Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Allison Fraclose

Since her mother took off, Leslies life has crashed into a nightmare. She works to pay the bills that her drunken, absent father ignores, and does her best to avoid her druggie brother, who has spiraled so deep into his habits that hes even used Leslie to pay back some of his debts. Even Leslies friend Aislinn seems to be keeping huge secrets, and Leslie certainly isnt going to divulge the horrible things that have happened to her. The only solace she finds is in Rabbits tattoo shop, where shes searching for the perfect ink to claim back her body.

She finally finds it in a special book of designs that Rabbit shows her, marks given to him by the fey of the Dark Court. Leslies ink of choice happens to be the symbol of the Dark King, Irial, who struggles to feed his court now that the cruel Beira has been vanquished. When Rabbit implants Irials own blood into the skin of his chosen mortal, the bond between them will allow Irial to siphon through Leslie those negative emotions that the dark fey need to survive.

But Leslie has help. Ever since Aislinn became the new Summer Queen, she has sent her faeries to guard her human friends, and her kings advisor, Niall, has slowly grown infatuated with the broken Leslie. As one who has suffered at the hands of the Dark Court, Niall is determined to protect Leslie at any cost, even if he must throw away everything he has believed for the past millennium.

Melissa Marrs second book ties in nicely with her first, which chronicles the Summer Courts fight against the Winter Queen. However, Leslies story is compelling on its own, as are the struggles of the background characters who have now taken center stage. This dark, delicious triangle radiates a passion that one can almost taste on the tongue as clearly as any member of the Dark Court. I eagerly wait to see who will feature in the next tale of this enticing faery world.