increasingly raunchy adventures. Despite his protests, Kyle was reluctantly dragged into life as Tiffany, with some surprising results.

"Just Enough Magic" is a wicked little slice of transgender erotica, suitable for Halloween, or any time, from acclaimed author Stacey Zackerly. Filled with romance, humor, and lots and lots of sex, it's a magical concoction of delightful sensuality.

The usual disclaimers apply here for me being a fan of Stacey Zackerly’s work.  I find her stories to be steamy, but with enough heart to make them more than the usual sex-centric fare.  Her work has ranged from the modern to the Gothic and this latest read, “Just Enough Magic,” is a nice blend of the real and the supernatural.

Nykki and Kyle have been friends since childhood.  Despite the opposite genders, there has been no sexual tension, only a thick-as-thieves relationship that tends to run toward Nykki’s preferred activities.  The fact that Nykki and here family come from a ancestry of witches means that Nykki has the power to change Kyle into Tiffany, her girlish playmate.  Kyle indulges these transformations as a child, enjoying his time as Tiffany to play with dolls and have tea parties with his dear friend.

As time goes on, Nykki grows wilder and nudges her friend ‘Tiffany’ into more public forays as a girl, until a fateful summer when Tiffany finally comes into her own.  With Nykki’s hand at her back, Tiffany will explore femininity in a whole new way, and the tension between who is really the true self will come to a head, some pun intended.

While there is certainly an air of sexual liberation and promiscuity that goes along with these stories, where a young man discovers the joy of female sexuality, Zackerly is never content to do only that sort of tale.  As with all her work, she cannot resist exploring the more emotional aspects of these changes, and the nature of the true self – what is the mask and what is the real face?  The end result may not be surprising, but it was well-earned, and there is a genuinely happy ending to the story that I loved.

I don’t want to say this is Zackerly’s best work, but it is a top-tier story from a very talented and empathetic author, and if you’ve never read her, this is an excellent place to start!

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