One thing about the creators and writers of Lost Girl: they’ve spent a lot of time constructing this interesting re-imagination of the world we live in. Everything from the Dal being a place of neutrality between the Light and Dark Fae...not to mention the unaligned ones...to incorporating Dyson’s wolfness into a variety of Fae are just a small sample of what we’ve encountered over the last three seasons. It has taken things we may have learned (and quickly disregarded) in high school to whole new levels.

Sure, along the way, they may have some continuity errors. They might have also irked their fans with storylines that sometimes go against popular opinion (you really can’t please everyone), but they work hard to bring interesting mythologies from around the world and make it entertaining for us viewers. With the introduction of Tamsin, a Valkyrie, in season three, we caught a bit of Old Norse in the works. If resident expert, Kiersten, is correct we’ll be looking at more to come in the form of the head Norseman himself, Odin.

While we wait for the big reveal (confirmation?) of the identity of Bo’s father, here are some book recommendations that may please the Fae worldbuilding contingent.

[May these recs soothe some of our Lost Girl needs...]

Lost Girl’s Dyson has had his fair share of ups and downs over the duration of the last three seasons. Now, with his love for Bo returned and Lauren seemingly out of the way, it looks like our favorite wolf is headed for an upswing. Sadly, we all know that things are never that simple, leaving Dyson’s future as anything but certain, especially when it comes to Bo.

Though hints have been made about Dyson’s age and events he’s lived through, we still don’t know much about his particular brand of Fae. Does he have a pack? It hasn’t really looked that way, but viewers definitely need more information before drawing this conclusion. What we do know is that he can growl with the best of them and posture in an alpha way about his relationships and their potential longevity.

It is also with some confidence that I can say there are as many fans of the Bo/Dyson combination as there are of the Doccubus union (especially around these parts). So, if you’re firmly planted on Team Wolf Man, rather than spending your time whittling wooden poppets to ensure the emancipation of Bo’s heart from Lauren’s medically certified grasp, here are some suggestions to help pass the time.

What to Read

Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson series. Mercy herself can transform into a coyote, but it is the wolves around her, particularly Adam, that demand the attention here. It seems that Mercy can find her way into all sorts of trouble, but with a werewolf and its pack being so close at hand, help is never far behind.

[Moar werewolves, if you please...]

It’s been at least a week now without Lost Girl. We’ve all had the great discussions going on Kiersten’s play-by-play and my earlier mini-recap. But the big question is: What now? What can we possibly do with our time until our beloved show returns? Well, here are a few recommendations that might tide you over until October:

By the end of Season 3, Kenzi had a tool (the Staff of Righteousness) in her possession that would have given her Fae powers, but she gave it up. She discovered that the rash she acquired from battling the Norn would have allowed her the Fae power of glamor, but she didn’t realize she had it nor how to manipulate the power at the time. Finally, she was given the opportunity to become Fae by a mysterious Druid, and this is where Bo’s trusty sidekick and the fate of her humanity were left in cliff-hanger fashion.

Fae or not, it’s Kenzi’s signature style in clothing, her pop culture-infused snark, and her ability to quote Ludacris like she’s reading a William Carlos Williams poem that keeps Bo and the gang grounded. Her humor reminds us that while Lost Girl can lean towards heavier (though mostly unreal) topics, it’s all in the name of fun, and ultimately balances moments that would come across more saccharine in nature otherwise.

[What would Kenzi do?...]

Kiersten Krum will be offering her analysis on this episode of Lost Girl next week, but meanwhile, we thought we'd get the ball rolling on the latest in Bo's Merry Adventures by offering a first look at episode 3.13, “Those Who Wander,” which aired on Sunday night on Showcase in Canada.

NOTE: The Lost Girl Season 3 finale has NOT YET AIRED IN THE UNITED STATES. The finale, “Those Who Wander,” will air in the U.S. next Monday at 10 p.m. EDT on SyFy. This is a recap of the episode as seen on Showcase in Canada. Do NOT read this recap unless you have seen the episode or are willing to be TOTALLY SPOILED.

*****SPOILERS*****

We left off last week with Trick being stuffed into a trunk and a bittersweet moment coming from Aoife’s return and the realization that she’s been damaged in some unknown way. Here we open this week with Bo throwing punches at a human guard. She’s still trying to heal Tamsin, who’d been shot by the human. Bo tries the whole chi stealing thing, but it fails, at first looking like the chi has been swept away in a breeze, but it turns out it's returned to the previous owner. Strangely enough, the guard has been enjoying the beating and tells Bo this. Looks like he might’ve been a test subject for Taft as well as part of his security team.

