Unfortunately this book is no longer in publication. :(
Therefore I am unable to review, recommend or list it for my followers.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, and enjoyed the characters far more than I anticipated. The trio of friends; Faye, Annie and Aisha were great and I became quite attached to them throughout the book.
By about 25% through, there was a real darkness brooding in the plot which I found really interesting, and was overall a good take on faeries and the faerie realm. The faeries in this book are not kind or sweet, and seeing Faye trying to work that out were some of my favourite parts of the book.

I look forward to reading the sequel Queen of Sea and Stars and seeing where this series goes.

Unfortunately I found the characters very shallow, lacking any depth to keep me interested.
The story itself was a weird mixture of romance and fantasy which just did not seem to intermix.
I really did want to like this so much but is was just not for me.

This was a well written, good read! I had not read anything by this author so I'm glad I took a chance!

This book follows Faye Morgan, who runs the Mistress of Magic shop, in a small town in Scotland. She and her female ancestors are witches. When Faye and two of her friends attempt a love spell to find a partner, things change for Faye, setting her on a journey where she discovers a lot more than romance...

I don't often read adult novels and I don't like knowing much about the books I read before starting them. This book starts off with a witch trails day in 1590, Scotland.

From the lips of Grainne Morgan:
"You do evil today by taking the name of the Fair Ones in vain! They are no devils; they are our own angels, the light ones that are a part of our lands. That have always been in the streams and rocks and trees and moss, since before there was Man, and certainly before there was this village."

"But they will curse you, you men that bring pain to this land of magic! I curse you! In the name of the Kings and Queens of Falias, Gorias, Murias and the Shining Castle of the Moon! In the names of earth and stone, air and winds, fire and hearth, water and sea, I curse you! Let no more the Fair Folk help you. Let a blight be on this land!"

The writing drew me in. While I did find some sections a bit slow to read, there was just something about Anna's writing that I liked.

Faye is an interesting and, at times, confusing character. There were parts where she did not at all react the way I would have thought, given how she is portrayed as a conservative woman. She has a uniqueness that makes her stand out. Her best friend, Annie, was my favorite character by far. She has sass and a directness that I can relate to.

The world is shown to you only as Faye learns of it, so I didn't have too much info thrown at me.

I love this quote from Faye's grandmother: "There are more things in heaven and earth than can be dreamed of. And many of them are stranger than you can ever imagine."

All in all, not a book I'd recommend for younger readers, but if you love faeries, an interesting world within our own and don't mind a few sexual scenes, then this is a great book to read. And it ends on a cliffhanger... just so you know. ♥

I would like to thank Bookouture Publishing and the Netgalley website for this partnership.

I was immediately attracted by the blanket, you can see the pretty fairy Faye, she has a tattoo star on her left shoulder. At the very top of the cover this catchphrase says a lot about the book: "When destiny calls , you must be ready to answer "

Faye Morgan makes a wish in the Scottish Sea and the wild fairy king invites her to follow him to another world. When she succeeds in doing so, she realizes that a lesser misstep could cost her dearly, she will ask herself a whole bunch of questions about her life, her past.

A captivating first volume, full of suspense and twists and turns with the very endearing character of Faye Morgan. Too eager to read on.

This is a wonderful book that transports you to a world of Fairie and witches. It is a world of magic and mystery. I lived this book and can't wait to read the second.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for giving me an ARC of this book for an honest review.

Ok I’m a firm believer in the 3 chapter rule but since I started reading ARC’s I’ve been ignoring that rule. Well maybe I shouldn’t have for this book. It was boring until the last three chapters. It has some potential but most of the book was filler. A lot of useless information that didn’t really need to be written. Just when you think things are gonna start picking up it moves ten spaces back. Then they want you to get book two to see what happens when book one was a waist of time! And I didn’t even buy it! I really hate when that happens, why would anyone risk the same thing happening in the next book? All fluff and three good chapters? I won’t bother reading the next because it’s just too drawn out with no depth.

