Fragile Eternity (Wicked Lovely)

Fragile Eternity, Melissa Marr's sequel to the New York Times bestselling Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange, returns to Huntsdale, where faeries and mortals intermingle, wreaking continual havoc on each other's lives. Aislinn, who became a faerie in the first book, now has to deal with the awkward--verging on impossible--position of still being in love with her mortal boyfriend Seth, whom she can't even touch without burning. To complicate things further, as the new Summer Queen, Aislinn is eternally bonded to Keenan, the Summer King, and the attraction between them is palpable and constant. In the doomed loves that permeate these books, Marr deftly explores the essence of longing as she questions notions of fated love. Her characters are strong, with even the nastiest of the faerie troublemakers coming through as absolutely compelling and sympathetic. And their situations are rife with conflict, from the impossible mortal-faerie relationships to the ancient familial and courtly spats within the faerie realm. In the hands of a less talented writer, these complexities could easily veer into soap opera, but Marr's dark sensibility imbues the series with an eerie, sexy, mysterious ambience that gives it just the edge it needs. --Heidi Broadhead