Book Review: Rosemary and Rue

And another book where I'm not quite sure where I got the recommendation from. I was a bit surprised since the book was a mass-market paperback and I am snobby and don't think many good stories are published in that format*.

Rosemary and Rue

 Pretty generic cover that says "I have a dark and brooding past but, since I'm clearly a paranormal series, there must be romance in here somewhere!"
Summary: October "Toby"Daye is half fae but barely has any magic at all, she has a hard enough time hiding her pointy ears let alone breaking out a pond during a 14 year curse. After those 14 years she vows to not be a P.I. after it took everything away from her, but other characters have other ideas and she's soon forced to resolve a murder which threatens her life and shows her how much she never noticed in her old life.

The Good: I'm sure that this isn't the first supernatural (in the way of Old World fairies) private investigator mash-up out there but it was new for me (plus the fact that PIs occur more in children's books and adult books than YA, some in MG). And I've been seeing so much anime/manga lately that it's nice to see Old World style mythology, especially stories that have a heavy emphasis on the Celtic myths**.
The Bad: Toby seems depressed about her missing 14 years but doesn't seem to do anything. Actually, it feels like the author wanted a reason to give her an unhappy back story and set the stage for some family issues a few books down the road (since she left behind her boyfriend and 4 year old daughter who are barely mentioned, it sounds like they haven't contacted her at all which strikes me as a bit odd). And she has an awful lot of men fawning over her for no apparent reason and that is annoying. I'm not saying that people can't be in love with more than one person at a time but the way it's presented here it feels rather sue-ish. As a final note, it's nice that you put in a pronunciation guide for all the various fae but I would have liked a little definition instead, I was too lazy to look up 30 different types of fairies but I think it would've been a good idea in retrospect.

Really not my type of story, if I want mystery I'll grab a classic and, like I said yesterday, romance is never my kind of thing.


*Would like to note that they are also a pain to shelve and slide around when you try to carry more than three at a time, makes me job that much harder.
**Why yes I'm VERY Irish.