Review: An urban fantasy with all the right bells and whistles
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 31, 2013
I picked this book up as a bit of light reading and was not disappointed.  Cassie, the main character is not a human, but rather she is a water-elemental, a sprite. (Hence the title.)  The author does a great job of conveying Cassie’s alien-ness, and her lack of human understanding.While I normally don’t really enjoy first-person point-of-view, I think in this case it is well done, although graphic sex from a first-person pov puts me a little off, but there is not too much of that, and what there is does seem to advance the plot.  Though this is a rather graphic romance, there is a lot of other action, and all the characters are well fleshed out. Unlike most romance novels, the plot moves quite quickly and does not rely on the sex to keep the readers attention.The plot encompasses a great deal of urban mythology regarding vampires and the fae, modern witchcraft and the old-time selkie legends. The author blends them well and pits them against modern ecological issues, such as sustainable power. There is also the age old conflict of truth and trust, and how sins of omission can mess up a life, which makes for great drama. The magic is quite believable, as are the magical beings.Liam, the evil magician, is your usual self-centered, amoral, malevolent bad dude, and his machinations drive the action in this tale. Cassie is not the only person who is not what they portray themselves as, and that leaves the door open for a sequel.The ending, while not exactly happy, is satisfactory. It does leave the door open to a sequel, which I will buy.