Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning

Modern Seattle: Ravishingly gorgeous Adrienne de Simone (whose every body part is “perfect,” though she doesn’t know that) hates beautiful men because she just had a bad experience with the gorgeous man who was her fiancé. Never! Never again!
Medieval Scotland: Sidheach James Lyon Douglas, otherwise known as “the Hawk” (even his mother calls him that) or “the King’s Whore,” is the hottest laird on the Highlands, but he’s never met a woman he could love. Every one of his body parts is “perfect” and he knows it.
The Fairy Court: When the fae start to meddle with Adrienne and the Hawk, mischief ensues. Hawk falls in love with Adrienne and she, despite the promises to herself, starts to wonder what might be throbbing under his kilt. Read More

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series can usually be found on the romance shelves, but having just finished reading the first installment, Darkfever, I’m more inclined to classify it as urban fantasy. While there are a couple of men foreshadowed as possible love interests for the heroine, and while there is some sexual content (most stemming from the mind-control powers possessed by some of the fae), the primary focus is on a murder mystery and on the magical goings-on in Moning’s Dublin. The series also follows urban fantasy tropes in another significant way: it is written in first person and follows one heroine, Mackayla (“Mac”) Lane, throughout its five books rather than featuring a different heroine and hero in each volume.

Mac is normal. Painfully so. She’s smart but unambitious, content to while away her d... Read More

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

I am embarrassed to admit that for years I have judged Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series by its covers (and even by the covers of Moning’s other books), dismissing it every time I saw it. Then Kelly, whose opinion I esteem, recommended the Fever series and, simultaneously, Brilliance Audio sent me the last volume to review. So I decided to get the first book, Darkfever on audio, and give it a try.

MacKayla (Mac) Lane is a delightfully shallow Southern girl who we meet as she’s tanning herself by the pool in her pink bikini. She works as a bartender, takes some college classes, loves her parents, eats a lot, and adores her Juicy Couture purse. The biggest stressor in Mac’s life is her fear that Revlon might discontinue her favorite pink nail pol... Read More

Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

At the end of Darkfever, Mac learned the identity of her sister’s mysterious lover (and possible murderer), but didn’t get the chance to strike against him. She’s still out for revenge, and Barrons still wants her help finding the Sinsar Dubh, an ancient book of evil magic. Meanwhile, Mac has to deal with too-curious Garda officers, the ever-present threat of Shades, and the machinations of the alluring Fae prince V’lane.

Then, in addition to the Shades and Rhino-boys she’s now accustomed to, Mac starts seeing another frightening figure. One in dark robes, carrying a long scythe. Is he an omen of Mac’s death, a manifestation of her guilty conscience, or something else entirely?

Bloodfever starts out feeling like a continuation of Darkfever, with Mac continuing her struggle for survival ... Read More

Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

Bloodfever, the second novel in Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series featuring Southerner MacKayla Lane, maintains the fast pace, exciting action, romantic tension, and emotional impact of the first novel. So far, Fever has not devolved into a brainless paranormal romance which is more focused on sex than plot, and at this point I feel hopeful that such an atrocity will not occur.

I read Brilliance Audio’s version of Bloodfever which was narrated by Joyce Bean. It was difficult to put down. In fact, I listened to the entire book (nine hours) in less than two days, probably annoying my family by having my earbuds in for hours at a time.

Mac is a heroine who feels real — she’s got plenty of courage and spunk, but as she learns more about her place in the ... Read More

Faefever by Karen Marie Moning

I’d die for him.

Throughout the Fever series, Karen Marie Moning has always had a penchant for telling us something dramatic and then backing up to explain how Mac got to that point. In Faefever, she takes that technique to a new level: the whole book is the explanation of how she reached that bombshell of a first sentence. Who is this man, and why is Mac willing to die for him?

The early chapters of Faefever are not quite as compelling as those of the first two books. They feel less focused. I think it’s symptomatic of Mac’s own confusion — she doesn’t know whom to trust or what the right course of action really is — but she seems more wishy-washy than she has in previous books. She wants to move out from under Barrons’s thumb, wh... Read More

Faefever by Karen Marie Moning

I’ve already apologized for misjudging Karen Marie Moning’s Fever books; but I feel the need to do it again because I still keep expecting this series to jump the shark, and it refuses to even put on the skis!

