The Dark Beloved

An atmospheric YA romance full of magic, mystery and heartache.

HELEN FALCONER was a journalist on the Guardian before becoming a full-time writer. 
Helen was educated at Dartington and Oxford. She lives in north Mayo, Ireland, with her husband and has four children.

Aoife has returned. 
 
Back with her family after her adventures in the Land of the Young – where she rescued her younger sister Eva, narrowly escaping the evil fairy Dorocha – she is adjusting to life in the human world. But this is hard when you are trying to contain an otherworldly power . . . and even harder when you've been thought dead, mourned by those you love. 
 
Aoife’s world collapses completely when Shay, her fellow traveller and love of her life, abandons her. He is a lenanshee – and it is dangerous to love, and be loved, by such a fairy. 
 
But Shay is trapped in his own web of desire, as dark forces move against the pair. When he is taken in by a beautiful demon, this can only mean a return to the Fairy World. Aoife – with her best friend Carla – must battle old and new enemies, meet old and new friends, and use all her Fairy Powers to save Shay – her true Beloved. 
 
And when days in the Fairy World are months in the human world, time runs out very fast indeed . . .

The Changeling

A teenage girl discovers she is a fairy changeling in this lyrical teen romantic fantasy.

Some of us are born to be magic. 
 
Aoife is an ordinary teenager, hanging out with her childhood friend Carla, putting up with school. The worst she has to contend with is that the boy of Carla’s dreams is trying to get off with her instead. 
 
But then, after chasing a lost little girl no one seems to be able to see, Aoife starts to develop mysterious powers. Eventually her parents confess that she isn’t their real daughter. Their human child was stolen by the fairies, and Aoife is the changeling left behind in her place. 
 
Shocked and disorientated, Aoife turns to Shay, the taciturn farmer’s son who is the only person who might believe her story. Together, they embark on a dangerous journey, which takes them deep into the underworld and changes everything they thought they knew about fairies.

Helen Falconer

Every story needs a hero. Every hero needs a friend. 
 
Carla never believed Aoife's tales of fairies, monsters and changeling girls. But she faithfully followed her best friend down into the dangerous fairy world - to rescue a boy, and save a kingdom. 
 
Until Aoife sent Carla spinning back to the human world, terrified for her safety. But as Aoife faces demons and death alone, Carla has her own battles at home - creatures to defeat and boys to protect. And it's not long before the promised war between humans and fairies explodes onto the fields of rural Ireland. 
 
Whilst Aoife will fight for the Hawthorn Crown in the Land of the Young, Carla must use all her ingenuity and skill to protect the village she grew up in - the village she loves. 
 
Every story needs its heroes . . .

The Hawthorn Crown

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