Published: September 6, 2022
Publisher: W by Wattpad Books
Series: N/A
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 369 (Kindle)
My Rating: 4.0/5.0
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
For better or for worse, the newest changeling has arrived . . .
When Thea Kanelos’s best friend drags her to an art gala (that’s definitely not her thing), she doesn’t expect a chance encounter with Devin Grayson to change her life forever. The handsome stranger isn’t just anyone—he’s a powerful fae, charged with bringing Thea into his world.
Believing that she’s always been human, Thea must accept that everything she’s known about herself up until now has been a lie. She’s not human at all. She is a fae—funny, because she doesn’t even believe in faeries.
But with strange creatures now visible on the street and fangs and colors flashing in the shadows, it can’t be denied: faeries are real. And with the Winter Solstice approaching, a magnificent ball will bring her fully into the fae world and draw her closer to Devin with whom she has a deepening and dangerous attraction.
As her new powers awaken, Thea learns she plays a more pivotal role to the fae than she ever imagined. And when the barrier between the human and the fae worlds begins to crack, it will be up to her to save not just herself, but everyone she loves from a terrible fate.
Deeply sensual and darkly magical, Dirty Lying Faeries is the first book in an exciting new series that takes readers inside a universe filled with faeries, dragons and werewolves–and those that love them.
I couldn’t resist the cover for this – it has such a nice color palette, plus the wings and fancy greenhouse glass background were just pretty! It’s also a cheesy modern faerie romance, so that was kind of irresistible too. I’m pleasantly surprised because it was actually quite good!
Thea Kanelos is living her normal human life until her best friend invites her to an art gala where she meets the handsome gallery owner Devin Grayson. He’s actually one of the faerie rulers and it’s his charge to begin the magical transformation of promising humans into fae. Thea is thoroughly enchanted by Devin and can’t get him out of her head, but she’s also experiencing some really strange shit – she’s seeing people with wings and things that aren’t really there, plus her best friend has gone missing. She fortunately doesn’t go too long without getting a proper explanation from her new people and is surprisingly okay with this life changing species shift! To be fair, she now has fae beauty, magic, and a hot powerful new dude and her best friend also made the change. Unfortunately this is tempered by the fact that someone is threatening Thea and there are secrets she must uncover.
Dirty Lying Fairies is like a fun throwback to the early days of the YA paranormal romance craze (post-Twilight) but the author is aware of some of the really standard tropes and skips or subverts them. So, typically the MC who has been introduced to this new world has a total meltdown and gets angry at this unwanted change, but Thea and her friend actually embrace it. There’s a really nice chapter where Thea takes Devin to meet her family for Christmas. Little do they know, this is one of the last times they’ll get to see Thea because proximity to her new magic can harm them if they’re exposed too much. It was bittersweet and really showed why the fae only choose people who have no one else close to them. It’s too much to lose otherwise. Devin is pretty standard as far as hot faerie love interests go, but he fortunately avoids the “alpha-hole” trope so common nowadays. He’s a pretty nice dude who has to play politics with the other fae courts, protect his people, and especially Thea (his new mate). Yes, it does have the fated mate thing going on, but I find that I usually like that!
Overall, if you’re looking for a fun fantasy romance with a little dash of mystery thrown in this is quite entertaining. I liked the characters and didn’t want to smack them for being insufferable, uncommunicative idiots. That’s honestly the worst part about so many fantasy romance books – if people would just communicate, there wouldn’t be any issues and therefore no cheap drama! It has some spice, but not an excessive amount (there’s actually a plot!). It looks like this author has some other stories on Wattpad, though I’m not sure how interconnected they are with Dirty Lying Faeries. I would love to see a direct continuation of this story because there’s so much more to explore!
Powder & Page 