Daughter of Light and Shadows

Daughter of Light and Shadows by Anna McKerrow

Published by Bookouture

October 2018

The stranger stood in the doorway, smiling as if he knew her. His blue-green eyes were transfixing: strange, luminous – like the sea on a cloudy day. Faye felt a sense of shifting, like standing on wet sand as the tide washed in, burying her deeper and deeper…

Faye Morgan – beautiful, independent and lonely – runs her family’s small shop of magical curiosities like her mother and grandmother before her. She longs for an escape, unaware of the dark power that flows through her veins…

When Faye casts a spell into the sea one cold morning, her call brings her to the attention of the wild and impulsive faerie king Finn Beatha. Finn pulls Faye into an intoxicating new world, both magical and treacherous… and as bewitching as Finn himself, who seems to command every part of her when he’s near.

As Faye’s passion for Finn grows, so does her fear that she might be there for some darker reason... and that she could be trapped in Faerie forever. Is there something in Faye’s past connecting her to this place, to Finn? And dare she find out more when every moment draws her further away from her old world?

This is Anna McKerrow's first outing as an adult author following on from her fabulous Greenworld trilogy of books for YA readers (and those of us that love that genre too).  Daughter of Light and Shadows is set in Scotland, and centres around Faye, a local witch who can trace her heritage back to the witch trial days of King James.  She runs a local magic shop and is helped out by her friends Annie and Aisha (notice that there are three of them).  One day they decide to do a love spell as none of them are having any luck in finding romance and as magic should have it, two men walk into Faye's life.  The first is Rav, a local property owner who is setting up Abercolme's first big music festival (much to the chagrin of the locals) and the second is Finn Beatha, lead singer of  one of the band's headlining the festival.

Rav seems drawn to Faye, like he is under some kind of spell, and asks her to look at his house as he is convinced that it is haunted in some way.  Faye discovers that it has been built on a faerie road and the faeries are not happy with this.  The faerie king, Finn Beatha, pulls Faye into his world as his lover and she is torn between the passion of both men.  However the world of faerie must not be entered into lightly and Faye must decide whether her life remains in the mortal world or the other world with Finn.

To begin with I didn't know this book was part of a series but with only a handful of chapters left to read I soon realised that it wasn't going to reach any satisfying conclusion for it to be a stand-alone novel.  I'm intrigued to find out what role Finn is going to play in the next book because he is certainly going to return in some shape or form to the world in which Faye inhabits, and can she ever truly stay away from him or retract the promises she made to the faerie queen Glitonea.  It was interesting to see the author take a different direction from her witchcraft routes and enter into the world of the faeries.  Some have compared this to the Sarah J Maas novels but I would argue that you cannot compare as this is less fantasy based.  Also, do not think that this is a YA novel - even I gasped at some of the sex scenes!!!

Happy Reading

Miss Chapters x