THE RAVEN LADY by Sharon Lynn Fisher – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Raven Lady by Sharon Lynn Fisher
Series: The Faery Rehistory #2
Published by Blackstone Publishing on October 13 2020
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Mythology, romance, magic and intrigue collide in Sharon Lynn Fisher’s latest lively and sexy fantasy.

Sharon Lynn Fisher continues her Faery Rehistory series in this sparkling sequel, which by the way, can easily be read as a stand-alone if you haven’t read The Absinthe Earl first. Although a couple of familiar characters from the first book make an appearance, the story has a completely different focus and expands on the unique world that Sharon introduced us to in the first book.

The story is set in 1883 Ireland. In The Absinthe Earl, we met Duncan O’Malley, a sea captain who was good friends with Ada, the main female character in that story. Duncan has become King Finvara, the lord of the Irish fairies, after the real King Finvara took over his mind and body. All this happens after the Battle of Ben Bulben, a clash between Ireland and the Faery realm that left the seal between the two worlds broken. Now these worlds—the ancient and modern—overlap in some very interesting ways. Finvara has banished the old King from his mind, but he still retains a bit of the magic from their “encounter.” As King, he lives in the Faery castle Knock Ma and tries to establish peace between the humans and fairies, who are able to easily move between the realms. 

Koli Alfdóttir is an Icelandic shadow elf, the daughter of the cruel elf King, who is able to control Koli via a magical tattoo on her back. The elf king arranges a supposed peace treaty by offering up Koli to King Finvara, but in fact he’s sending her as a spy because he plans to attack Knock Ma and end the peace between their people.

Koli and Finvara expect to hate each other, and indeed their first meeting is filled with tension. But Finvara isn’t the cruel King Koli expected him to be, and Finvara sees a woman with a fighting spirit and hidden depths, not to mention he’s immediately attracted to her exotic looks.

When Koli meets a fairy named Doro who has joined forces with her father to bring down Finvara, she reluctantly joins him in his nefarious plans. But the more time she spends with Finvara, the harder it becomes to betray him.

The Raven Lady is a well balanced fantasy romance with plenty of both those elements for whichever type of reader you are. I really loved the relationship between Koli and Finvara. There were enough twists to keep it interesting—you know, the whole “I’m going to betray you” storyline—and even I was fooled a few times, not really knowing what Koli was going to do. I also loved that Koli isn’t inexperienced when it comes to romance and sex. She is almost one hundred years old, after all! (I guess elves have long lives) During one hot and heavy scene, she tells Finvara that she’s “done this before,” and it doesn’t hurt when one of her past lovers enters the story and causes some friction between Koli and Finvara. And I really appreciated the fact that Finvara accepts her past without being a jerk about it. I’m often turned off by romances that feature jealousy between the characters, and I was pleasantly surprised at how adult Finvara acts.

As for Sharon’s fantasy world, it’s a fascinating blend of Nordic, Icelandic and Irish folklore. There is a bit of set up in the beginning, while Sharon sets the stage for her tale, but it’s necessary in order to understand why the characters act the way they do. I loved the descriptions of the castle, which straddles the worlds of humans and fairies and causes all sorts of bizarre occurrences. For example, when Koli arrives, Finvara explains that strange, mechanical devices have been popping up all over the castle, presumably items that came through the portals from Faery. Fairies and other magical creatures from that realm are able to cross over at will and can be found coming and going all the time. We also learn about the mystical, magical place between the two worlds called the Gap, and I loved the scenes set there, which are full of unexpected danger. Sharon also introduces some steampunk elements, which I loved. In addition to mechanical and steam powered objects, there are two airships that play important parts in the story.

And I have to mention Koli’s “furies,” magical ravens that literally burst out of her chest whenever she experiences strong emotions. The furies are a protective device that Koli doesn’t have any control over—at least in the beginning. And in that same vein, there is a character who appears near the end called the Morrigan, the Irish goddess of death and battle. She’s depicted with ravens in the artwork I found while doing a little research (which is one of the things I love about Sharon’s stories, she inspires me to go on Google searches whenever I read her books!), and I loved the way these two raven elements tied together. In fact, I wish we had seen more of the Morrigan in this story, I really loved her!

Sharon’s pacing is excellent and her action scenes are so cinematic. The last third of the book is a non-stop race to the finish line, with all sorts of danger for our characters. My only complaint is that this last section seemed to have too many elements going on at once, and some of the action is a little confusing. New characters and elements are introduced late in the story, and while I loved those ideas, there wasn’t quite enough time to fully develop them. Still, I was so satisfied with the way things ended, and yes, The Raven Lady has a HEA ending—which isn’t a spoiler. This is romance, after all! I can’t begin to guess where Sharon will go in the next book, but I am very excited to find out.

Big thanks to the author and the publisher for providing a review copy.

Read my review of The Absinthe Earl

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