As a long time lover of fairy tales I have felt for years that something is missing from the romance market: A truly great fae romance. Most romances depict the fae as evil, such as Nancy Werlin’s fantastic Impossible or Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series. Others somewhat change the nature of the traditions to give us something new and fresh, such as Christine Warren’s The Others series. I am fine with both those options so long as I get a great book out of them. I still long for a strong fae hero, though. Someone brave and strong and magical, who looks like Legolas in the Lord of the Rings . Or like Elrond. Is that too much to ask for? It might be.

Evangeline (Evie) is the daughter of a despised witch and a strong wizard. Her own magic is breathtaking in its power. As we begin our story, she is looking to create a passage between the Fae and Mortal realms. If she can do this the Fae will have an escape route should the standing stones ever fail. She is both delighted and frightened by her success – delighted she was able to accomplish her goal, frightened at the momentary flash of black shadows that accompanied her drain of power. The goal of this experiment is to prove to the Fae she is as good and helpful as her mother was wicked. She wants no taint of darkness about her. Perhaps then she will cease to be merely a tolerated presence among them and be fully accepted. Pleased with her momentary triumph, she heads to King Rohan’s court, anticipating another joyous moment: Half-mortal King Lachlan Macleod, whose “lusty appetites” are legend, is about to get a comeuppance before the council.

Lachlan Macleod has no desire to marry when there are so many beautiful women about to be seduced and enjoyed. It was therefore easy to refuse when King Magnus offered him his sister’s hand in marriage. As a King himself, Lachlan should have realized the danger in which an outright refusal put his people, but it is up to Evangeline and Rohan to spell it out of for him. Their warnings arrive too late however. Uscias, Lachlan’s advisor and friend, is taken. Lachlan knows he must rescue him. Since his own magic is weak, he has no choice but to take a powerful wizard like Evangeline along, even though spending time with the sharp tongued beauty is the last thing he wants to do.

Evangeline is thrilled. This will not only give her a chance to show her power and usefulness to all Fae but will enable her to help Lachlan choose a bride. His marriage will give the Fae of the Enchanted Isle a strategic alliance. Their battle does not go as easily as planned, though, and in the end a difficult decision must be made – a decision that results in Lachlan’s new bride being her.

Where do I begin? The silliness starts within the first chapter and just doesn’t end. Lachlan is a poor leader, more interested in jiggling breasts than ruling his kingdom and doing what is right for his people. I wanted to slap him when he got an erection while sharing a horse with Evie while on a rescue mission. Speaking of which, the whole rescue mission was a joke. Evie can’t ride but insists on coming along. Lachlan doesn’t want to take his best female warriors because he is in some sort of snit with them. There is more talk of lust than strategy. I got the impression no one was very interested in actually rescuing the mentor – it was all just a wild adventure.

Another point that really bothered me was how the magic was used. When Evie asks servants where their king is and they don’t answer, she turns the floor to ice and makes them fall. Later in the book we are meant to find it amusing when a young girl under her charge dumps someone in with the pigs, then uses a rain cloud to clean them up. In almost every book I’ve read, the use of magic on or against someone is reserved for battle. For a strong magician to use it against those weaker or without magic for petty amusement is deeply frowned upon. Evie uses hers on people constantly, without even bothering to ask permission. Then when a large amount is needed for a legitimate use she is often drained. I did not find this sort of behavior endearing in the least.

When you throw in Lachlan’s Scottish brogue, you’ve essentially hit the final nail in the coffin. Oh, and lets not forget the vampire moment shared by the two leads. Traditionally, Fae heal with nature, not blood. Between the ridiculous plot and the cutesy speak I became completely dizzy. It was a struggle every day to pick up the book and read it. I tried to view it as a farce – something light-hearted and funny, not to be taken at all seriously. Even using that standard the book did not work for me. With the romance market full of paranormals and the fantasy market abounding, I would urge you to look for other novels that can satisfy your love of magical romance.