Book Review: One Salt Sea

By Sandy Amazeen Aug 30, 2011, 1:01 GMT

October "Toby" Daye is settling into her new role as Countess of Goldengreen. She\'s actually dating again, and she\'s taken on Quentin as her squire. So, of course, it\'s time for things to take a turn for the worse. Someone has kidnapped the sons of the regent of the Undersea Duchy of Saltmist. To prevent a war between land and sea, Toby must find the missing boys and prove ...more

As the new Countess of Goldengreen, October Daye better known as Toby just got roped into taking on the responsibility of training Quentin as a squire. With Toby’s tendency to get into trouble with assorted powerful members of the fae community, she is justifiably concerned about her ability to keep him alive long enough to complete his training. Toby is warned about a possible war between land based and Undersea so was on guard when attending a Court function hosted by the Queen of Mists where she thwarts an assassination attempt. The kidnapping of Duchess Lorden’s sons compounded by the attempt on her husband’s life at the Queen of Mists court resulted in the gauntlet being thrown down.

War will commence in three days time unless Toby can rescue the boys, return them to their parents and prove the Queen of Mists was not behind the twisted plot. With the assistance of her lover Connor, The Luidaeg, Quentin and others, Toby eventually unravels a twisted plot perpetrated by an old adversary. Stopping the pending war will cost her so dearly only The Luidaeg will be able to rekindle Toby’s will to live.

This lightening paced, action packed tale starts off sedately enough then picks up speed while ratcheting up the tension. Toby manages to come up with a clever plan to rid herself of the unwelcome responsibility of being a Countess while cementing friendlier relationships between Undersea and other fae. The heartbreaking climax is tempered by learning about the origins of the Selkies and their history with The Luidaeg. McGuire’s latest solid addition to the October Daye series delivers the blend of action, fae politics and surprises fans have come to expect.