Bo, frustrated and frantic, says to him, “You tell me where you’re keeping the wolf.” But apparently the beating was so effective that the guard either passes out or dies right in front of her. Oops! Then she tries to rouse Tamsin by shaking her and threatening her with death, which has little chance of succeeding in its nonsensical methodology and doesn’t. Her last-ditch effort is to send an appeal to Dyson through the air for his help in rescuing...himself? The cheese-o-meter hits the red line with that one.

[C'mon, Dyson, surely you can do it all?...]

Kiersten Krum will be offering her analysis on this episode of Lost Girl tomorrow, but meanwhile, we thought we'd get the ball rolling on the latest in Bo's Merry Adventures by offering a first look at last night's episode 3.12, “Hail, Hale”:

*****SPOILERS*****

We start this week off with Bo busting into Lauren’s place with Dyson right behind her. She calls out to Lauren, immediately apologizing for the B&E, but gets no response. They’re looking for clues to the Doc’s whereabouts, and boom! Before my clock hits the one-minute mark Bo confirms to Dyson that it is in fact not just 'a break'. Also, in an effort at scene and word conservation, Dyson addresses that he’s working on his biggest case, like, ever, and it’s inauguration day. Talk about cramming it all in quickly!

Meanwhile, over at the Dal...or is it? Trick is happy as could be, claiming his being hard on Hale, his protegé, has guided him in a great new direction for the Light. Kenzi scoffs at Trick, and questions Hale’s, uh, attitude. Trick warns Kenzi not to offer that opinion too freely around the Fae guests. She is a lowly human, after all. The Morrigan walks in, dissing the decor and saying she was invited to the shindig by Hale. Kenzi mouths off, despite the warning she got only a moment ago. I can’t see that boding well for her. Plus, Hale didn’t seem to like her comment much either.

[Caution may not be such a bad thing, Kenzi...]

Jamie McGuire
Walking Disaster
Atria / April 2, 2013 / $15.00 print, $7.99 digital

Can you love someone too much?

Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

We all know their type. The kind of guy that’s only with a girl for one thing; the kind who has built up an impressive reputation around his sexual exploits. He either attracts women who think they can change him or the ones that just want that one thing too. He’s also the type to scare away anyone that doesn’t want to take the risk. But even if we do know someone just like him, we rarely get to see the inner workings of his mind.

[But now, a peek into Travis Maddox's mind...]

Kiersten Krum will be offering her full take on this episode of Lost Girl tomorrow (episode 3.11, “Adventures in Fae-bysitting”), but meanwhile, we thought we'd get the ball rolling on the latest in Bo's Merry Adventures by offering a sneak peek at what's to come:

*****SPOILERS*****

Tonight, the show opens with Kenzi and Bo watching a horror movie with alternating comments between how typical the movie is and how completely deluded Bo is about her break with Lauren. It seems everyone can see it but her. Kenzi offers as much sympathy as she can muster, which amounts to mostly a smile and lots of snark. The gist of the whole conversation is best summed up in K’s own words to Bo: “You suck at coupledom.”

We quickly shift over to a scene that could be the movie they were watching or an eerie parallel. A babysitter answers the phone, as K and Bo-Bo predicted moments ago. The call starts off with heavy breathing, intensifying the moment for the girl now scared in the house, alone. Kenzi and Bo had also screamed at the character in the movie to not answer the phone because obviously the caller is in the house, and death is probably imminent. The scene completely follows the Kenzi and Bo script, with the caller ID’ing himself as familiar to the girl, then getting downright creepy, describing the babysitter’s tank top and her ample cleavage.

[Oh no you didn't...]

Kiersten Krum will be offering her full take on this episode of Lost Girl (“Delinquents”) tomorrow, but meanwhile, we thought we'd get the ball rolling on the latest in Bo's Merry Adventures by offering a sneak peek at what's to come:

We open with Bo wearing a pretty red negligee, looking at herself in the mirror, and smiling. Admiring the woman looking back at her now, she says, “I feel different. I feel good.” Then the eyes glow that sparkling blue colour and Bo adds, “Oh this is gonna be fun.” What could she possibly mean by that, I wonder?

