On the Edge by Ilona Andrews

Rose Drayton lives in the Edge, the borderlands between the world of Faerie known as "The Weird"- a strangely altered version of our own world, and the technology-driven, magic-free world of modern earth, known as "The Broken". Edgers call the Human world "The Broken" because most edgers have magic, and when they leave the Edge and enter our world, they feel pain as their magic leeches away, leaving them feeling broken. Edgers live on the border between the two worlds, liking neither. And if they leave the edge for either world for too long, they either lose their magic permanently in the Broken, or go crazy in the Weird, never wanting to leave.

Rose has had a hard life in the Edge. Both her parents are gone, her father missing, presumed dead, and her mother actually dead. Her father had always been a roamer, and when he left the last time, her mother went a little crazy, seeking solace with her body in an endless series of sexual relationships. That got Rose labelled the daughter of a whore, and left boys her own age thinking she would be as easy as her mother. But Rose wasn't like that at all, and she resented it.

Most Edgers have magic of some sort, and Rose has one of them, known as "Flash". A Flash is a blast of magical power, colored according to its potency. The weakest flashes are red and dark colors, but Rose is unique in that her flash is pure white. Usually, only purebloods from the Weird flash white, so many people assumed that she couldn't be her father's daughter- she must be part fae. It also made her body and her power the most valuable commodity in the Edge, one that just about everyone sought to take advantage of.

Even now, years later, Rose is careful about who she lets get close to her in that fashion. So when a Fae Knight shows up on her doorstep, she assumes he is there to court her for her power, and warns him off. Declan Camarine agrees that he is there to court her, but when he rescues her two brothers who are in her care since her mother died, she feels somewhat beholden to him and lets him stay in her house.

Both of her brothers have powers. One, Jack, is a shape-changer who can become a marsh cat. The other, Georgie, is a weaker boy with the power to bring back the dead, both animal and human. He doesn't like to see anything die- and so he uses his power to bring them back. But he's done it to and for so many things that he is constantly weak and near death himself, for he will not let them return to death. Not even his grandfather, who goes around eating dog brains and must be kept imprisoned in the shed for his own good.

But even as Rose lets Declan stay in her house, something is changing in the Edge. Strange and deadly dog-like creatures are appearing that are attempting to eat the Edgers- although for what reason nobody seems to know. At least Declan is keeping Rose and her brothers safe from them- and she agrees to a challenge to allow Declan to marry her if he succeeds- or for him to go home if he doesn't.

The first task of three that she sets him is to catch Jack in his marshcat form, and the second is to save George from himself and the consequences of using his own power. But then, she discovers that Declan didn't come to the Edge just to marry her, but to save both the Weird and the Edge from a crazy Fae from his world who has been using an artifact to make the strange magic and human-eating beasts- and to destroy the one using it, he needs the help of not only Rose and her brothers, but all the people of the Edge. But can Declan, Rose, and the Edgers take on the crazy-mad fae and win? And is there any hope for a real relationship between Declan and Rose?

I love Ilona Andrews' other series, the Kate Daniels books. Kate and Rose share a lot in common. Both are hard women who have been knocked about quite a bit by life and the intrusion of an otherworldly dimension of magic into where they live. Kate is a bit more kick-ass and centered than Rose, and relies a lot more on guns, whereas while Rose can use a gun, she has her own magic to rely on- and both are soft touches where kids are concerned.

What made this series stand out was the worldbuilding and the outlook, which is resolutely Edger rather than "Normal world". The Edgers get the best and worst of both worlds, and see nothing wrong with preferring a bit of both rather than just magic or just technology. Unlike Kate Daniels, whose world switches from one to the other, The Edgers are comfortable being both and neither. at the same time. I found Edger life, and their worldview to be interesting and fascinating- much like life in a *very* small southern town, but with a difference- and that difference is magic.

It's not easy being an Edger, and moving between the Edge and one of the other two worlds isn't a matter of course. Edgers feel pain when moving into the Broken world, but its even worse for those from the Weird- if they move too quickly, it can cause convulsions and kill them. It's these little touches that made the worlds real for me, and kept me interested and reading. I also liked the characters- both Rose and Declan are real people, with quirks and problems. Neither is perfect- both are tough and can be uncompromising, but find a real affection for each other that slowly grows into love. And it's based on real respect. Rose's ability to flash white has caused her no end of problems- but Declan respects both her strength and how she developed that strength- he finds it admirable instead of being threatened by it, and works to help her grow even stronger. I really enjoyed their relationship and how it grew and deepened during the course of the book.

Part of her attraction to Declan is physical, but she has also never had someone interested in her who isn't threatened by her strength- or attempting to use her power as an excuse to make her a broodmare. Frankly, after all that had happened to her, I was amazed that she was able to fall in love so easily- her first love betrayed her is a very cruel fashion, although he gets his comeuppance during the course of the book (and yes, I smiled when he got it). I really loved this book, and the ending made me smile and gave me a warm glow deep inside (always welcome when it's cold and there's two feet of snow outside). I highly recommend this book. It's a keeper.