“Ric Thornhill is on an assignment from the Queen of Fae herself, to find the missing half Fae heir. Artist Meagan Kelly is his target and he must bring her back to the queen to help stop keep the delicate peace between both human and Fae that hangs in the balance. As soon as they meet, sparks fly. Meagan is confused about the power the mysterious blond stranger has over her and Ric is enamored by Meagan's beauty and energy. Can he put his feelings aside to finish the mission that will safe their people?
Being a Fae fanatic I had to have this book. With the gorgeous cover (which appeared more urban fantasy than the actual paranormal romance story itself), enticing blurb and being eager to try out Carina's new books, I jumped at the chance to read this galley (thank you Carina for no DRM and changeable formats).
Unfortunately, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and the world within Motor City Fae. The hero and heroine's feelings at their first meeting had a 'hit the ground and start running feel to it rather than allowing for tension and chemistry grow between the two. This would have nicely built up a way for the reader to root for them and also would have given the reader time to get to know the characters rather than constantly be told explicit descriptions of how body parts were affected by the other. There is an explicit sex scene towards the beginning that pushes this into erotica territory for me and the characters couldn't make a move without getting turned on or thinking about sex. Plot seems to have been thrown aside at this point in the story. I would have loved to have gotten to know the characters more and had the tension build until a later love scene which seals the deal between the two so it doesn't feel like a gimmick to keep the reader interested.
As mentioned before, the world building could have been more established early on to bring the reader into the plot. There were many instances of long expositions where Ric would tell Meagan who her family was, what the Fae were all about and how she tied into the Fae realm. In other instances, there were short cuts where some good description would help this reader imagine the uniqueness of the land and its people (for instance, the court members were described as "looking like a character from Lord of the Rings"). The story mainly spends its time laying things out via a road trip and other excursions despite the rush to get Meagan to the Fae realm before it's too late. Once the characters would attempt to go in a direction to move the plot to the next level, they would make a detour to a club or party which seemed to come out of nowhere. While good for establishing the setting and character backgrounds, the exposition scenes broke the flow of the story just when we're getting somewhere good.
Shortly after the halfway point, I finally started to get into the story and have a chance to enjoy the world of the Fae. There were only instances where I was yanked out of the story by modern curse words but it was still enjoyable to see more action with Meagan taking out two Fae assassins (with a baseball bat no less!) and having her identify with Ric on a level that didn't involve the physical.
Ms. Pape has the beginnings of a interesting world and I'm curious to see how and if she tackles it down the road. After reading similar favorites in the genre, I can't help but notice how the territory feels traveled but not quite changed enough to make it unique from the others.
All in all, even though the book doesn't break any new ground for the paranormal genre, readers who are looking for an erotic light paranormal romance will enjoy Motor City Fae, the first in the Urban Arcana series.
Galley reviewed via Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher.”
Rae Lori wrote this review Wednesday, June 23, 2010.
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