In the Fae World, Handsome is isn’t always as Handsome Does
Wizard’s Wife is the story of a young woman who unknowingly marries a faery wizard, and in doing so, is brought into a struggle between Good and Evil, with not only her husband’s home dimension but also the entire planet Earth becoming the prize to the victor. Still a newcomer to All Things Fae, Megan McMuir now finds herself the only mortal in a land filled with supernatural folk, and after her initial shock, one of the first things she learns is there’s no such thing as an ugly faery.
Take her husband, David, for instance—don’t you dare! This lad is drop-dead gorgeous, and Megan falls for his obvious physical charms, as well as his Blarney, the first time she sees him standing in the yard of her friend Annie’s Atlanta home, with “the icicle lights reflecting a copper halo off a riot of curly shoulder-length hair.” David’s a knock-out from any angle…along with the long red hair, he’s got green eyes, is six-three—and that puts a lie to the term “Little People”—and also has wings and antenna, but those aren’t always visible, especially when he leaves the house. He’s also madly in love with his wife, and the fact that he’s a century older than she doesn’t keep him from making love to her every chance he gets.
Living with David and Megan in their Atlanta home (which in reality is simply a magnolia tree enchanted to resemble an antebellum mansion) is David’s familiar Ossian and Brigid, Ossian’s twin sister. Ossian O’Hanlon is another eye-opener. Megan’s always felt uneasy around the manservant and she can’t figure out why. Can it be the way he always watches her with amused tolerance, as if she were a new puppy, entertaining but liable to piddle on the carpet at any moment? Or is it simply because he’s prettier than she is? Truly, Ossian’s a looker…a pointed-eared man in a business suit, with a black pony-tail hanging between his broad shoulders, and sporting a pair of brilliant blue and emerald wings, with the antenna sprouting from his forehead matching the glow of his blue, blue eyes. Ossian’s eyes are rimmed with a disgustingly thick fringe of black lashes any woman would kill for. When he blinks, they make little rippling shadows on his cheeks. Ossian’s beautiful. Statue beautiful. A masterpiece.
Being a familiar is an inherited position, sort of like a magical executive assistant, a go-between between a wizard and the world, someone to take a little of the weight from sorcerous shoulders and Ossian does the job well. His father is familiar to David’s father and he himself was promised as familiar to Prince Padraig’s son before either of them were born. When David sets out to fight Exeter Dubhtina, Ossian is by his side, as a loyal servant should be, handing out sword and shield and buckling his master into his armor.
The other side of the fae world—that of the lords of Dark Fire—are just as handsome, in their own wicked way, as Megan also discovers when she becomes Exeter Dubhtina’s prisoner.
Upon arriving in Ais Linn, and on her way to Ais Linn Keep where David will be waiting, she’s discovered by His Lordship’s Wolf Pack, a group of faery shapeshifters who spend their leisure time getting “likkered-up” on mead and terrorizing the sprites and leprechauns inhabiting the Damhain Garrai, as the forest separating the two kingdoms is called. These magical bad boys are led by Sir Liam Connery, who looks as good in a suit of armor as he does out of it with long wheat-colored waves floating about armored shoulders. Eyes the color of topazes gleamed, reflecting the sun. In the lobe of one pointed ear, a tiny red jewel with a burning ebony heart glinted. His chin was hidden by the golden sheen of a little beard that might have graced Robin Hood’s face.
Yet there’s something unexpected about Liam because he can touch a unicorn, that bastion of purity, without being blasted. Can it be this particular bad boy still has some good hidden inside?
At Casteal Dubtina, Exeter’s stronghold, Megan meets yet another of the Dark Lord’s minions, Fioch, his own familiar. Upon seeing Fioch, Megan feels is disturbed by his presence. Dressed in a dark blue houpelande, its flaring sleeves hiding his hands. Bright blue wings, azure antenna. He was as tall as the rest, with startingly blue eyes, hair dark as his master’s though it curled about his shoulders, and… He looked uncomfortably familiar.”
So who is he, and why does Megan, who’s certain she’s never seen this fae or anyone else in Exeter’s castle, think she knows him?
Last, but never least, is Exeter Dubhtina—Tiarna d’Droit Tina himself—Lord of Dark Fire, wicked, cruel, and determined to grind David and all the Tiarnas d’Geal Tina into the dirt and take the entire dimension of Ais Linn for himself, even if he has to ride roughshod over every fae body in the land to do it.
The rivalry between Exeter Dubhtina and Tavis McMuir had seemed no more than the attempts of two teenagers to best each other. Whenever they fought at the feilles, it was usually called a draw. Well, the lads were both fledgling wizards and their fathers were reigning lords of the realm so it was to be expected, but Exeter wanted more. He wanted to be the only lord of Ais Linn and he knew there was only one way for that to happen…by conquering the other lord. It didn’t help that his father was the Tiarna d’Doit Tina, the Lord of Black Fire and his mother a solitary fairy, one of the most vicious species of fae alive. Exeter was born predisposed to evil and lived up to his potential as he grew, so when Megan finally meets her husband’s opposite number, she’s a little shocked and more than a little surprised.
She’d expected him to be ugly. A monster. As usual, her perception of fae, even an evil one, was wrong. Like all the other male faeries she’d encountered, Exeter was exceptionally handsome. At the moment, his wings and antenna weren’t visible. Megan wondered if he would have the same dragonfly-like wings as David, Brigid, and Ossian possessed, or if—being a purveyor of dark magic—he would have wings like those of a bat or some other nightdweller. Oh, yes, my Lord Exeter’s handsome, she thought. In a Fallen Angel-sort of way. Wings aside, Exeter could easily have been mistaken for the stereotypical portrait of a vampire…tall, pale, his black hair brushing his waist in a thick, straight fall. His eyes were so dark they appeared black. There was only one difference Megan could see. His pupils were dark crimson, and oblique. Like a cat’s.
Soon, Megan will discover Exeter’s a danger to more than her husband and Ais Linn, more than a threat to the Earth, for the Dark Lord has plans for her and her unborn child, plans even David can’t imagine, and he has no scruples whatsoever in how he goes about using her.
Handsome is as handsome does, and Exeter’s outer beauty shields a horrible inner core of deceit and treachery.
Wizard’s Wife was released January 15, 2011, by Class Act Books and is available in both print and e-version. For a glimpse into Chapter One, click here http://www.classactbooks.com/The-Wizards-Wife-Trade-by-Toni-V-Sweeney_p_269.html
A fantastic trailer for Wizard’s Wife:
Thanks Toni for sharing your knowledge of the Fae!
Bianca Swan ... Erotic Journeys 