I have to admit that I didn't cry at the ending, but I did sigh in happiness for Whim and Charlie. You cannot help but feel deeply for their love and sacrifice. This was simply a beautiful love story with a very happy, sigh worthy ending. ( )

BOOK BLURB:
Whim believes himself to be the least powerful sidhe at Green's Hill: he is as constant as a bumblebee in a hurricane and as faithful as a stray breeze. Whim's prince believes there is more to him than that and on Litha, the night of the summer solstice, sends Whim into the mortal world where he strives to give a piece of himself to others.

It is on Litha that Whim meets Charlie, a young, desperate human who steals a kiss. Whim steals one back and, in turn, craves another taste of this extraordinary man. Their vows to return next Litha and finish what they started launch a thirteen-year tradition of celebration between the mortal and the immortal, between love and patience, that is sustained by Whim's driving, faithful compulsion to love and keep his human close to his heart.

BOOK REVIEW:
This urban fantasy tale, told from the elven perspective, does a wonderful job of both building a solid world around its fey characters and of showing us the readers more about Whim's evolution than he himself seems to be aware of. The entire cast of characters are engaging and a pleasure to spend time with.

This is masterful storytelling, apart from a few missteps in the prose, which balances a sense of myth with a sense of humour, the supernatural creatures banded together at Green's Hill and their human neighbours who remain unaware.

It also perfectly balances Whim's long lifespan, and Charlie's relatively rapid growing up, his transformation from tortured teen to an adult making a difference in people's lives, with all the joys and difficulties that that creates ~ an example of the kind of solid internal reality that makes the fantasy sing.

The story feels a little as though it ought to be a companion piece to a longer novel ~ there's so much going on at Green's Hill between Whim and Charlie's meetings ~ but it is entirely fitting that, as this is Whim's story, it shares Whim's captivation with Charlie, the very central role Charlie comes to play as he anchors Whim's butterfly attention span.

Amy Lane has created a beautiful, delicate, magical story that more than lives up to it's fantastic cover art.

(Originally reviewed for Rainbow Reviews - http://www.rainbow-reviews.com/?p=7119) ( )