Bad Boy's Bard by E.J. Russell

As far as rock star Gareth Kendrick, the last true bard in Faerie, is concerned, the only good Unseelie is... well... there’s no such thing. Two centuries ago, an Unseelie lord abducted Gareth’s human lover, Niall, and Gareth has neither forgotten nor forgive.

Niall O’Tierney, half-human son of the Unseelie King, had never lost a wager until the day he swore to rid the Seelie court of its bard. That bet cost him everything: his freedom, his family—and his heart. When he’s suddenly face-to-face with Gareth at the ceremony to join the Seelie and Unseelie realms, Niall does the only thing inhumanly possible: he fakes amnesia. Not his finest hour, perhaps, but he never revealed his Unseelie heritage, and to tell the truth now would be to risk Gareth’s revulsion—far harder to bear than two hundred years of imprisonment.

Then a new threat to Gareth’s life arises, and he and Niall stage a mad escape into the Outer World, only to discover the fate of all fae resting on their shoulders. But before they can save the realm, they have to tackle something really tough: mending their own broken relationship.

Book 3
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Riptide Publishing

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆
3.5 stars

The third book in this series throws readers straight back into the action. Having only read the second book a few weeks ago, I still found myself floundering through the first chapters trying to remember the characters and their relationships. There isn’t really any recap at the start of the book, so this is probably best read directly after book two.

I almost put this story down at 30% because I couldn’t get my head around the complicated plot and I was tired of the pointless secrets and lies between the characters. But I’m glad I continued. Once Garreth and Niall get back to Faerie, the story becomes exciting and much more coherent.

In the Outerworld, I enjoyed David and Bryce’s efforts to care for Niall and their plans to rescue Alun and Mal. I also liked finding out more about Gareth and his band.

Unlike the couples in the first two books, Niall and Gareth have a long history – both together and apart. I struggled with the timelines and Niall’s secrets made it even more difficult for me to piece together their past. As a partnership, these two work well together – but only after a whole lot of angst and sulking more appropriate for teenagers than ancient Fae noblemen.

The first book is still my favourite in this series but I enjoyed this more than the second book. Readers with more experience of high fantasy will probably find this easier to follow and enjoy than I did.

Also Available in the Fae Out of Water Series

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Riptide Publishing

For reviews & more info, check out our Cutie and the Beast post.

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Riptide Publishing

For reviews & more info, check out our The Druid Next Door post.

E.J. Russell holds a BA and an MFA in theater, so naturally she’s spent the last three decades as a financial manager, database designer, and business intelligence consultant. Several years ago, she realized Darling Sons A and B would be heading off to college soon and she’d no longer need to spend half her waking hours ferrying them to dance class.

What to do with all that free time?

A lucky encounter with Jim Butcher’s craft blog posts caused her to revisit her childhood dream of writing fiction, and now she wonders why she ever thought an empty nest meant leisure.

Her daily commute consists of walking from one side of her office to the other, from left-brain day job to right-brain writer’s cave, where she’s learned to type with a dog attached to her hip and a cat draped across her wrists.

E.J. is married to Curmudgeonly Husband, a man who cares even less about sports than she does. Luckily, C.H. also loves to cook, or all three of their children (Lovely Daughter and Darling Sons A and B) would have survived on nothing but Cheerios, beef jerky, and satsuma mandarins (the extent of E.J.’s culinary skill set).

E.J. lives in rural Oregon, enjoys visits from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and the occasional hyperbole.

Connect with E.J.

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Bad Boy's Bard (Fae Out of Water #3) by E.J. Russell to read and review.

The Druid Next Door by E.J. Russell

Professor Bryce MacLeod has devoted his entire life to environmentalism. But how effective can he be in saving the planet when he can’t even get his surly neighbor to separate his recycling?

Former Queen’s Enforcer Mal Kendrick doesn’t think his life could get any worse: he’s been exiled from Faerie with a cursed and useless right hand. When he’s not dodging random fae assassins in the Outer World, he’s going toe-to-toe with his tree-hugging neighbor. And when he discovers that the tree hugger is really a druid, he’s certain the gods have it in for him—after all, there’s always a catch with druids. Then he’s magically shackled to the man and expected to instruct him in Supernatural 101.

All right, now things couldn’t possibly get worse.

Until a mysterious stranger offers a drunken Mal the chance to gain back all he’s lost—for a price. After Mal accepts, he discovers the real catch: an ancient secret that will change his and Bryce’s life forever.

Ah, what the hells. Odds are they won’t survive the week anyway.

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Riptide Publishing

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆
I really loved the first story in this series, but I really had to fight my way through this one. There is more fantasy in this book and I couldn’t always keep up with the complicated plot strands. And while I loved David and Alun in the first story, I didn’t engage terribly well with either Mal or Bryce.

Firstly, Mal isn’t a completely likeable character. The Queen’s curse has turned the ‘fun’ brother from the first story into a surly git. He reads more like a sulky teenager than a Fae Lord and I found him irritating.

In contrast, Bryce starts out as a nice guy – if a bit meek and geeky. But his character seems to change dramatically part way into the story. I was ambivalent about the geek but I really didn’t like Bryce as a dominant.