I am just going to say it: this book disappointed me so much. I was hoping for mischievous faeries and magical witches. All I will say is if you like erotica then this is the book for you because it is one sex scene after the other with lovely words such as moist and ripe thrown in.
For my full review check out my blog post at https://bookgirlreviewsbooks.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2018-10-07T14:07:00-07:00&max-results=7

3/5 stars. (I'm feeling generous)

DNF at 38%

Oh man, honestly this cover and blurb really intrigued me. Sadly, at 38% nothing substantial was happening in this story for me to continue. It was dragging big time and the fantasy part of it hasn't truly started yet. I'm not sure how much of it eventually was going to show, but I felt like a lot should be happening by now. The other thing that bothered me is the love cast spell had brought 2 men to Faye. I don't mind love triangles, but I felt like this story didn't need one, considering the 2nd guy Finn hasn't been a constant presence yet. Unfortunately, I couldn't put more time into the book.

This is Anna McKerrow's first outing as an adult author following on from her fabulous Greenworld trilogy of books for YA readers (and those of us that love that genre too). Daughter of Light and Shadows is set in Scotland, and centres around Faye, a local witch who can trace her heritage back to the witch trial days of King James. She runs a local magic shop and is helped out by her friends Annie and Aisha (notice that there are three of them). One day they decide to do a love spell as none of them are having any luck in finding romance and as magic should have it, two men walk into Faye's life. The first is Rav, a local property owner who is setting up Abercolme's first big music festival (much to the chagrin of the locals) and the second is Finn Beatha, lead singer of one of the band's headlining the festival.

Rav seems drawn to Faye, like he is under some kind of spell, and asks her to look at his house as he is convinced that it is haunted in some way. Faye discovers that it has been built on a faerie road and the faeries are not happy with this. The faerie king, Finn Beatha, pulls Faye into his world as his lover and she is torn between the passion of both men. However the world of faerie must not be entered into lightly and Faye must decide whether her life remains in the mortal world or the other world with Finn.

To begin with I didn't know this book was part of a series but with only a handful of chapters left to read I soon realised that it wasn't going to reach any satisfying conclusion for it to be a stand-alone novel. I'm intrigued to find out what role Finn is going to play in the next book because he is certainly going to return in some shape or form to the world in which Faye inhabits, and can she ever truly stay away from him or retract the promises she made to the faerie queen Glitonea. It was interesting to see the author take a different direction from her witchcraft routes and enter into the world of the faeries. Some have compared this to the Sarah J Maas novels but I would argue that you cannot compare as this is less fantasy based. Also, do not think that this is a YA novel - even I gasped at some of the sex scenes!!!

Loved it!

I will read anything with magic and folklore and faeries so for me this book was already up there for me. I really loved the interactions between the main love triangle, I loved the world building and how it felt quite real. I will be looking out for this book in stores :) iI need a hard copy. I think this author is one to watch :)

After I had downloaded this title, but before I had read it, I received an email from the publisher informing me that they had taken reviews into consideration and made some amendments to the book prior to publication.
I read the original ARC, so this review is not based on the final version of the book.

Faye Morgan is a witch, like her family before her. She runs 'Mistress of Magic' - an occult shop - in a small village on the Scottish coast; needless to say, the villagers' opinion of Faye and her family vary wildly, from those who seek out her herbal cures and small spells, to those who believe her a charlatan or a devil-worshipper.
After encouragement from her friends Annie and Aisha, Faye agrees to lead them all in casting a love spell to call the person of their dreams to each of them; and soon enough, not one, but two handsome bachelors appear in Faye's life and begin vying for her affections.
Finn (the faerie king) and Rav (the hip young festival organiser) could both be more fleshed out as characters - however, I believe from other feedback that this was edited before publication - and I did feel that Faye's attitude towards Rav was very callous, making it questionable whether he would have continued to pursue her as he did. However, I was pleased to find that Finn's controlling and violent nature was highlighted as being unacceptable to Faye - too often I find this can be romanticised, and it's not something I personally appreciate in a book.
Faye's experience once she could see through the glamour of faerie, and the twist at the end were particularly interesting. Overall, I enjoyed the book; it was a relatively easy read with an interesting interpretation of Gaelic folklore.
I'm thoroughly tempted to pick up a copy of the final version for myself, because I truly believe that with a little tweaking this could go from a good novel to a great one. I'm really pleased that the author and publisher took the reviewers' thoughts on board, and I'm sure this is an even better book because of it.

