The Water Witch

December 15, 2012
Callie McFay, part-fairy witch and folklore professor, must keep the door to Faerie open and decide which man she's truly attracted to in the second part of a trilogy written by Carol Goodman's alter ego. Previously (The Demon Lover, 2011), Callie banished the incubus who was draining her life force and whom she couldn't quite love completely; however, he continues to have sex with her in dreams. Has he also reappeared physically in Fairwick, the upstate New York college town with a door to Faerie and a lively population of otherworldly creatures? That population is under threat from the Grove, a conservative group of witches who despise such creatures and are insisting that Callie shut the door to Faerie forever. Callie is willing to put all of her power toward thwarting the Grove's plans, but unfortunately, her magic, while apparently quite strong, seems to be both blocked and uncontrollable. Meanwhile, her handsome new magic tutor, Duncan, and unnaturally helpful handyman, Bill, are vying for Callie's attentions. Observing Callie, a supposedly intelligent woman, blunder around the magical world and screw up her love life for yet another volume does not actually make for compelling reading. It also seems strange that an up-and-coming young academic isn't spending her summer doing research and writing papers. As with The Demon Lover, a sexed-up but considerably paler imitation of Deborah Harkness' far superior All Souls trilogy.

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January 1, 2013
In the second book of the Fairwick Chronicles (after The Demon Lover, 2012), Callie McFay, a professor in rural New York, is coming to terms with the revelations that her demon lover was an incubus and that she is descended from both the fey and witches. Her unique talent as doorkeeper, one who can open the door into Faerie, is called into play when a hatch of undines, who spawn in our world but must return to Faerie, need her help because the underwater passages to Faerie have been narrowing. Her life is filled with challenges when she unwittingly allows an angry adult undine to return with her from Faerie; her handyman, a Norse deity, is flung from her roof, which becomes sievelike and floods her house; and two new men enter her life, a mysterious jack-of-all-trades and a tutor who has a doctorate of magical studies from Oxford. Not to mention what her grandmother's coven of witches is up to. Full of intricate twists and turns, Dark's contemporary erotic gothic is a satisfying read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)