Contessa: Princess of the Summer Fae

Summer Fae

by Graylin Fox

My cabin sits near a portal to the Otherworld. The Dark Fae are sending ogres to kill any humans who survived the plague they unleashed a year ago. First a baby dragon, then a goblin, show up looking for me. That’s when the fairy I’d known for a year decides to tell me I’m an elf and my high school boyfriend runs the Dark Fae. I went from human with a bad breakup to a fairy tale creature that was still in love with a killer in three days. A trip through the Otherworld portal shows me my birthplace and dangles the promise of a happy ending I thought was gone. Confronted with true evil, I have to learn my ice magic while fighting for my life. With rekindled love and a new family to protect, I’ll have to battle a psychotic elf with lightning power. One bolt and I’ll disintegrate. One of us won’t survive.

Genres: Fantasy

310 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2010

About the author

Graylin Fox is an Urban Fantasy author of Contessa: Princess of the Summer Fae, the Arcane Court Series (Death Dealer, Red Lady, Shadowed Vengeance, Demon Child), and the paranormal romance Candy Man Delivery Series which she writes as Graylin Rane. Graylin is also a psychologist, and used this knowledge when writing Smolder, a novel about a hospital psychologist, and Your Biggest Fan, about a woman obsessed with a boy band member. In addition, she owns Dark Fantasy Press, an Indie publishing house catering to the dark urban fantasy and horror genres. She still practices psychology in South Florida, unwinding with her friends at the beach.

Keep up with Graylin online at her Website (GraylinFox.com), on Facebook (GraylinFoxWrites), and on Twitter (@GraylinFox).

Reviews

[Niki Driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captures your attention right from page 1 and keeps it right up to the end. There are a lot of stories about Fae and the fact that there is some type of veil or gateway that allows transportation between the two worlds. This one has a dark underlying layer but seemed to focus more on the light given off by the main character Tessa. She had a shining heart and soul, took in the stray mythical creatures but still knew how to kick butt when needed. I found this to be very fast paced, engaging, exciting and fun. I loved all the different types of characters and how they interacted with each other. The snarky comments, the entertaining banter, the almost child like wonder and antic of some of the creatures had me laughing and smiling through most of the story. As the first story I have read by this author I have to say I was impressed and enjoyed it immensely. I hope there will be other stories maybe even a series based on this book as I would love to see how everything turned out with supporting characters.

I was given an ARC for an honest review

[Melinda]

I truly enjoyed the fantasy world created by the author. The main character Tessa is enough to keep you tied to the book with her one of a kind personality. No damsel in distress here. Throw in the secondary characters of a goblin who dreams of being a chef, a dragon that has a twisted side when it comes to burning ogres and the fairy family who help keep Tessa safe until she learns the secrets of her past. The book is full of twist and surprises and a healthy dose of humor and fantasy.

[Rosanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review...

This was a good read. The author was new to me also.

This is the story of a woman having lost her family to a virus that plagued earth and killed millions including her adoptive parents her two brothers and her sister. She learns that her ex boyfriend Matthew is responsible for the virus. An ex boyfriend that she hasn't seen since high school. But by bit other creatures start coming over to earth from the Otherworld become her friend. All living in her home in the woods.
She befriends an allergic dragon a fairy family and Rusty the lovable goblin.
She soon finds out that Matthew was coerced into participating in the murder of millions of humans on earth so he could keep her safe. The mastermind behind the attack was Greer.
She also learns that she is the missing princess of the Otherworld and that Mathew is sent to protect her under her father the Kings orders.
She gets into a fight with Greer. And manage to lop his head off. Unfortunately she just killed her nephew. Son of her hateful sister Leandra.
Will the family feud ever end??

Book needs some editing but overall an interesting read!!
I definitely recommend this book!!

[Krystal Stubbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an attention grabber. I couldn't put it down. Great writing and a terrific plot. There are some grammatical issues, but it doesn't take away from the story.

There was a plague that killed off a part of the human population. It was created by dark elves that came through portals. One portal is by a log cabin where Tessa lives. Through these portals fairies, goblins, dragons, ogres and other such mystical creatures.
Tessa, who lost her family to the plague, has found a new family with a fairy family; Kyl, Angel and their 10 kids, a dragon Jasper and a goblin Rusty. They help her through the trouble that seems to follow her. This trouble starts when she realizes her ex-boyfriend, Matthew, is now a dark elf. On the trip to get the answers she needs, she finds she isn't who she thought she is. Who is she? Will she be able to get the answer she needs, and stop the dark elves?

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the WORST thing I have ever attempted to read. I say attempted, because I can't fathom any literate person having the ability to complete it. Run on sentences, sentence fragments, grammatical errors of all variety can be found in every single paragraph. That isn't the worst; The story is completely disjointed. There were not two paragraphs in a row that seemed to go together and lead to some narrative. I got about 20% in and gave up. I am so angry at that short reading time wasted. There was no build up to action, it was just 'here now', 'this now'... There was no purpose or reason to anything or any "characters". Thank god I used credit to buy; this book is an example of every bad thing that has ever been said about self publishing.

[Virgen Caraballo · Rating 4 out of 5]

    I got an Arc copy for an honest review and I thought that it was a very entertaining book to read and gave it 4 stars. 

     The Author created the story with many twists and turns and created not only many different types of characters with special powers of different elements, which I thoughtwas even cool. I also enjoyed the way she wrote her story because at times in the story as you read you get several surprises that you didn't expect to happen. For me it was a pleasure to have read this book for I enjoyed it very much as well as getting to know so many of the different characters in the story and it had plenty of funny parts as well! I would recommend you get this book and read it as well! 

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contessa: Princess of the Summer Fae
I really had higher hopes for this book. It was good, but having read a lot of fantasy books the story was the same as most. A Fae princess (Contessa) gets separated from her family and doesn't know she's fae, then finds out who she is and gets reunited while a war is on that only she can fix.
That being said, the writing was good and the characters were amazingly described. I love how Contessa is kind and takes in all the stray creatures and makes them a part of her family. There were a few grammatical errors but really not bad at all. I think this book is worth reading even though it's similar to other fantasy books because it has its own style.

[Helen Martins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received the book for an honest review. This is the first book I've read by Graylin Fox and it won't be the last I'm sure. Great storyline with interesting characters. Tessa find her self surrounded and protective of these Otherworld creatures who seem to show up on her doorstep. There are fairies, dragons, goblins and others. Tessa has always know she was different, but when she and her new friends travel to the Otherworld she discovers the truth and she rekindles an old romance with someone who she thought had turned evil. All in all a great read.

[Tammy J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet fairy tale read. Graylin Fox pulls you into her Fae world with a heartbreaking beginning for our heroine, Tessa. She has a big heart and takes in new strays that ultimately become her new family. A feisty fairy will have you laughing out loud while you read on to see what he will do next. Really good read with over protective and lovable characters. Has a few errors along the way, but If you enjoy a good Fantasy read with good versus evil this is your book!

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Kaila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. It had a different way of it and I enjoyed how it went. It was very interesting and I am glad I got to review it and will be sharing with my friends.