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librarydanielle's review
1.0
out of the four short stories in this book I enjoyed 1.5. Lord of Elphindale was decent, but nothing super exciting. The Faery Braid and The Love Talker were just terrible, and Dangerous Gifts wasn't bad. I didn't even finish Faery Braid it annoyed me so much. The Love Talker (ugh, that title annoyed me so much) was pointless and inane. Dangerous Gifts was more to my liking, with the double edged sword of faerie (the faery spelling just annoys me) gift. but even then it wasn't anything super special.
slimikin's review
3.0
Faery Magic started off strong but lost much of the emotional, and Faerie, momentum in the second half. Jo Beverley's tale possessed her usual attention to characterization and historical detail. Karen Harbaugh offered a lovely, languid retelling of Rapunzel. Barbara Samuel's story had an interesting premise, but the romance seemed rushed and flat amid its faery framework. And I mostly skimmed Mary Jo Putney's piece, which seemed both too full of characters and almost completely empty of either magical or romantic resonance...neither of which is at all typical of her work. Not a bad collection, but not quite as impressive as I think these authors are capable of, either.
lauriereadslohf's review
4.0
I love shared world collections but usually find myself annoyed at having wasted my precious reading time wading through at least one clunker. So, I approached this collection with a little hesitation, sure I'd find myself skimming at least one of the stories. I'm thrilled to report that all four stories were skillfully told and enjoyable and no skimming was necessary. My favorite was Barbara Samuel's THE LOVE TALKER which featured a cursed male faery saved from his torment by the love of a mortal woman. Sigh, this story was so romantic that it was worth the cost of the entire book. My least favorite was probably Jo Beverly's tale THE LORD OF ELPHINDALE only because the hero acted like an all-around jerk to the heroine (who was supposed to be his childhood best-friend) for far too long. This is a story that could've benefited from 100 or so more pages to flesh out his actions and make the romance more believable. Still, this was a fitting addition to the collection and is nowhere near what I'd consider a clunker. If you enjoy romance and hold a soft-spot in your heart for faeries this is a not-to-be-missed book.
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