Mackenzie was as lovely and fair as a faerie princess. In fact, she was a faerie princess. Her mother, the ambitious Queen Moya of the Blessed Court of faeries, had decided to cement the fragile year-old peace between the Blessed and Unblessed Courts by offering Mackenzie up in marriage to Prince Elwyn. Those of the Unblessed Court were said to enjoy bondage and torture; Prince Elwyn had a dark reputation even for a land full of dark reputations. Mackenzie was not thrilled by the idea of that kind of marriage. Besides, she was mourning her beloved Cedric who had been dead for a year. She had known love before, with Cedric, and she wouldn’t take less than love in a mate. Not that she was chaste, by any means--but she wanted to choose her own mate.

Then a dark visitor, Rowan, arrived at her mother’s court. She was so intrigued by Rowan that she led him into the glade by the river. One thing led to another, (which would have been okay by the terms of her faerie marriage contract as long as she didn’t fall in love.) But she did fall in love. To protect her new beloved, she conked him on the head and . . .

but there’s not much more that I can say without giving away too much of the plot of this too-short story. Mandy Roth has written an intriguing fantasy of promiscuous faeries, raping giants, maternal green hags, Kelpies, lots of magic and an entire mythos behind the faerie world. Because it is written in first person from the point-of-view of a (possibly misled) young and impulsive heroine, it is truly impossible to tell which of the two distinctive love interests will turn out to be most important man in her life; will it be her best friend or her soul mate? The story left me ready for the tables to turn; I am breathlessly waiting to read the next book in the series just to find out what happens next.

Allie B
© July 2004