Review: "Storm Born" by Richelle Mead

Title: Storm Born
Author: Richelle Mead
ISBN 10: 1420100963
ISBN13:  9781420100969

About the book (from Goodreads)

Just typical. No love life to speak of for months, then all at once, every horny creature in the Otherworld wants to get in your pants...

Eugenie Markham is a powerful shaman who does a brisk trade banishing spirits and fey who cross into the mortal world. Mercenary, yes, but a girl's got to eat. Her most recent case, however, is enough to ruin her appetite. Hired to find a teenager who has been taken to the Otherworld, Eugenie comes face to face with a startling prophecy--one that uncovers dark secrets about her past and claims that Eugenie's first-born will threaten the future of the world as she knows it.

Now Eugenie is a hot target for every ambitious demon and Otherworldy ne'er-do-well, and the ones who don't want to knock her up want her dead. Eugenie handles a Glock as smoothly as she wields a wand, but she needs some formidable allies for a job like this. She finds them in Dorian, a seductive fairy king with a taste for bondage, and Kiyo, a gorgeous shape-shifter who redefines animal attraction. But with enemies growing bolder and time running out, Eugenie realizes that the greatest danger is yet to come, and it lies in the dark powers that are stirring to life within her...

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Dark Swan #1
Published: 1 August 2008
Publisher: Zebra
Website: Richelle Mead's Website
Excerpt: Read chapter one

My Review
Eugenie Markham also know as Odile Dark Swan is a shaman who banishes Fae and other creatures from the human world, back to the Otherworld or direct to the Underworld.  Mercenary maybe but she is very good at it.  Eugenie is a strong, sexy, assured character who thinks she knows who she is.    There’s only one problem the prophecy, suddenly every Otherworld creature capable of crossing over is after Eugenie in the hope of fathering her first born to fulfil the prophecy.

If that’s not enough trouble at once she is approached by a client who wants her to rescue his sister from the Otherworld.  Meaning she will have to go there in body rather than just spirit which she does not do often.   Combined with the prophecy this leads Eugenie into the Otherworld and the discovery about her past which changes everything.  

Kiyo is Eugenie’s love interest for most of the book but is not what he seems at first.  He is hot, sexy and fights very well - alpha male anyone?   In fact he’s a bit of a fox!  

Dorian is a Faerie King who is  arrogant, sexy, powerful and a little bit kinky.  Eugenie’s relationship with Dorian takes on more than one level which him being her magic teacher.  I am intrigued to follow him more and see how he fits into Eugenie’s life in the future books in the series!

The word building in Storm Born is excellent, we have our world which is pretty much as we know it but with rather more Fae invasion!  Eugenie as a Shaman is capable of travel, body or spirit, to the Otherworld and the Underworld.  While the Underworld is not built on much (apart from near the end but I’ll not say any more about that!) the Otherworld is painted in wonderful vivid detail.  I particularly liked the descriptions of travel when Eugenie first goes into the Otherworld.  I loved the way the seasons of the Kingdoms are dictated by the whim of the King/Queen.

There are various twists to the tale which make for an interesting read but I don’t want to do any major spoilers so I’ll just say look out for the prophecy and Eugenie’s powers!

The first line is a great start to this book : “I’d seen weirder things than a haunted shoe, but not many.”

I very much enjoyed Storm Born and will certainly be picking up The Thorn Queen sometimes soon.  I would recommend Storm Born to anyone who like Richelle Mead’s writing or who enjoys urban fantasy with a hint of romance (more an HFN than HEA!)