Lord of the Beasts

October 15, 2006
In this sequel to Krinard's magical novel " The Forest Lord" (2002), Donal Fleming, Prince of the Fairy Folk, decided to become a veterinarian, given his strong connection to the animal world. Headstrong Cordelia Hardcastle, a member of the Zoological Society Fellows, loves animals, too. In fact, she collects exotic beasts and houses them in enclosures as similar to their natural habitats as possible. Donal and Cordelia meet as they try to calm a rampaging elephant. Donal's attraction to this brave, albeit foolhardy, woman is instant, but she represents what he hates--humans who seek to domesticate nature. And Cordelia isn't the only female in Donal's life. Once again, Krinard infuses her fiction with a strong ecological subtext. Animals lovers as well as romance readers and those who enjoy stories about mystical creatures and what happens when their world collides with ours will all find Krinard's book impossible to put down.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)