New York City is Overflowing with Faeries!

Since the dawn of time, the Faerie have taken. . . .

For seventeen-year-old actress Kelley Winslow, faeries are just something from childhood stories. Then she meets Sonny Flannery, whose steel-gray eyes mask an equally steely determination to protect her.

Sonny guards the Samhain Gate, which connects the mortal realm with the Faerie's enchanted, dangerous Otherworld. Usually kept shut by order of icy King Auberon, the Gate stands open but once a year.

This year, as the time approaches when the Samhain Gate will swing wide and nightmarish Fae will fight their way into an unsuspecting human world, something different is happening . . . something wondrous and strange. And Kelley's eyes are opening not just to the Faerie that surround her but to the heritage that awaits her.

Now Kelley must navigate deadly Faerie treachery—and her growing feelings for Sonny—in this dazzling page-turner filled with luminous romance.

Wondrous Strange is a richly layered tale of love between faerie and mortal, betrayal between kings and queens, and magic . . . between author and reader.

Title: Wonderous Strange
Author: Lesley Livingston
Series: Wondrous Strange, Book 1
Start & Finished: 3/5/09
Published: 2008
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 327 (trade paperback)
Genre: YA- Urban Fantasy

Debut author Lesley Livingston travels through myths and legends of the Faerie in Wondrous Strange, the first book in trilogy. This story is above all a love story “brimming with action, romance, and luminous shades of A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” inspired by the author’s trip to New York and influenced by her master’s degree in Shakespeare and Arthurian Literature. Livingston has recently finished writing the "manuscript revisions on Book Two in the Wondrous Strange trilogy,” which is as yet unnamed and is currently working on the third.

Mythology absolutely fascinates me, especially legends about the Fae, which is why I’ve read just about every urban fantasy that comes out from Laurell K. Hamilton to Melissa Marr. There were some similarities to Marr’s own Faerie series, or more accurately, it had the same kind of “feel” to it but as much as I loved reading Wicked Lovely, I do believe Ms. Livingston’s characters and world that she has created is even better.

When I heard about Wondrous Strange from a review done by Beyond Books, I knew it was something I had to read (not to mention the beautiful cover that helped draw me in too). Thankfully, the owner Cat volunteered to send me this delightful story and once I did get around to reading it, I absolutely fell in love. Kelley and Sonny were a perfect couple, almost like Stephenie Meyer’s Bella and Edward but in this case the girl is the more powerful and I laughed and “aw”-ed my way through this story just as I did the first Twilight. A good majority of the laughs came from Bob (aka Puck or Robin Goodfellow) and Lucky (a kelpie) though.

The little ironies in the story are quite easy to guess but it is a wonderfully exciting journey through the novel anyway. All manner of interesting creatures from the Faerie realm populate its pages and although it is labeled under the genre of young adult, it really is only a few steps away from being written for adults. I’m really looking forward to seeing which direction the author will take us next and I’d like to know if Kelley will continue to stick with acting. The author claims, “The next two books are a direct continuation of the story, so you will definitely being seeing more of Sonny and Kelley. In addition, company. (And maybe a new face or two!),” and I can hardly wait.

Wondrous Strange Trilogy
Wondrous Strange (2008)
Darklight
Unkown

Links: Author Blog, Myspace,
Interview: Author Tales (Story Siren), Cover Art (Book Nymph), 10 Questions (IB Teens), Amazing Interview with Yankee Romance Reviews

Trailer:


Author Interview:








Picture Explanations
Carousel: Sonny takes Kelley for a ride here in Central Park while using a bit of faerie magic to make her see experience the past.
Central Park: Where a good bit of the story takes place since the faerie gate is there.
Tavern on the Green: There is a place in faerie parallel to our world that the Green Man owns and operates.