Title: Summer’s Child
Series: Titania’s Court #2 (Oberon’s Court)
Author: Cari Z.
Genre: Fantasy (Fae) / Thriller & Suspense
Length: Novella (50 Pages)
Publisher: Total E-Bound (July 12th, 2013)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5 Hearts
Reviewer: Thommie
Blurb: Will the distant but brutal past destroy a changeling’s hope for a better life with the Summer Fae?
Dis, a human changeling, is tasked with delivering Oberon’s solstice gift to his estranged wife, Titania, at the Summer Court. Leaving behind the land where he barely survived to adulthood is harder than he expected—it means leaving behind his lover Marten as well. Dis hopes that once his task is completed, he and Marten can be together again.
The Summer Fae welcome Dis to their court, but there’s more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye. Dis struggles to keep Oberon’s gift for Titania safe while being continually tempted by the willful Summer Fae to disobey, and worse, he loses contact with Marten. Dis is left with no one he can trust, and is faced with the impossible choice between disobedience to Oberon, who will surely kill him once he finds out, or losing the man that he loves forever.
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of violence.
Product Link: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=2195
Review: Let me start with the completely illogical way this series has gone out and how confusing it is to find what you want. This is supposed to be book #2 in Titania’s Court Series, however that couldn’t be more wrong and I wonder how the authors and the publisher made this mistake.
Anyway, for the readers that loved the first book of this series by Cari Z. and that would be The Solstice Gift, previously reviewed by Pixie Mmgoodbookreviews http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/the-solstice-gift-by-cari-z/, this is the sequel and we find Dis in The Ways trying to make it to Summer Court and give Titania her husband’s gift of power. The gift though is a temptation hard to resist, its power always pushing Dis at his limits. It would be so easy to use it and no longer be a changeling, no longer be seen with contempt. But one thing Dis knows well enough, the one thing that helped him survive all this years in Winter Court, is the fact that he knows his place and what he most definitely must not do.
His journey comes to an end and he barely makes it to Summer Court where he is received quite differently from the Summer Fae. He is almost cherished there, as he is the sole changeling to have survived the horrors of Winter Court. However, he is not welcomed from everyone. While Queen Titania might accept him and his gift there are others who remember well the war between the Fae and their losses hurt no less now after all these years. Dis must wait for a month until the Queen will be ready to receive her gift, but that is a month that Dis must constantly avoid temptation, the Fae’s tricks, and what is worse, another month away from his beloved Marten.
I loved this book. It’s such a different take from the typical fae stories we read. The world of Winter Fae was dark and cruel and filled with pain and death, while the Summer Fae is, of course, happier, but no fewer tricksters. The scheming and backstabbing are in full effect even here, and one does not know who to trust and what to believe.
While the first book made you feel for Dis due to the horrors of the darkness he was wrapped with, at least there you knew without a doubt what to expect. In this one, though you have to see behind the masks and expect anything from anyone no matter how bright the smile. And while you’re on your toes with suspicion and the plot, you get carried away with the eroticism and the gorgeous relationship between Dis and Marten. How very sweet and romantic Marten was and it was the fact that he was an anomaly in his world that made him incredibly hot.
The ending was perfect this time around and while it gave you the hints that more might come in the future, you don’t mind this novella ending here. The unexpected happened and I loved the turn the events took.
So if you love the Fae world and you want a fresh take and see them with a fresh set of eyes, I definitely recommend this book to you. You can pick the previous one or read it as a standalone; it won’t really matter because it’s so well written that you’ll have no problem getting into the story. Recommended!