Rating: ★★★
Return to the world of Melissa Marr’s bestselling series and discover how the events of Wicked Lovely set a different faery tale in motion. . . . Originally presented as a manga series and now available for the first time as a stand-alone novel, Desert Tales combines tentative romance, outward strength, and inner resolve in a faery story of desert and destiny.
The Mojave Desert was a million miles away from the plots and schemes of the Faerie Courts—and that’s exactly why Rika chose it as her home. The once-mortal faery retreated to the desert’s isolation after decades of carrying winter’s curse inside her body. But her seclusion—and the freedom of the desert fey—is threatened by the Summer King’s newfound strength. And when the manipulations of her trickster friend, Sionnach, thrust Rika into a new romance, she finds new power within herself—and a new desire to help Sionnach protect the desert fey and mortals alike. The time for hiding isover.
My Rating: 
Considering it has been a few years since I last read the Wicked Lovely series, I was a little worried that I wouldn’t remember enough details about the series to fully enjoy this companion novel. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case; although this book occurs at about the same time as Radiant Shadows, events from the series that impacted this book were thoroughly explained preventing me from feeling lost or confused at any of those references.
While none of the events in this book directly impacted the series in any way, it was really interesting to see how the solitary fae live — and just how different they are from the Court faeries. The solitary fae can be cruel, vicious and ruthless, and they reminded me a lot of a pack of wild animals given that they’re ruled by an Alpha whose position is determined by strength. Of these faeries, my favourite was probably Shy, a fox faery whose manipulations were both clever and slightly heart-wrenching. Through these actions, we get to see just what it means for a faery to love a human, and just how difficult it is.
Donia and Keenan – the Winter Queen and Summer King, respectively – also make appearances in this novel. Seeing them through Rika’s eyes completely solidified my love for Donia and my dislike for Keenan, and definitely reminded me just how much I need to re-read the Wicked Lovely series in the near future.
