Veena’s review of The Hob (The Gray Court, Book 4) by Dana Marie Bell
Fantasy Romance published by Samhain Publishing 22 Jan 13
I’ve always thought Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream is a delightful piece of whimsy, but Dana Marie Bell takes it to a whole new level in her Gray Court series.
Titania, now divorced from Oberon and queen of the black court, has kidnapped the nephew of the white queen and is prepared to open negotiations for the release of the hostage. Where else would such a negotiation take place but at a real fairy convention in good old mortal land, Philadelphia. Oberon provides an arbitrator to arbitrate between the white and black and dispatches Robin to Philadelphia to keep the peace. The last thing Robin expects when he is on such a delicate assignment is to find love.
Michaela Oxton is human and she has dreamed of Puck all her life. Even though she knows he’s not real, he’s still the gold standard by which she measures any man she meets. To Robin’s dismay, she finds good in every person she comes into contact with, even the red cap assassin who has been dispatched to kill her. When his attempt is foiled secretly by Robin, instead of disliking the person, she manages to make him pledge undying loyalty to her as a result of her caring and compassion.
Having always been somewhat elusive and shy of relationships, she finds herself suddenly plunged headlong into a strong relationship with two different men who resonate strongly with her. Poor Michaela. Little does she know that it’s one and the same man, our friend Puck in two different disguises. Finally Puck comes clean and relieves Michaela of her guilt.
But Robin is here to do a job and his enemies are circling, sensing the blood in the water in the form of Robin’s innocent, human bondmate. Will Robin be able to do his job while protecting and keeping Michaela safe? We meet an absolutely delightful cast of new characters in this book, while revisiting some of the dear friends that we made over the previous two.
The author has created a wonderful cast of characters, letting her imagination go wild, along with skillfully blending in myths and legends such as fae, sidhe, brownies, goblins, dragons, pookas, vampires, water sprites, mermaids, etc. We also get to visit with the characters who we’ve met before and there’s a great set up for Oberon’s book next. It is interesting to share Oberon’s feelings on his divorce from Titania and how dark she has become.
Robin is my absolutely favorite character in the series, with his humor and sharp cutting wit, and I had a hard time waiting for him to get his own book. I enjoyed every bit of it. Even though Robin and Michaela meet at the beginning of the book and they fall in love at first sight, as we know, the path to true love is rarely entirely smooth, and so do these two have to stub their toes and vanquish their enemies and deal with surprising revelations on their path to their happily ever after. I am already waiting anxiously for Oberon’s book and hope to continue to get my sneak peeks into what’s going on with all my favorite characters from the previous stories.
Grade: B
Summary:
Robin Goodfellow has met his match.
When the Black Queen kidnaps one of the White Queen’s nephews, Robin Goodfellow is sent to ensure that the young prince safely returns to the bosom of his family. True to his role as Oberon’s Hobgoblin, he is ready for anything…except meeting his truebond, the very delicious, very human Michaela Exton.
Michaela has dreamed about a flame-haired rogue named Robin Goodfellow since she was a little girl, but everyone knows Puck doesn’t really exist. In real life, it’s a dark-eyed man named Ringo who makes her heart beat faster.
She is closer to her dream man than she thinks, and nobody knows it better than Robin, who wears the guise of Ringo. But there’s competition for her love in the form of Lord Raven, who holds a secret that will rock the foundation of Robin’s world. As a Black Court delegate does the unthinkable, leaving an enraged, grief-stricken Robin hanging onto his humanity by a thread, only Michaela has the power to bring him back from the killing edge—if she survives.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
