Sorcha, middle daughter of the infamous Queen Mab, is being punished for her reluctance to take the throne, as she should. Mab has assigned her a seemingly impossible task: recover the Dearann Stone and restore some semblance of balance to the world of faerie. Of course, the Stone is somewhere on the other side of the Gate, in mortal lands, and Sorcha isn't the only one after it.

Nor does her enemy pose the greatest obstacle to bringing it home. The Stone has been in Harry Wyatt's family for generations, and for generations, the family has struggled to find a way back to faerie lands. All except Harry, who's struggling to keep his family from ruin and embarrassment, and who is determined not to believe in faeries or flights of fancy.

Until Sorcha stumbles into him on a rainy moor and proves that she's undeniably real.

This is the second book in Ms. Korbel's Daughters of Myth series for Nocturne. I loved, loved Dangerous Temptation, the first book in the series. I think I raved about it to everyone that I could. Dark Seduction is a solid second book, though I don't think it's as strong as our introduction to the faery world. I wouldn't say that you need to read the first one to understand the story, but it certainly gives more of a grounding in the non-mundane world Ms. Korbel's heroines occupy.

My favorite bit of this book has to be watching Harry open up and warm up to Sorcha. It's not the sex that does it, either, but the way his confession of wonder and longing for a world he absolutely can't afford to believe in is written. I usually have a favorite character in a book, and I'm not ashamed to say that Harry wins for me here.

Other characters are charming as well, but they didn't seem as fleshed-out to me. I'd almost guess that Harry was Ms. Korbel's favorite too, though obviously I can't say.

What I can say is that I'm looking forward to Orla's story, and wonder whether other characters might one day get books of their own. ( )