Maggie Donovan paints windows for a living. It's coming up on Christmas and she has lots to keep her busy. When she goes to her former boyfriend's office to return some of his belongings, she stumbles into a nightmare. There is a nude woman with a tale, eating his face. Maggie is in a fight for her life. When she pulls a pendant loose, a gold mist is released, which kills the woman and envelops Maggie. Now, she finds herself with superhuman strength and she has a tendency to levitate at the oddest times.

Maggie's family has always been rather unusual. Her grandmother always claimed that she had a love affair with a faery. Her sister, Nora, follows all the latest new age fads since her divorce. Currently, she's getting her chakras aligned; leaving her daughter, Eileen, with Maggie. Maggie goes home after surviving the fight and finds a hunky man in her kitchen. When he draws a knife on Eileen, Maggie knocks him out.

Culhane can't believe he's been knocked out by a human; even one who has absorbed the essence of a number of Fey. He is the leader of the Fenian warriors who guard the Faery Queen. He has waited many years for Maggie to arrive at this point. She is the only hope of the Fey. With his help and training, Maggie will be able to depose the Queen and end the danger to his people.

Maggie is reluctant to accept the responsibilities Culhane wants to put on her. She has a busy life and doesn't need to be involved in another realm. Only the knowledge that she is the only salvation of both the Fey and humankind forces her to start her training. With Culhane driving her crazy, Nora's been kidnapped, and Eileen is all for Maggie being Fey, Maggie is torn between her desire to keep her life as is and the demands of what she must do.

The demons who seek to kill her and the allure of Culhane will draw Maggie into a head to head meeting with Mab, the Fairy Queen. Only the end isn't what she expected.

An entertaining mix of reality and fantasy, Ms. Child has written a story that seems incredibly real. With a reluctant heroine, a nagging niece, and hunky warrior, this book was hard to put down. Maggie's reactions to her new powers and her aversion to her new destiny were realistic and engaging. If you like a touch of magic, this is the book for you.