Wickedly Wonderful

October 13, 2014
Blake mashes up Slavic and Gaelic lore with mixed results in her second Baba Yaga contemporary (after Wickedly Dangerous). Beka Yancy, who has recently become one of the traveling witches who share the name of Baba Yaga, needs to cure a mysterious, fatal disease attacking mermaids and selkies off the coast of Monterey, Calif. She hires a gruff fisherman to take her diving. This angers his son, ex-Marine Marcus Dermott, who disdains hippy-dippy chicks. That’s fine with Beka, who thinks he’s uptight and angry. Besides, she has no time for men; she’s got the sea folks to save and an oily selkie prince to fend off, and she’s starting to feel ill herself. Her tenuous confidence further shrinks when her mentor suggests she’s not up to her task. If not for nudges from Chewie, her sarcastic dragon companion, she might give up altogether. Humor helps mitigate the lack of heat in the inevitable romance between Beka and Marcus, but the magic of the selkie myth is lost in translation. Agent: Elaine Spencer, Knight Agency.