Daughter of Light and Shadows is an impressively unique story combining the mythical world of fairies and of witches. Faye's ancestry and unknown connection to her father beautifully link the two worlds for the reader. The story intertwines two very intense romances for Faye that are so fiercely captured in writing. These story points are described so fully and colorfully and were definitely the highlight of the novel. To be honest with Faye's character however, the back and forth and the stubborn behavior in the fairy world left her a bit urelateble. I desparately wanted to root for her but her indecisiveness and self righteousness about her powers left me thinking she was a spoiled brat. I think Book 2 is one to look out for and will hopefully piece together more of the puzzle of Faye's past.

I’m a big fan of Anna’s witchy YA Greenworld trilogy, so was excited to hear she had a new series on the way – a foray into adult fiction, but still featuring plenty of witchiness! I read the revised version of this novel (I know Anna made some changes from the first version that appeared on NetGalley), so this will be a review of the second version.

DAUGHTER OF LIGHT AND SHADOWS follows Faye Morgan, a young woman from a long line of witches, living in Scotland and running a magic shop. She and her friends cast a spell one evening in order to bring true love into their lives, but it becomes a little more complicated then she bargained for when two very different men – the sweet, dorky Rav and the mysterious, alluring Finn – enter her life.

I’m not sure about the Sarah J. Maas comparison – there are fae, and there are some sexy scenes, but that’s about as far as the resemblance goes (I’m not a big fan of ACOTAR so that’s probably for the best!). This novel takes place both in our world and the realm of the fae, with Faye caught between the two – it’s both entirely new and very familiar.

Something I really enjoyed about this book was how the issue of possessiveness and emotional abuse in relationships was handled. Despite the presence of fae, it’s very realistically done – I could easily see why Faye felt attraction to both Rav and Finn, and felt convinced by her actions. Too often I still see possessive behaviour from men glorified and romanticised in novels (especially when said man is a non-human, as if that excuses it) and I was relieved to find that DAUGHTER OF LIGHT AND SHADOWS does not fall into that trap.

I saw in some other reviews of the earlier version that readers felt that Rav needed more character development – I assume that has been taken into account in this version, because he felt very fleshed out and real to me! He was probably my favourite character, and I really enjoyed getting to delve into his backstory.

It’s not just the romance that causes drama here – there’s dissent in the fae realm, and in Faye’s village there’s disagreement over the building of a statue of James I (notorious for his fear of witches) and the local impact of the music festival that Rav is organising. The fantasy and the contemporary aspects of this book are blended very well, and are helped by the quaint setting of the Scottish village in which it takes place. I’m a sucker for romantic scenes like nighttime walks on the beach and making out on the sand – and there are plenty of those!

This novel is adult fiction, but if you’re a fan of “new adult” or more mature YA – especially if you enjoy fae, love triangles, and modern witchiness – then there’s a lot to appeal here. Perfect for fantasy fans who are looking for a whirlwind romance to sweep them off their feet!

This review is based on a NetGalley advanced copy. I received word from the publisher that the manuscript has been updated since this copy was issued, based on feedback received, to give more details about the male characters, the magic shop and more about Faye herself. I have not read the updated version, so I cannot say how different it is from the edition I read. However, you can currently pre-order the book for only 99p on Kindle, so you may find it worth a try for the bargain price.

I think I may have to accept that I am not a fan of fairy novels. I love stories about fairies and the traditional folk tales, but the only two places where I am happy with the way the story uses them are Ella Enchanted and The Dresden Files. I have read a few others and honestly been underwhelmed with the way it was dealt with. This book was no exception, but I also found the romance lacking here too, which was disappointing.

