Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather FawcettMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This second book in the Emily Wilde fantasy series continues the saga of Professor Wilde, dryadologist who studies the many species of fae, and her fellow professor/secret exiled king of Faerie Wendell Bambleby. This could also be called a "cosy" fantasy series (although this storyline gets a bit dark), with a focus on the science of dryadology in this alternate universe where faeries and alternate realms exist.
The highlight of the series is the prickly, sometimes hilarious relationship between the rational, matter-of-fact Emily and the fussy, eccentric (and often terrifying, when he lets his Faerie powers loose) Wendell. Wendell is trying to find a back door to return to his kingdom, and his evil stepmother has sent assassins after him. Wendell has also asked Emily to marry him, which prospect occupies a good deal of the plot because, as Emily says, marrying a Faerie king would be most unwise. Nevertheless, I suppose love in the end does conquer all, as she agrees to marry him, in between her efforts to open a door into his realm and the various hijinks that ensue.
These books are quite charming. The author hadn't been on my radar before, but now I am trying to track her books down. That's one of the great delights of reading, when you stumble upon someone you never heard of before and realize their books are right up your alley. If you like something along the lines of Marie Brennan's Memoirs of Lady Trent, this series is similar and worth checking out as well.
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