Midsummer Night

By Freda Warrington

A sensuous, suspenseful modern fantasy of love, betrayal, and redemption

Decades ago, in a place where the veil between our world and the world of the Aetherials—the fair folk—is too easily breached, three young people tricked their uncle by dressing as the fey. But their joke took a deadly turn when true Aetherials crossed into our world, took one of the pranksters, and literally scared their uncle to death.

Many years later, at the place of this capture lies a vast country estate that holds a renowned art facility owned by a visionary sculptor. One day, during a violent storm, a young woman studying art at the estate stumbles upon a portal to the Otherworld. A handsome young man comes through the portal and seeks shelter with her. Though he can tell her nothing of his past, his innocence and charm capture her heart. But he becomes the focus of increasingly violent arguments among the residents of the estate. Is he as innocent as he seems? Or is he hiding his true identity so that he can seek some terrible vengeance, bringing death and heartbreak to this place that stands between two worlds? Who is this young man?

The forces of magic and the power of love contend for the soul of this man, in this magical romantic story of loss and redemption.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Nov 23, 2010
• ISBN: 9781429925327

Freda Warrington

Freda Warrington is a British author best known for her epic fantasy, vampire and supernatural novels. Four of her novels have been nominated for the British Fantasy Society's Best Novel award. Her novel, Elfland, published by Tor, won the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award in the Fantasy Novel category for 2009.

Reviews for Midsummer Night

[marysneedle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story brings the world of fairie to life in a very vibrant and adult way.I was on the edge of my seat for most of the book and it was very hard to put down.

[kmaziarz_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Former Olympic-class runner Gillian Shaw, in the wake of a career-detroying injury, seeks solitude and solace and rents Robin Cottage on the grounds of Cairdonan, the isolated Scottish estate of eccentric artist Dame Juliana Flagg. What peace she’s scraped together crumbled quickly when, on a tramp through the wooded grounds, Gillian unknowingly crosses a border between her reality and the realm of the fae folk. Before she realizes it, Gillian is swept up in a series of events that have haunted Dame Juliana’s family since the end of World War I when Juliana’s uncle, then a young man, disappeared without a trace while he and his sisters were playing a prank on their own uncle—an eccentric who believed in faeries. Is the disturbed and confused young man who followed Gillian back from the fae realm that long-lost uncle? Or is he someone nearer and dearer to Dame Juliana—her own adopted son, who also disappeared while still a toddler? The second book in Warrington’s “Aetherial Tales” series, Midsummer Night can nevertheless be read as a stand-alone. Realistically troubled characters, lush descriptions of the Scottish countryside, and a superbly told story balance the fantastic elements to firmly ground this modern-day fairy tale.

[pitcherbooks · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Started out as a great faerie fantasy but ended on a low note with police faerie and some off the wall version of the Nuremburg trials for an ancient insane evil murderous sociopathic but very good-looking bad fae... who got off scott-free. What the hey? Really only like the cover art by Craft... Glad I got it as a library read.