Mac continues to develop, becoming stronger, more mature, and more admirable as she deals with tough situations, yet still retaining the pink debutante personality that made her so endearing at the start of Darkfever.

In Faefever, we learn more about the Seelie and Unseelie courts, Rowena and the other sidhe-seers in Dublin, and the Scotsman Christian MacKeltar (who has some special powers of his own). We can start to develop theories about how all of these characters fit into this world, but so far Moning is keeping us guessing and we’re not really sure who Mac can trust.
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Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning

At the end of Faefever, Mac was brought low, her free will stolen by the schemes of the Lord Master and the powers of several Fae. In the early chapters of Dreamfever, Karen Marie Moning makes the unusual decision of switching to another point of view, that of Mac’s teenage friend Dani, who narrates the first few days after the walls between the worlds fall down. Dani’s style of narration can be a little jarring after one is accustomed to Mac’s voice, but these chapters give us an idea of what’s going on in the world while Mac is out of commission.

Four days later, Barrons comes for Mac. (We don’t learn till later why the delay, and certain other characters exploit that mystery for all they’re worth.) No one has ever recovered from being turned into Pri-ya (a Fae sex addict), but Barrons has a plan to bring Ma... Read More

Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning

Come back and fight, Mac!

After a major set-back at the end of Faefever, Mac’s got a lot of work to do at the beginning of Dreamfever just so she can get back in the game. The first scenes of this novel, the fourth in Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series, are horrible and heart-wrenching and not at all how we were hoping things would turn out for Mac. It’s a real emotional blow for both Mac and the reader, but there’s a silver lining: we finally get some much-needed proof about Barrons’ character.

Once Mac gets her life back in order, things start moving fast and the tension never lets up. Dreamfever contains my favorite scenes of the series: when Mac gets lost in the “silvers.” Dreamfever ends with an incredibly cruel cliff... Read More

Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

What a ride! I count myself fortunate to be a “late adopter” of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series, because that meant I was able to devour its five books in rapid succession, almost as if they were one single long novel. It’s been an intense experience, the kind I always want to find in urban fantasy and so often don’t. This series has everything: a mystery; a twisty plot that isn’t confusing to read even when you don’t yet understand everything that’s happening; a dynamic heroine who changes as the story progresses; a complex, fascinating world; great sex (yeah, I said it) that always serves plot or character rather than the other way around; a touch of humor…

I’ve also seen Moning’s writing develop over the course of the series. Her descriptive prose has grown more lush and her plotting more complex. I’m pretty... Read More

Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

Smart is the new cool.

Shadowfever is the fifth and final novel in Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series. Readers will be pleased that it’s longer than the previous books, yet still chock full of plot.

After the horrific cliffhanger at the end of the previous book, Dreamfever, we find out that things are pretty bad for Mac — worse, in fact, than they were at the beginning of Dreamfever. Much of Shadowfever is emotionally draining as Mac deals with grief and starts to become harder and tougher. The result is a young woman who doesn’t quite know who she is. This change is painful to watch, yet it’s not unwelcome, and sometimes it’s amusing (now she’s likely to be wearing a semi-automatic weapon strapped across her pink Juicy s... Read More

Iced by Karen Marie Moning

Iced is the first novel in Karen Marie Moning’s new DANI O’MALLEY series, which is a spin-off from her excellent FEVER series. Readers of FEVER know who Dani is — she’s the 14-year-old sidhe-seer that Mac befriends. Besides being able to see the fae, Dani has other superpowers — she moves “super-fast” and has super senses, too. Dani also has the Sword of Light — one of only two magical objects that can kill the fae.

Dani lives in Dublin during the year 1 AWC (After the Wall Crash). The wall separating our world from the fae has fallen down and the dark fae are preying on humanity. Dani, with her superpowers and magical sword, can handle this new world, but most people can’t and half the world’s population is dead. Dani does what she can, publishing a newspaper, helping people find food and shelter, and killing as many fae as she can every day.

Dan... Read More