After her two best friends marry a blood-sucking vampire and furry-faced werewolf, Corinne D'Alessandro is making a vow of her own: NO interspecies dating. But when her editor asks her to investigate "leprechaun" sightings, the sassy New York reporter finds herself on the trail of the hottest story of the year--and the sexiest man alive...
His name is Luc and he's gorgeous as any Prince Charming in any bedtime story. There's just one problem: He's not human, he's fae. A captain of the Fae Queen's Guard, Luc is on a dangerous mission--and he could use the help of a certain leprechaun-hunting reporter. But when their two worlds collide, the sparks begin to fly. If Corinne and Luc can't control their lust--and focus on the villains in this story--their faerie-tale romance won't end happily ever after...
Not Your Ordinary Faerie Tale was far better than I expected. Christine Warren really takes me by surprise with these books, I keep expecting all the heavy romance and swooning leading ladies, but that's not what I get! Sure there's the steamy, hot romance but the heroine is anything but swooning. Sure, she swoons, but she also has a mind of her own and a ferocity to her. She doesn't want to see herself as being the damsel in distress.
Two issues I have with the cover description and its inaccuracy to the story is, one: leprechaun. There is no leprechaun in the story and it's only mentioned once. Instead the term "elf" is used. An elf is spotted around town and people are suddenly talking about all things weird. Corinne's boss puts her on the case, much to her displeasure since she's tired of the Others, but feels obligated to give Rafe the heads up on this elf sighting.
Rafe apparently is already in the know, because he was talking with Luc about the matter when Corinne busts in to see him, quite literally too. She's a no-nonsense kind of gal. She sees Luc and feels some attraction towards him since he's a good looking man, but after a few words out of his mouth she writes him off as a jerk. Before she knows it, though, they share a steamy kiss that leads to something more. All the while they work together trying to find this missing Fae--who happens to be the Queen's nephew.
Which brings me to my second issue with the cover description, it's that last line, about Luc and Corinne's lust for one another getting in the way of finding their missing person, that's an exaggeration. Sure the two are hot for one another, but it doesn't really effect their working the case.
But their romance is something much, much more than just simple lust. Luc knows shortly after their first kiss, Corinne is his heartmate. You can get the idea from the term, but he can't let Corinne know this or else it could scare her away and he can't have that. It doesn't help much when other people keep trying to ask Corinne about the whole heartmate thing before Luc has his chance.
Once again, we get to see some of the original characters from the first book; Reggie, the newly made vampire, Missy, married to a werewolf and pregnant and even Ava, the very commanding one. There are hints to Ava being up next for her own Other romance so I expect her book is coming soon.
The pacing to this one was rather nice. It's a simple missing person case, but naturally leads to something much bigger than that! I guess I should've noticed some clues in the beginning, but in truth I was totally blindsided by the ending! Although, naturally, things end happily for our hero and heroine!
Overall this was an enjoyable read, probably a close rival to being my favorite, not sure if I'd say it was this one or Big Bad Wolf. I am enjoying the dynamics of the characters in this one! I love how their paths cross again and again! It's what I see in mind of my own series that I am struggling to write these days! Now I must dive into the next one in this series, going to have to wait to read the ones following (expect for the next next one) since I want to read them in the order Christine says they occur in!
Overall Rating 4/5 stars
I haven't read this series yet, but I'm interested now. If it's a near favorite for you, it must be good!
ReplyDeleteYAY! I'm glad this is a good one! I've read the first 2 in the series but haven't made it farther. Glad to know this one is just as good! Great review, Jessica!
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