Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning is the first book in the beloved Fever franchise.  Moning develops a world in which Dublin is the center of an emergent Fae revival and that is bad news for humans.  The heroine, Mac, goes to Dublin after her sister is murdered there, looking for clues to figure out exactly what happened to her.  She meets Barrons, a bookstore owner who has some occult knowledge and contacts throughout Dublin.  They start to work together (sort of) to find some obscure book that will apparently halt this Fae invasion.  

Mac loves pink, thinks about nail polish constantly, and doesn't seem to consider it dangerous to walk down dark streets in an unknown city by herself.  Barrons is broody, grumpy, and uncommunicative.  And these are the people in charge of saving the human race?  Heaven help us all.

(We have been watching episodes of Top Shot, an old reality show that used to run on the History Channel and which is mostly available on Netflix. There's a guy in the fourth season who is a federal police officer and veteran from the Air Force and he was just so immature.  Every time he would come on the screen, Dr. BB and I would roll our eyes because if this is the type of person who is in charge of national security, we are seriously doomed.)

(We have been watching this show because Dr. BB is convinced civil unrest will be happening. He wants me to be comfortable with firearms. Instead, I talk constantly about how beautiful the Bulldog Gatling gun, a completely impractical weapon that requires multiple people to operate, is. We also purchased a slingshot, so don't come around our house unless you want me to attempt to hit you with a clay pellet.)

Okay, back to this book. I would classify this book as an urban fantasy more than a paranormal romance. Frankly, it's not a romance at all, which is why I'm absolutely confused as to why it is frequently listed as one of the greatest romance novels.  This book is mostly about world building.  Dublin has a dark, hidden side and we're going to explore the city. There are dark areas of the city that are entirely missing from maps and this book walks us through those areas.  The book also covers the introduction of the Fae.  We have a completely naive character in Mac who is learning about this other world as we do and is even writing up a glossary to help us follow. This is all done competently, although, full disclosure, it's not exactly to my taste.

But there's no romance.  Some might call this a slow burn, but even then there's no resolution - I'm not sure if Mac is going to end up romantically attached to Barrons or V'lanes or someone else entirely. There's no happily ever after, which definitely hurts the romance novel fan in my soul.  

So, there you have it. An adequate introduction to a fantastical world that lives beside the world you and I know, but not a love story.  I think I would probably send you to the Rivers of London series instead of the Fever series if you want urban fantasy (London instead of Dublin, but you're still over there in Europe). If you want romance, I don't know exactly where to send you, but it isn't here.