The Forest Lord by Susan Krinard

 

THE FOREST LORD was fantastic. It was exactly the sort of book I wanted to read: a story of magic and revenge and love and second chances, wrapped up in a fairytale-like story about the fae and an enchanted wood. Basically, the heroine's dad is an earl and one of his holdings is a place called Hartsmere, which is steeped in legend and superstition: and one of the superstitions is that no one may hunt there. But guess what daddy does? HE HUNTS. BOO. And then Herne, Lord of the Forest, appears in all his terrible glory and demands an offspring off of Cyrus's daughter.

Anyway, shenanigans ensue, and Herne reveals himself to Eden after they've boinked in an inn on their way to their elopement, and as anyone does when their partner sprouts horns from their forehead, she freaks out and runs away. When she realizes she's pregnant, everyone is horrified, but the baby dies, and Herne is pissed, so he curses the land and goes off into the woods to rage-sleep in a tree (as one does). It's the faerie version of "screw you guys, I'm going home."

Eden marries another guy who's a total abusive asshole and HE tells the heroine that she's actually got a kid THIS WHOLE TIME. Her dad lied to her. So she goes to Hartsmere and her child is there, waiting for her: a cute little kid named Donal who also has a little touch of the fae about him. But she's not the only one who knows about his presence. Herne has spies everywhere, and one of them has just informed him that he's a dad, and that his traitorous wife-would-be is back in town.

All of this literally happens within the first couple chapters, btw. So these aren't even spoilers.

I loved this book so much. Most of it is five-star good. I mean, it made me like SECRET BABY. I literally cannot fucking stand that trope. But it worked here. This book also made me like second-chance and even the big misunderstanding trope (both of which I normally hate). Which I guess just goes to show that in the right hands, even the worst, most irritating, unreadable tropes can work. My favorite parts of the book were the beautiful descriptions of the woods and the changing of the seasons, and I loved all of the pagan holidays. As an Irish girl living in the U.S., I often feel disconnected from my culture, so reading this book filled me with the same wonderful feelings that I get while reading a particularly good fairy legend, or singing Dark Iniseoghain or Moorlough Shore.

The reason this isn't a five-star read is the ending. It was a little ridiculous and I felt like maybe the author did not know how to end her book after stretching it out for a little too long. It was just twist after twist after twist, and I felt like it also maybe jumped the shark (or should I say, the stag?). That said, Eden and Hartley's love story is one that's going to be rent-free in my head for a while, and I've already bought the second book in the series, which is about Donal, all grown up. I think it's hard to write a fantasy romance without coming across as too campy, especially if it also straddles part of the so-called "real world." But this one did such a beautiful job. I can't wait to read more from this author.

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars