FILTHY RICH FAE- Geneva Lee

Description

The nitty-gritty: A darkly sexy fantasy romance, Filthy Rich Fae is the perfect opening to Geneva Lee’s new series.

This is my first time reading a book by Geneva Lee, and I had a ton of fun with it! Filthy Rich Fae is urban fantasy with a good dose of romance, but there’s also a decent plot going on, so even if you’re not a big romance fan, there’s a lot to love. I would rate this “spice level PG-13,” which is perfect for me, and if you’re one of those readers who loves romance and sexy banter but doesn’t want to know everything that goes on in the bedroom, this book is for you.

Cate Holloway is a nurse at Gage Memorial in New Orleans, where she deals daily with overdoses from a dangerous street drug called Trinity. One day a gunshot victim is admitted to the ER, and Cate is shocked to find out it’s her brother Channing. She does some digging and discovers that Channing was caught in friendly fire during a drug deal, and the location of the incident proves that the notorious Gage family was involved—which means that her little brother has somehow become involved with the Gages. Lachlan Gage, the head of the family, isn’t someone Cate wants to get involved with, but she’ll do anything for her brother, and so she decides to pay Lachlan a visit to see if she can make a deal to protect him.

When Cate meets Lachlan, he’s exactly like she pictured him—ruthless, gorgeous and sexy. As she pleads her case, something goes wrong, and Cate realizes too late she’s made an unbreakable bargain with Lachlan for her soul. Lachlan, it turns out, is the fae prince of the Nether Court, and bargains are serious business where he comes from. Cate finds herself whisked away to the Otherworld, the land of the fae, where Lachlan explains that she is free to go back to her world during the day, but every night at midnight, she must return to the Otherworld and spend her nights with him.

Lee’s world is both familiar and new. Things like the different fae courts, arranged marriages and the Wild Hunt are things I’ve seen in other stories. But there are also elements that felt fresh. For example, Lachlan is 244 human years old and actually fought in World War II. I also loved the Avalon, a swanky hotel that acts as a way station of sorts, where fae can go to use human conveniences like internet and still be close to the Otherworld when they need to return. In this world, humans aren’t aware of otherworldly creatures like the fae, vampires, and werewolves (all part of Lee’s world although we don’t see them in this story), but the fae are basically hidden in plain sight, part of the fabric of New Orleans, although they wear glamours to hide their true appearance. I also liked that Lachlan carries a gun wherever he goes, so he felt more like a mobster than fae royalty.

The story is narrated by Cate, so we see everything from her point of view, which was a good choice. I loved that the author gave her an interesting backstory as well. Cate’s parents died when she was a toddler, so she was in foster care for many years. She has a bit of a criminal background as well, especially when she ended up with some awful foster parents and had to steal food in order to survive. I also really liked the relationship between Cate and Lach, which is a slow burn enemies-to-lovers romance with lots of tension. Lee includes plenty of political intrigue among the four fae courts, like the arranged marriage between Lach’s sister Ciara and Bain, the prince of a rival court. I really liked a lot of the side characters, especially Ciara and Shaw, Lach’s younger brother.

One of the main plot lines involves the Trinity drug and the havoc it’s causing the city of New Orleans. Cate and Lach are at odds over it, and Cate decides to prove to Lach just how dangerous the drug is. Her research uncovers the shocking reason the drug is so dangerous, which leads to an interesting twist. There’s also something going on with an emerald ring that Cate wears, passed down from her mother before she died. Lach is extremely interested in the ring and obviously knows something we don’t, so hopefully in the next book we’ll find out more about it.

As for the ending, well, I loved it! Yes, there is a huge cliffhanger at the end, and it sort of came out of nowhere. But it makes me want to read the next book in the series even more.