Storm Born, by Richelle Mead

This reads like an earlier effort from the prolific fantasy author; it contains all the elements of her more successful novels, but it doesn’t quite hang together. Eugenie Markham AKA Odile, Dark Swan is a shaman, who protects her world from Fae incursions. She has a deep suspicion of what she calls the Gentry, instilled by her stepfather who has trained her to combat them. Discovering her true origins calls into question her whole life and she needs to reassess her relationship with the Gentry. The central romance with a shapeshifter is unconvincing, possibly intentionally so as a lead in to future books. The dramatic shifts are clearly signalled and so less interesting for the reader than for Eugenie. We don’t find out why she’s called Dark Swan until near the end and the Swan Lake allusion seems spurious. The sex is copious and full on throughout the book and it will be interesting to see if this is sustained throughout the series.