The novel reads as though it is three different novels, continually feeling like it is starting over with a different genre, and the pieces don’t tie together well. It’s jarring, and uncomfortable. The first third of the book is the introduction to Faye, and the casting of the love spell for her and her friends. We get a brief introduction to two of the male leads, Rav and Finn. Rav is set up to be perfect for Aisha – Aisha who is smart, and a bit of a hipster, and loves music, to Rav who is… smart, a bit of a hipster, and is planning a music festival. And then Finn appears, blonde, beautiful and mysterious, and has immediate, unstoppable chemistry with Faye. So far, so romcom, although I would note that we never meet any potential suitor for Annie, who appears to be taking on the role of ‘the only gay in the village’. At this stage, I think this is likely to be a traditional slow-burn, cute love story, although with a slightly tired love triangle angle because Rav clearly starts off into Faye where narratively he would make far more sense with Aisha, not least because Faye barely seems into him at all – there’s a lot of thinking about being into him, but it doesn’t feel convincing.

But then we get to part two. Barely have the two male characters been introduced, barely have any of the characters been developed beyond their introduction, never mind these two potential romantic leads, and Faye is having more sex than is… well, more than is necessary and probably more than is sanitary, given as the first sudden encounter is on a freezing Scottish beach in late April with no protection. The first is with Rav, who seems considerably more into her than she is into him, up to and including when he is giving her oral sex on the beach. This is only confirmed when, the next day, Faye finds her way into the faery realm and has a night of what we are led to believe is fairly acrobatic sex with Finn, who turns out to be the king of the Water Faeries.

And here’s where I start to get uncomfortable. Faye continually talks about how she feels drugged and drunk with Finn, but craves his presence and his touch. He sends her back home wearing a magic ring which apparently continues his influence over her and makes her act frankly even less sympathetically than she had been previously, and I hadn’t cared about her a huge amount to begin with. We get a brief multi-orgasm masturbation scene, and then she decides to waft her way into the world powered by faery afterglow. Despite this, and despite spending the whole time thinking of Finn, Faye gets territorial whenever Aisha gets close to Rav, and then decides that she wants to hook up with him, so we get… another sex scene. After which, Faye is swept back to the faery kingdom by Finn who is furious with her for betraying him, but then she ends up being coaxed into agreeing with whatever he says.

Finn is clearly manipulating Faye, clearly using his powers to control her actions and thoughts. She is not a willing participant in anything she does with him, and is incapable of giving informed consent. When his power wears off, she feels degraded, repulsed and violated, but she still wants him. He swears he will kill Rav if she goes near him again, and she believes him, but even though this has had the hallmarks of a controlling relationship from the moment she first set foot in the faery castle, and has got more than a little bit rapey (ok, a lot rapey), for some inexplicable reason Faye wants to be with Finn. Not just as a lover, though, as his equal. This is baffling to me – she doesn’t go back to the faery realm for a few weeks, not because she has been through something traumatic, but because she’s trying to work out how she can have a relationship with Finn on her terms.

Why on Earth would she want to? He’s controlling, aggressive, violent and has absolutely no regard for personal agency. Whilst the narrative has inadvertently skewed the chemistry strongly towards Finn rather than Rav, there is absolutely nothing about Finn which is appealing. The darker sides of the faery kingdom are evident to the reader from the first visit, Faye notices things but for some reason doesn’t twig, even outside of Finn’s influence, as to quite what they mean. Nor, for some reason, despite alleging to know plenty about faeries, does she seem aware that faeries are almost universally Bad News For Humans.

But this is where we get onto the third section of the book – Faye decides she wants to learn faery magic, as she has discovered she is half faery. She summons Finn’s sister, Glitonea, queen of the water faeries, and strikes a bargain to be taught magic, so she can face Finn as an equal and have sex with him without being controlled, although how she can bear the thought of ever sleeping with him again is beyond me. Now, in any other book, this would be something which happened fairly early on, and the plot would have been driven by Faye learning her powers and trying to tread the balance between connecting with her faery half whilst not losing her human half. That would have been a good book, allowed for a lot more exploration of faery magic, and discussed Faye’s feelings of being an outsider much more naturally.

