Books like Shadows and Light

When was the last time you truly read a book and enjoyed it, just for enjoyment's sake? Before I read this novel, I would've answered 'not for a very long time'. I'm so happy that's not my answer anymore. Shadows And Light is the second in the Tir Alainn trilogy by Anne Bishop. I've heard a lot of praise from other bloggers about Anne, or more particularly, her Black Jewels Trilogy. And I'm still on the hunt for that one (it's not found readily in book stores here in Oz, I've noticed. It's a special-order-only read).In the meantime, Shadows And Light soothed me. Y'know, I may have a prickly exterior at times, but deep down, I'm just a girl in the mood for romance and things of fantasy. And this book has both. Plus a simple writing style, and a strong (if possibly bordering on didactic at times) plot.Shadows And Light takes place in a world where the Fae (faeries and other such creatures like nymphs, sprites etc), humans and witches co-exist. The main characters appear to be Bard Lord Aiden and his Muse, Lyrra - Fae who don't mind using human glamours to move in and out of towns entertaining for moolah and just generally enjoying their honeymoon period. Aiden and Lyrra start to notice some strange goings-on in nearby towns, and eventually they uncover a 'revolution' started by some evil, mostly human males who want to control everything, no matter the cost. Villages who have not yet been infilitrated by these 'revolutionists' hear the rumours of murdered witches and muzzled human women, but they either don't believe it, or in much of the Fae-kind's case, don't really care about what doesn't affect them.Lyrra and Aiden realise what the other Fae do not - that the Fae will eventually die at the hands of this Evil too, so the lovers set out on a perilous journey together in search of the one Fae that can convince the others to help save the witches and humans and thus save themselves: the death Fae, Morag, the Gatherer of Souls.It all sounds a bit corny, I grant you. And in some parts it really overdoes the corniness too. But this book is just so darn easy to read and so darn novelty in places and so darn romantic the whole way through that you tend to tolerate the gaggy bits. Aiden and Lyrra are just loved-up fools, really, willing to go against traditionally Fae rules and marry monogamously like 'strange' humans. But they also get pissed off by each other in equal measure. Its all quite funny ...*chuckles*...Am I losing you? It's so hard to pinpoint what it is about this story that I most enjoy. I like the little fantasy elements, like the Fae horses that gallop without sound, or the shapeshifter witches who reveal their feral natures in glimpses, but only to the truly observant. I liked the sweet, sweet love that exists not only between Aiden and Lyrra, but is also mirrored in a lot of the secondary characters' relationships, serving to warm the reader to the characters' plight. I liked the naughty adult jokes, the pagan religious rites, even the masochistic nature of the villains, who dream up all sorts of horrible ways to physically maim and tame both the women and children, and the men who stand up for them.I don't expect that this will be everyone's cup of tea. It seems distinctly girlish in its tone, and true fantasy lovers/ true romance fiction lovers probably will be left a little starved afterwards. But those of us who like their books with a bit of everything and just want something to cosy up with on the porch in the dusky twilight hours of the near-evening, may find Shadows And Light to be just what the doctor ordered.4 stars for pure enjoyment. Hooray!