I didn’t love either Mal or Bryce from the start but I really went off their relationship when curses and spells pushed them into dubious consent territory. When one partner knew that the other couldn’t give consent freely and initiated sex with them anyways? It left a bad taste in my mouth.

I’m hoping I engage more with Gareth’s story in book three because I did really enjoy the first book in this series.

Also Available in the Fae Out of Water Series

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Riptide Publishing

For reviews & more info, check out our Cutie and the Beast post.

E.J. Russell holds a BA and an MFA in theater, so naturally she’s spent the last three decades as a financial manager, database designer, and business intelligence consultant. Several years ago, she realized Darling Sons A and B would be heading off to college soon and she’d no longer need to spend half her waking hours ferrying them to dance class.

What to do with all that free time?

A lucky encounter with Jim Butcher’s craft blog posts caused her to revisit her childhood dream of writing fiction, and now she wonders why she ever thought an empty nest meant leisure.

Her daily commute consists of walking from one side of her office to the other, from left-brain day job to right-brain writer’s cave, where she’s learned to type with a dog attached to her hip and a cat draped across her wrists.

E.J. is married to Curmudgeonly Husband, a man who cares even less about sports than she does. Luckily, C.H. also loves to cook, or all three of their children (Lovely Daughter and Darling Sons A and B) would have survived on nothing but Cheerios, beef jerky, and satsuma mandarins (the extent of E.J.’s culinary skill set).

E.J. lives in rural Oregon, enjoys visits from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and the occasional hyperbole.

Connect with E.J.

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Druid Next Door (Fae Out of Water #2) by E.J. Russell to read and review.

Cutie and the Beast by E.J. Russell

Temp worker David Evans has been dreaming of Dr. Alun Kendrick ever since that one transcription job for him, because holy cats, that voice. Swoon. So when his agency offers him a position as Dr. Kendrick’s temporary office manager, David neglects to mention that he’s been permanently banished from offices. Because, forgiveness? Way easier than permission.

Alun Kendrick, former Queen’s Champion of Faerie’s Seelie Court, takes his job as a psychologist for Portland’s supernatural population extremely seriously. Secrecy is paramount: no non-supe can know of their existence. So when a gods-bedamned human shows up to replace his office manager, he intends to send the man packing. It shouldn’t be difficult—in the two hundred years since he was cursed, no human has ever failed to run screaming from his hideous face.

But cheeky David isn’t intimidated, and despite himself, Alun is drawn to David in a way that can only spell disaster: when fae consort with humans, it never ends well. And if the human has secrets of his own? The disaster might be greater than either of them could ever imagine.

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Riptide Publishing

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
This is a charming faerie tale. When a human office temp is assigned to work for a cursed Sidhe warrior, the resulting chaos is very entertaining. The story moves between the human world and Faerie – between modern day Portland and the Seelie court. I loved Alun’s troubled supernatural patients as much as I loved David’s attempts to make Alun’s office a more colourful and welcoming place.

When we meet David, he is cute and sweet and clueless about the supernatural world. He’s a little too perfect to be true but it works in a modern faerie tale. His innocent responses to Alun’s patients are brilliant and David brings joy and a sense of fun to Alun’s rigid world.

Alun is the supernatural world’s curmudgeonly psychiatrist. After losing his lover two centuries earlier, he is irritable and miserable at the start of this story. I liked the way we see his kindness through his patient interactions and I enjoyed his reactions to David.

The relationship between Alun and David is sweet and pretty low heat. This is a romantic comedy and some of their interactions had me laughing out loud. These two are great fun together and they fit well as partners.

This author’s concept of Faerie seems to borrow heavily from Patricia Briggs and Laurell K Hamilton. There isn’t a whole lot of world building here and there is an expectation that readers will have some prior knowledge. I followed this part of the story easily and I enjoyed the characters in Faerie.

Beyond Alun and David, I really loved the supporting characters. Alun’s brothers are brilliant, David’s aunts are formidable and Alun’s patients made me smile. I’m really looking forward to the next books in this series.

E.J. Russell holds a BA and an MFA in theater, so naturally she’s spent the last three decades as a financial manager, database designer, and business intelligence consultant. Several years ago, she realized Darling Sons A and B would be heading off to college soon and she’d no longer need to spend half her waking hours ferrying them to dance class.

What to do with all that free time?

A lucky encounter with Jim Butcher’s craft blog posts caused her to revisit her childhood dream of writing fiction, and now she wonders why she ever thought an empty nest meant leisure.

Her daily commute consists of walking from one side of her office to the other, from left-brain day job to right-brain writer’s cave, where she’s learned to type with a dog attached to her hip and a cat draped across her wrists.

E.J. is married to Curmudgeonly Husband, a man who cares even less about sports than she does. Luckily, C.H. also loves to cook, or all three of their children (Lovely Daughter and Darling Sons A and B) would have survived on nothing but Cheerios, beef jerky, and satsuma mandarins (the extent of E.J.’s culinary skill set).

E.J. lives in rural Oregon, enjoys visits from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and the occasional hyperbole.

Connect with E.J.

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Cutie and the Beast (Fae Out of Water #1) by E.J. Russell to read and review.