Cold Iron by D.L. McDermott
Also by this author: Silver Skin (Cold Iron, #2), Stone Song, Blade Dance
Series: Cold Iron,
Also in this series: Silver Skin (Cold Iron, #2), Stone Song
Published by Pocket Star on February 10th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Pages: 381
ISBN: 1476734399
ASIN: B00DPM7VHU
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For fans of Jeaniene Frost and Kresley Cole, this full-length novel is the first in D.L. McDermott’s fast-paced, sexy paranormal romance series—available exclusively in ebook!

The Fae, the Good Neighbors, the Fair Folk, the Aes Sídhe, creatures of preternatural beauty and seduction. Archaeologist Beth Carter doesn’t believe in them. She’s always credited her extraordinary ability to identify ancient Celtic sites to hard work and intuition—until she discovers a tomb filled with ancient treasure but missing a body. Her ex-husband, the scholar who stifled her career to advance his own, is unconcerned. Corpses don’t fetch much on the antiquities market. Gold does. Beth knows from past experience that if she isn’t vigilant, Frank will make off with the hoard.

So when a man—tall, broad shouldered, and impossibly handsome—turns up in her bedroom claiming to be the tomb’s inhabitant, one of mythic god-kings of old Ireland, Beth believes it is a ploy cooked up by her ex-husband to scare her away from the excavation.

But Conn is all too real. Ancient, alien, irresistible, the Fae are the stuff of dreams and nightmares, their attentions so addictive their abandoned human lovers wither and die. And this one has fixed his supernatural desire on Beth.

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~Review by Karen~

The world of urban fantasy in dealing with the subject of the Fae except for a few exceptions is mostly erotica, with little plot to hold a reader beyond the desire to read about beautiful people have lots and lots of kinky sex.  The fair folk of myth are tricksters and one should never bargain with the Fae, honestly they should be avoided at all cost and if you find a fairy ring in your yard, leave a bit of honey as a gift; it can’t hurt and no one wants to offend even by accident the immortal Fae.  The Fae even turn on their own heroes, so be warned before you go a hunting for them.

In Cold Iron, Beth Carter, intrepid archaeologist goes a hunting, not for the Fae, but for Celtic burial mounds, because the Fae have been relegated to myth and legends, and the belief in them has been muted by time and remembrance.  Hmmm….. maybe Beth should have read a few cautionary book reviews before she wine off to Ireland to excavate some Celtic burial mounds.  Along for the hunt for Celtic artifacts in Ireland, is her ex-husband and her colleague, Frank Carter, whom happened to have been her professor at university when she was a student.  ARGH!!!! Do fictional college professors have no morals? Well in the case of this book, Frank has no morals and pretty much slithers on his belly because he is a snake.  In making the previous statement I am actually insulting snakes.  The intrepid grave robbers (archeaologist), thanks to Beth’s ability to find Celtic artifacts, finds an untouched barrow.  Only problem is that nothing in the millennium old mound has be touched by the ravages of time.  Everything  in the chamber is in pristine condition. HUH?  In my humble opinion, warning bells should have been flying off in Beth’s brain.  Come on you have a Ph.D in archaeology and you are not freaking out.  I have been to digs and nothing is ever untouched by time, even in the Arizona desert, just imagine what rain and wet does to the artifacts in Ireland.   I might have rolled my eyes when she leaves only one guard at the site, but it is a book; so I won’t go into cataloging a dig site; because that would be boring to everyone except for me.  Now to the fun and oh so not boring part, the barrow belongs to a very sexy, very pissed off and horny Fae named Conn.  It is his gold and weapons in the mound, and he just happened to get a whiff of the lovely and lush Beth.  He has decided for her trespass he is going to exact some good ole sexual revenge from her. As fae are irresistible to mere mortals and no one has ever resisted Conn’s sexual prowess. Okay maybe this is a book with a kinky sexy fae, but it also has a killer plot, which happens to center around his sword, a real sword made of not iron, as fae can’t abide the touch or iron.  I know you all thought ‘sword’ meant something else as the book is about a fae.  The plot goes on to involve Conn’s betrayal of the fae to the Druids, and the reasons that the Fae Court should never return to this plane of existence.  As the Fae are the dominate predators and we poor humans would never stand a chance if they returned.

The majority of the book takes place in Boston, as that is where Beth lives and works.  All of McDermott’s characters are fleshed out and even their conflicting reasons for what some of them do is clear, with the exception of Frank’s best friend Jack Egan, I don’t know why he was part of the story except to show that someone could be even more reprehensible than Frank and the Fae.  Both the characters of Egan and Carter made my skin crawl.  As honestly I could actually understand the cruel fae more than humans killing and torturing for money.  As the fae are only acting like fae, they are set up as an alien race, with their emotions atrophied. What excuse do Egan and Carter have except for being pure evil?

Everyone who ever reads one of my reviews will know I like strong female characters and McDermott writes very strong female characters in Beth and her friend Helene Whitney.  She also does of course writes sexy alpha male characters; as what would a romance be with a whiney dude?  The men are not warm and cuddly and they might kill you as sure and try to seduce you as fae see humans as ‘toys’; so fae loving woman beware if you encounter any devastatingly beautiful men, that don’t have pointy ears, but carry large sharp pointy swords.

I was at times perplexed by how the Fae in Boston were able to move around so easily; as Boston is one of the oldest cities in the Unites States and has a lot of iron and steel in it’s construction.  Also McDermott’s fae are able to travel by cars, ummm lots of metal in them.  The entire world mythos that revolves around the fae is how deadly iron is to them.  I am hoping as the series progresses the author is able to reconcile these issues.

I enjoyed this first book very much and will be leaping into book two Silver Skin.

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