Rating: 3 stars

First in the Queen of the Otherworld novels …

Maggie Donovan is not having a normal day. While visiting her ex-boyfriend, Joe, at his work to drop off his remaining belongings from their recent split, Maggie finds him with a man-eater. A literal man-eater, sitting on his lap and having poor Joe for lunch.

During her attempts to save Joe, Maggie grapples with the she-demon and manages to wrest a pendant from around its neck. As the only possible weapon available to her, Maggie uses the pendant to bludgeon the she-demon. During the struggle, the pendant breaks open, releasing a golden dust which destroys the she-demon and infuses Maggie with a golden glow and ever-increasing strength.

Upon her return home, Maggie is greeted by Culhane, a Fenian warrior, who informs her it is her destiny to defeat Queen Mab and become the next Queen of the Otherworld. That not all of her powers have been revealed. That her powers will continue to grow. That she is changing into a Faery. That all demons are out to kill her and take her power. And that if Queen Mab ever learns of her very existence, Maggie is toast.

Slow to grip, but when it does, this novel doesn’t let you go. Even after reading the book in full, I get the feeling that we’re still building up inertia, plot-wise, and yet the tempo doesn’t let the reader put the book down.

I’m interested in seeing what comes next. If you are too, Beguiled, the next in the Queen of the Otherworld novels, is scheduled to be released in August of 2009.
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ISBN: 9780451225764
Publication date January 2009, through Signet Eclipse