QUEENE OF LIGHT is the first book—and a promising start-- to a new series from Jennifer Armintrout. This time she focuses on faeries instead of vampires, who live in the sewers and subway tunnels below the land of the humans. This underworld is split with faeries, dwarves and dragons inhabiting the Lightworld and angels, demons, werewolves and other misfits residing in the Darkworld. Ayla grew up on the Strip, a neutral territory between the two worlds, but was then accepted into the Assassins Guild in the Lightworld. On her latest mission, she runs into a Death Angel who turns mortal after touching her human flesh. Rather than slaying him as she should, she leaves him to die. But Malachi doesn't die; he swears vengeance against her.

Ayla's mentor and brother to Queene Mabb, a faery named Garret, asks her to become his mate. While she doesn't love him, she could never hope for a better match. Yet something still draws her to Malachi: she thinks it's the need to kill him, but perhaps it's something else. My favorite character in this novel is Keller, a human who replaces missing body parts with metal such as the hook for his arm. But what Keller stands for most, as a good- intentioned survivor in the Darkworld, is that not all that is light is good and not all that is dark is bad. A prophecy says that one with wings will destroy Ayla, but the question remains as to which creature the prophecy means.

Jennifer Armintrout has created an intriguing world in QUEENE OF LIGHT . While the Strip definitively separates the Light and Dark worlds, the motives and intentions of many remain blurred. While Ayla grew up on the Strip, she seems to have let down her emotional guard—seemingly believing that light and good are synonymous--once allowed into the Lightworld as a citizen, so while she is a fighter and physically strong, her ability to sense impending danger has weakened. Perhaps, she never had the ability growing up or perhaps she just relaxed with relief once accepted into the Guild, but she will need to find that inner strength to survive.

Armintrout has a talent for descriptive detail in her world-building and a knack for developing interesting and complex characters. The story combines action scenes and thought-provoking insight, moving along at a brisk pace. Marketed as a paranormal romance, I think this book more closely resembles urban fantasy with romantic elements and reminds me more of titles by Karen Chance than Christine Feehan in feel, style and mood. I look forward to the next installment, Child of Darkness.