Alas, that’s not the book we got.

After two visits with Glitonea, during which she learns to do precisely nothing, Faye’s forced into a stand-off with Finn after he takes Rav from her. Again, the chemistry with Rav is lacking so aside from human decency it’s unclear why we care, and given as she leaves lots of other humans in the faery kingdom to suffer, human decency is a questionable motivation.

After this, we are suddenly reminded of the music festival – that one Rav was planning – which is taking place in this little rural Scottish village on Midsummer. And Finn’s group of faeries, disguised as a rock group with obsessive groupies thanks to their faery thrall magic, are headlining. For me, the risks associated with this were pretty obvious early on. Faye appears to be maddeningly far more dense, and doesn’t act on this until literally the day of the event. In fact, she arrives barely in time for the encore, the final song, where things all kick off and things go to hell.

This book took me a long time to read, because I just… didn’t want to read it. I didn’t like any of the characters the fact that it felt like the beginnings of three different books spliced together made the pacing feel slow and wonky, because you never got to the interesting bit of the plot, and it didn’t seem to ever fully commit to how dark and sinister things could be, so the ending – to me at least – felt underwhelming. I was also a bit annoyed when it turned out to be the first in a series, and things weren’t resolved because honestly I don’t care enough to read any more of it, and it felt like hard work.

For me, I think the main issue came down to the structure and the identity of the book. Because it felt like I got the beginnings of three different books – a fantasy romcom, an erotic novel, and a fantasy adventure book – so I never got to fully bed into any of them, and the transition to each section felt jarring, and didn’t make sense given the previous sections. The characters didn’t feel developed because they seemed to change to fit each different section, contradicting themselves or behaving in ways that made no sense but which was needed for the new plot dynamic. This perhaps reads more like an early draft, where an author is still trying to establish where they want their story to go, and is awaiting a rewrite to bring it all more in line. I feel like if it had made more of the inherent consent issues as well, and embraced the darker side of the faery culture, there might have been more investment in the outcome, but it seemed like Faye was dense simply for the sake of furthering the plot, and that was frustrating to me as a reader.

It’s not a terrible book, but it wasn’t one I took much enjoyment from. The sex scenes were well-written, although Faye had a habit of thinking the words ‘moist’ and ‘slick’ about herself during sex, and kept talking about her ‘swelling bosom’ or ‘full breasts’ which were off-putting, and seemed odd because I am fairly certain no woman has ever thought that she was getting ‘moist’ or ‘slick’. Also, there is the major, unpleasant factor of the fairly obvious faery date rape which bothers me a lot and is never really addressed to my satisfaction.

It’s 99p at the moment, though, so you wouldn’t be losing much to see if it floats your boat.

Briefly:

I found the characters to be flat and underdeveloped, who don’t ever seem to make sense, whilst the book seems to restart about three times with new themes – magical romcom, faery erotica, fantasy adventure – which doesn’t make for a flowing narrative, or leave much to get your teeth into.
I had some real issues with the matters of consent in this, as one of the romantic leads essentially rapes the main character several times, but… that apparently doesn’t rule him out entirely as a romantic option? That makes me very uncomfortable and I find it unsatisfying, and it makes me question the main character’s judgement.
Additionally, it seems to take a while for anything to sink in for the main character, even if they are narratively obvious. Whilst dramatic irony does have a place, when the narrator is 3rd person, limited view, we are only seeing what Faye is seeing, so the fact that she can’t draw these conclusions from what she sees despite allegedly having more education on this subject than the reader, is extremely frustrating.
The smut was pretty good, aside from overuse of ‘moist’ and ‘slick’, but there were consent issues that couldn’t be ignored. And it would work better if it was peppered more evenly through the book rather than just slammed into a block of chapters in the middle. It’s like you pass through the smut zone halfway through the narrative and then out the other side.
Rating: 2/5 – I didn’t want to keep reading this, or care what happened to the characters.

