The problem with this book is that I never came to like its heroine, Chloe Nichols. She's OK in her own way - has some friends who like her, is a good boss to her single staff member in the magic shop that she runs
- but she lacks in personal morality in terms of using her newfound magic. Chloe doesn't see much wrong with using magic to influence others around her - to encourage a man to propose to her, for example, and that's only the beginning. What if the man to whom she is now engaged isn't actually her intended man - and what if she bumps into that man a day later?
Since Chloe seems very happy to do what suits her, that doesn't seem to be too much of a problem:
break off with the fiancé and start a fling with new man.
Of course, there's more to the story than that, and Chloe does come to a realization in due course that her behavior is wrong (although she appears to realize this for selfish reasons, too - because she will never know if the man loves her for herself or because she's enchanted him to). Chloe also tries to help a young woman who needs her assistance, even if this involves snooping around in her boyfriend's home and in a room that he keeps private.
Her apparent blithe disregard of good behavior outweighs the positives about her.
Other side-characters in A Breath of Magic aren't ever fully developed. In fact, the scenes with Verda and Alice and the others
are pretty dull. While the book isn't boring, I struggled to sympathize with Chloe because of her behavior, and the hero always felt rather distant and indistinct.