Bad Boy's Bard by E.J. Russell

***

From Riptide Publishing:

As far as rock star Gareth Kendrick, the last true bard in Faerie, is concerned, the only good Unseelie is . . . well . . . there’s no such thing. Two centuries ago, an Unseelie lord abducted Gareth’s human lover, Niall, and Gareth has neither forgotten nor forgiven.

Niall O’Tierney, half-human son of the Unseelie King, had never lost a wager until the day he swore to rid the Seelie court of its bard. That bet cost him everything: his freedom, his family—and his heart. When he’s suddenly face-to-face with Gareth at the ceremony to join the Seelie and Unseelie realms, Niall does the only thing inhumanly possible: he fakes amnesia. Not his finest hour, perhaps, but he never revealed his Unseelie heritage, and to tell the truth now would be to risk Gareth’s revulsion—far harder to bear than two hundred years of imprisonment.

Then a new threat to Gareth’s life arises, and he and Niall stage a mad escape into the Outer World, only to discover the fate of all fae resting on their shoulders. But before they can save the realm, they have to tackle something really tough: mending their own broken relationship.

Source: An electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.  

The Bad:  

Bard is my least favorite book of this series.  Because I think Gareth is the least likeable of the Kendrick brothers.  He's a sanctimonous, racist, prick.  He's a complete ass to his brothers, his Queen, and his brothers' significant others.  Really, he's an ass to everyone.  Granted, he has spent the last two hundred years mourning the loss of his lover and blaming himself for Niall's kidnapping and what he imagines happened to Niall after being kidnapped (rape and torture being chief among them), but he really channels those feelings all the wrong ways.  Even once he learns Niall is alive, he's still a jerk to Bryce and David.  

The Good:

Bard brings everything from Cutie and the Beast and The Druid Next Door and stitches them all together to weave a great story that, in the end, has little to do with Gareth and Niall.  The Seelie Queen and the Unseelie King agree to marry and perform a unification spell to unite all of fairy, and save them all.  During the ceremony, Gareth sees Niall for the first time and believing Niall to be human, takes off to get him out of fairy before the ceremony kills Niall.  Only Niall is not human, he's an Unseelie Prince.  When he sees someone threaten Gareth, he agrees to run away with the Bard, pretending not to remember who Gareth is and their history.  

Leaving fairy before the ceremony completes has consequences neither man stopped to consider - they really are very short-sighted and selfish beings.  Unfortunately, their actions may destroy all of fairy, which would in turn destroy the human world.  With Alun and Mal trapped in fairy, Bryce and David are freaked and more than a little pissed at Gareth for causing the problems.  As they all try to figure out how to move forward, Niall's secrets come out.  And then all hell breaks loose.  In the end, they must all work together to save the world and stop those who seek to control it.  

The Bottom Line:

I'll say it again, this series is a sweet, sexy, supernatural thrill ride.  Gareth and Niall are my least favorite of the couples, but David and Bryce play large roles in the story, so it helped me get over that.  I don't feel like Gareth ever really redeems himself, but that's just me.  If you like supernatural adventures, you will love the Fae Out of Water Series.  

~ Shel