I have to say first, that this book would be a total cover buy for me. It is so beautiful and captivating. The first in a trilogy, Daughter of Light and Shadows by Anna McKerrow, is a dark, fantasy fiction romance with some mystic aspects.

Set in a Scottish village, the story is about Faye Morgan, who is descended from a long line of witches. She and two of her friends cast a love spell that will bring them each the perfect man. Faye isn’t sure she even believes in love, but very soon finds herself in a love triangle of sorts. She is caught between Finn (who is hiding the fact that he is a faerie King) and Rav (a mere human music festival planner.)

There is immediate chemistry between Faye and Finn. Probably because he is “forbidden fruit”, as they say. Though her family warns her repeatedly to be wary of Fae, she is constantly drawn to Finn and his world. Has her own spelled turned on her?

The author has created a rich world full of magic, lore, and legend. Oh- and let’s not forget the passion. WOW! This book does contain some steamy sex scenes, so be forewarned. While the setting, especially in the Fae world, is vivid and dynamically written, the character development was somewhat lacking for me. I hope there is more to learn about the other characters in the sequels.

Overall, the book was an entertaining read and I look forward to the next installment. 4/5 stars.

I received an eARC from Bookouture via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This review, or a portion thereof, is posted on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Goodreads, IG, FB, Litsy, and my blog. Unfortunately, I am unable, at this time to post links, as I am using my phone rather than a computer.

I am already a fan of Anna McKerrow's wonderful writing and I have loved and recommended her YA novels See My Review of Crow Moon here. Daughter of Light and Shadows is a bit of a departure for the author as it is intended for an older audience. However those who enjoy Urban Fantasy and Magical Realism will not be disappointed. Faye Morgan knows that she is a daughter of witches. She has studied the craft since childhood and carries on the traditions of wise woman handed down through generations. When she loses her mother at 18 she must step into her shoes as the local wise woman and healer and run the shop her mother established with the help of her friends and fellow witches Aisha and Annie. The three young women longing for love and excitement in their lives find an old love spell and soon their lives begin to change. When Finn Beatha; the Fairy King comes into her life Faye is smitten and torn between her own life and the world of the fae. This is a book spilling over with romance and sex as the story dances between the real world of the small village in Scotland where Faye grew up and the fairy world which draws her with it's hedonism, it's romance and it's magic. The charming setting of the small village with its gossip and old fashioned ways is contrasted with Faye and her friends; props to the author for diverse characters and also with the majestic setting of the fairy lands. The first of a new series, I found this an enchanting and magical read and devoured it in two sittings. Perfect for fans of Diana Gabaldon, Paula Brackston, Sarah Painter, Helen Slavin, or Alice Hoffman

The cover intrigued me, the genre said fantasy, so I had to try this book from the new author, Anna McKerrow.

The story did capture me initially, the prologue laid the myth of the witches of the land and their curse on the village. That intrigued me. Then the book introduced me to Faye Morgan who ran her shop, cast a spell, and lo and behold, the faerie king Finn arrived into her life along with Rav. She was attracted to both! Whom did the spell work on, then?!! The triangle was not needed.

Hot and bothered became Faye and Finn, they did manage to get in a lot of such steamy scenes, and then came the fantasy which had me losing my interest. I didn't like the characters much, they didn't seem to go beyond the sex scenes to emotions and love, no layers of development in their characters.

The plot of the book became too hotch-potch for me to really enjoy it, I did like that Faye soon came into her powers. But the rest did not make me go wide-eyed with love. Sighhh.

Magical

Faeries

Scotland

Seelies Court

Witches

Evil

Powers

Ocean

Romance

Two Dimensional Worlds



What more could you want?

Oh, yeah, the main character's name's Faye Morgan. For those of you who are sucker for fantasy should know what that means!



This is truly a pure magical fantasy world to fall into easily. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I could do without eroticism in this book.



This is a story of a young woman discovering more about herself and heritage.

I'm giving this 3 3/4 stars due to the fact there's too much sex scenes, very little information about her father, and few unanswered questions.



I recieved this ARC of magical world from Bookouture through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased and honest review. Thank you!