Thank you to NetGalley and Riptide for the ARC.

This is the second in the series Fae Out of Water. I enjoyed the first, Cutie and the Beast, very much, despite the cover and the title. I did not enjoy this one as much.

Firstly, I prefer it if series books work as stand-alones and I think it would be difficult to enjoy this book without first reading Cutie. Certainly I would have struggled with a lot of aspects of The Druid Next Door if I had not read the first in the series.

Secondly, I was uneasy about the underlying theme of domination and control. Although this was dressed up in the guise of the bond created between Mal and Bryce I thought it gave an unpleasant feel to their relationship.

Thirdly, I found a lot of the fae aspects very complicated and not all that interesting or entertaining although I did enjoy them in the previous book where they were less obtrusive.

The actual romance in this was pretty thin, sort of enemies to lovers, sort of opposites attract, sort of action man meets geek: but apart from the magical bond, what really was there between Bryce and Mal but Mal’s sudden need to be dominated? I was not convinced.

This was easy to read and reasonably well-written, apart from overuse of the term “mate”.It felt very long.

I absolutely loved this second book in the "Fae Out of Water" series, even more so than book 1.

"The Druid Next Door" was chock full of intrigue, humor, banter and several steamy bits.

The world building groundwork laid in the first story allowed this story to be a bit more complex than the first, which mainly focused on the survival of the Achubyddion race. David, in particular.

However, in this book, the fate of all of Faire, as well as the Outer World, was at stake.

As he was not previously part of the Fae world, environmental studies professor Bryce MacLeod was able to bring a fresh, new perspective to the story in regards to balance, trust and control.

Can there be light without dark? Good without evil? Trust without a healthy dose of self-doubt? Faith that the person you love will, ultimately, do the right thing?

The story also touched on Mal's need to feel in control, but also sometimes allow someone else to shoulder that burden, allowing him to relinquish control, at least for a little while.

When that subject came up, you've never heard someone chant "No BDSM, no BDSM, no BDSM, for the love of God, PLEASE!" in your life, but that's exactly what I did. Thankfully, the book didn't really go there, though, for which I am eternally grateful.

I also very much enjoyed seeing the main cast of characters from the first book making appearances throughout the story. They were present, without being omni-present and distracting from the new story.

The only genuine niggle about the story line was where, toward the end of the story, when the shit was well and truly hitting the fan, there was one part Mal got truly cruel and nasty with Bryce, which felt very out of place and uncharacteristic for him. I didn't feel that it added anything to the story, but diminished him a bit in my eyes.

As I mentioned, this book did rely heavily on the world building from the previous story, so I would definitely not suggest attempting to read this one as a standalone, which wasn't a hardship, as I enjoyed them both.

"The Druid Next Door" was extremely entertaining, well-thought-out and action packed, so I'd highly recommend it and rate it at around 4.5 stars.