Reviewette: Faeries Gone Wild ~ Pixie Lust ~ Lois Greiman

Publisher: St. Martins Press
Pages: 71-172

From the Cover: LOIS GREIMAN “Pixie Lust”

William Timber is a cutthroat developer who refuses to let a few trees come between him and his next million. But when Avalina—a sparkling faery charged to protect all things green—comes to town, William is forced to choose between life as he knows it and the unknown reaches of his heart.

Will Timber used to be Elder Mann, but the name was weak as was the young boy who owned. When his mother died, he changed it and he would never be weak again. He's not a tree hugger like his mother, who lost her life early.

Avalina is a Fern Faery, and her goal in the mortal realm is to find the endangered Pinquill Fern. Mortals don't understand how important the forest is, what the plants mean, and how they should be cherished.

As Avalina searches for the elusive Pinquill Fern, evening arrives and she takes her faery form and curls up in a flower. As Will strolls through what will soon be his newest subdivision, he breaks off a flower to take home to fiancee Emily.

Avalina awake to find herself trapped in the dying flower, loosing her strength with it's death. As Will places the flower in a glass and starts the shower, he hears a crash. Looking out of the shower, he sees the most beautiful sight, Avalina in all of her glory with no memory of where she has come from. Who is this magnetic young woman that claims to be his? And why is she in his bathroom?

Pixie Lust by Lois Greimen was a fun, fast reading that I enjoyed a great deal. As we enter the story, Avalina doesn't understand why fae are attracted to the Mortals, they're self-centered and without respect for the forest, the plants or the creatures.  When Will snaps the flower from it's stalk, he unwittingly separates Avalina from the forest that she loves.  Even when she's big, she doesn't understand his way of thinking.  And when Emily finds the one-time tiny faery all grown up, she doesn't understand either.

Pixie Lust was a past faced, dramedy about what humankind is doing to the Earth, and how an oversized faery points out the problems suddenly appearing from the gift for Emily.  But, once the Faery is out of the flower, it's hard to put her back again.  Will has some hard questions to ask and answers to give.  If you haven't read Faeries Gone Wild, I highly recommend picking up the book.  An excellent set of short stories, an anthology not to be missed.