Rating: 3 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Peaches, a nature pixie newly bonded to his apple orchard, is a bundle of nerves. There are many things to celebrate, including his bonding, Phil and Sedrick finding each other, the successful trial, Ruthie speaking, the mine’s success, and a glorious and bountiful apple harvest (complete with copious amounts of cider). But more than that, the thing that truly has Peach’s wings fluttering, is Lucroy Mooney, vampire king, agreeing to come and join the celebration.
Ever since the trial, where the powerful vampire saved Peaches’ life by killing a werewolf, Peaches and Lucroy have been talking. Maybe more than just talking, if Peaches is honest. The vampire king is kind, charming, and helpful. And something about Lucroy is … exciting. Not that he — or anyone else — has ever heard of a vampire and pixie falling in love. Of course, no one heard of a werewolf and a pixie falling in love until Sedrick and Phil. Is it possible that there’s a chance for Peaches and Lucroy?
This is the second book in the Perfect Pixie series, and I strongly suggest that you read the first book before diving into this one. Phil and Sedrick, Ray, the Voss pack, and even the dwarves all show up here not just as cameos, but as characters. Plot points from the first book show up again in this one, and it will be very hard to keep up with or understand what’s going on without being familiar with the series. Besides, the first book was wonderful, and well worth the read.
Pixies, in this world, bond strongly to places or people — such as Peaches and his apple orchard, or Phil and his house — and are weakened when away from them. A pixie too long from their bonded can become ill or even die, so Peaches isn’t able to be away from his trees and his land for long periods of time. As a nature pixie, he’s attuned to the natural world, sensitive to every living thing on his land. Lucroy, however, isn’t living at all. It’s an incongruity that, to be honest, Peaches doesn’t bother to think about. He’s happy with Lucroy and that’s all that matters.
For Lucroy, a vampire some 600 years old, Peaches is a novelty. He’s an explosion of sunlight and laughter, of joy and life. For someone who has only seen the sun on television, or hidden deep in the shade, seeing Peaches with his sunlight hair and golden pixie dust is the closest he’s had to true warmth since his turning. However, there is a vampiric legend about Horatio, an ancient vampire who, once upon a time, fed from a pixie. It killed him.
Lucroy isn’t superstitious and knows how time can twist anything. He’s cautious, patient, and knows — as only an ancient vampire can know — what he’s willing to risk for a chance at happiness. But there’s dissension in the ranks. Not all of Lucroy’s nest want to see their king potentially throw his life away for a pixie.
This book felt kind of shallow and surface level, to be honest. Peaches and Lucroy are already half in love at the beginning of the book, and fall so instantly into love that there’s no buildup and no tension between them. Peaches, himself, is as substantial as sunlight. His personality is nice. He’s a loyal friend, a devoted lover, and from start to finish … he’s nice. Lucroy is more interesting, and I think the author pulls off the sense of him as someone very clever, very logical, and very tired of all the nonsense quite well. However, his feelings for Peaches seem to be more at the idea of sunlight than the person in front of him. It feels like Lucroy wants to feel alive again, and Peaches blood gives him that.
That’s not to say the romance is one sided, but both of them are so perfectly made for each other that it’s a foregone conclusion from page one and their relationship neither changes nor grows from there. The external conflict is straightforward and easily dealt with, so it barely felt like a conflict at all. There are some interesting side characters, however, and the vampire council was a nice bit of world building. This is a decently written companion novel to the first book (and a third book is on the way). If you have read and enjoyed the first book in the series, I think you’ll have fun with this one. However, this is not a book that can stand on its own,
