{The Heart of Faerie by Rowan Parker}

My Review

First of all, I'll note this was written by a friend and I received an ARC. It was my first time ever receiving an ARC, and I definitely had some doubts based on the synopsis (and also the fear of "what if my friend wrote trash?")

I'm happy to report The Heart of Faerie is just a brilliant book. The premise is novel and focuses on a mother-daughter duo from the human world transported into Faerie. It's a dual-POV: The mom in her 40s, Jenn, failed as the chosen one in a prophecy in Faerie, and her daughter Vivi is a 19 year old college student obsessed with the romantasy genre. The novel starts with Vivi being accidentally kidnapped to Faerie by her mother’s old quest companions, two Fae named Alastair and Killian.

The book does parody so many tropes based on Vivi’s expectations of how Faerie works from her romantasy books, but calling this book a parody would be an insult. Yes, it's funny, but there was so much heart and emotional stakes beyond the premise. I choked up a few times. The novel does a phenomenal job of discussing the very real effects of trauma, namely PTSD.

All of the main characters are well-written and distinct, and even the side characters are well-designed and memorable. I particularly love the relationship building the Rowan Parker does between the four main characters. It's believable and the conflicts and resolutions feel real. While the plot and world building are great, the relationships are what really drove the book for me. 

All in all, this was a five star read for me. I’m so happy I got an advanced reader copy to review, but I’m also sad that I will have to wait even longer for the next one in the trilogy.

Synopsis from the Author's Site:

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When Alastair, playboy fae prince and bisexual disaster, and his stoic, snarky bestie Killian travel to the human realm to retrieve the prophesied Chosen One, they abduct Vivi Pierce to save their home from a sinister, ancient curse. Vivi may be a nineteen-year-old college student, but fortunately for Faerie, she’s eager to save the world. In fact, she's pretty sure that she could ride a dragon or help perform a coup, should the need arise. She has, after all, read every romantasy novel she’s ever gotten her hands on. She knows every trope in the book.

The only problem? Vivi isn't actually the Chosen One, and this kidnapping isn’t the meet-cute that she thought it was. It turns out the Chosen One is actually her middle-aged mother Jenn, and the fae men grabbed the wrong woman. Now, instead of leading the charge to save the world, becoming inexplicably good at combat through a quick training montage, and getting seduced by a sexy, impossibly-old fae love interest, Vivi has to contend with the fact that her 40-something year old mother may be the real Main Character in this story. Worse yet, it looks like Jenn has known about the existence of Faerie for years, purposely hid that knowledge from her daughter, and that maybe Vivi's books have gotten more than a few things terribly wrong.

Plot Attributes

• Portal Fantasy
• Dual POV (mother-daughter)
• Blond bisexual himbo MMC
• Stoic and gentle MMC
• Older FMC (40s)
• Subverted tropes galore!