Shocking Bo out of her reverie, Kenzi comes in, asking Bo to get her game face on. Someone’s trying to break into the Hilton Hovel. Punctuating Kenzi’s words is loud banging in the background. Considering the state of the place, try though they might to fix it up, you’d think a couple of good whacks would accomplish the would-be bad guy’s attempts to break down the door, but not so much.

Bo preps herself, still in red satin, with a baseball bat. Kenzi asks if she’s interrupting Bo’s softball game in her fab-snarky way. She suggests Bo instead arm herself with a “big girl weapon.”

[Oh, ouch, Kenzi!...]

It’s probably safe to say that vampires and werewolves have had their fair share of literary exposure over the years. Werewolves first appeared around 61 AD, in The Satyricon by Petronius. Vampires, at least in legend, had been around just as long, but not named or given attention in fiction until the early nineteenth century. But when it comes to paranormal creatures though, these guys are only the tip of the iceberg (and I’m not referring to Claudia Gray’s book with werewolves on the Titanic!) There are a myriad of other mythological beings out there that just might tickle your fancy or scare your pants off if you’ve decided it’s time for a change.

Myths and legends from the British isles have a history as long as those of the vampires and werewolves. Add to that a plethora of monsters, gods, and fantastical creatures, and the subject matter still has so much untapped potential that authors can use them easily while having the ability to create interesting, original twists. Everything from King Arthur to the Tuatha de Dannan has played out in fiction over the centuries. With each new series that features the Fae or pagan gods, it seems the lore is exposed more widely to readers.

[Dig deeper...]

Christina Lauren
Beautiful Bastard
Gallery / February 12, 2013 / $15.00 print, $7.59 digital

Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He’s exacting, blunt, inconsiderate—and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.

Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family’s massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who’d been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative—completely infuriating—creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he’s never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe’s so tempting he’s willing to bend the rules—or outright smash them—if it means he can have her. All over the office

As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they’re willing to lose in order to win each other.

There’s another book with roots in Twilight fan fiction on the horizon: Beautiful Bastard by (two authors writing as) Christina Lauren. While the writers make no attempt to hide the story’s origins, readers of The Office (the fanfic predecessor) will notice some changes, including a different ending. This will hopefully spark renewed love from old fans and pique curiousity in new ones.

The story revolves around an MBA candidate and her boss, who has just recently returned from France. But there’s a problem...

[Wouldn't have expected any less...]

Megan Caldwell
Vanity Fare
William Morrow / December 26, 2012 / $14.99 print, $9.99 digital

Molly Hagan is overwhelmed.

Her husband left her for a younger, blonder woman; her six-year-old son is questioning her authority, and now so is she. In order to pay her Brooklyn rent and keep her son supplied with Pokémon and Legos, not to mention food and clothing, she has to get a job—fast.

So when an old friend offers Molly a freelance position copywriting for a new bakery, finding romance is just about the last thing on her mind. But the sexy British pastry chef who's heading up the bakery has other thoughts. And then so does Molly, when she meets the chef's intimidating business partner—who also happens to have a secret that might prevent Molly from getting her own happily ever after.

It’s a simple premise, really: books and coffee go hand in hand for many people. Add in a decadent pastry, and the bar has been infinitely raised. It’s with these ideas in mind that Megan Caldwell presents her debut release, Vanity Fare. But beneath the surface (of the pie crust, if you will), what you’ll find in this book is an Austen-worthy tale of love and insights into friendships and relationships, as well as how to live a life you’d be proud of.

[Think we could all use tips for that...]

Anyone raising kids knows that sometimes you need a little help when it comes to explaining some of life’s intricacies to them. And while Dr. Spock, Dr. Phil and so many other (better?) qualified people out there have had their say, around this household, we live by the wisdom found within the seven seasons of Gilmore Girls.

Not only are the trials and tribulations of high school and college dealt with, but maneuvering the ups and downs of love as well as the delicate relationship between parent/child. All of this is provided with a quirky backdrop of small town living and its wacky inhabitants. These elements combine to give a plethora of advice to those of us watching carefully, if we know what to look for.

[So—what are we looking for?...]

How many times has the suggestion “If you liked that, then you’ll love this” been targeted to the eager readers who devoured E. L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy in recent months?

Two novels out now have made major headway in book sales because of this very method of exposure: Bared to You by Sylvia Day and, more recently, Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire. Having read each of the novels, there are some obvious commonalities, yet as a whole, each story is quite different from the others. With content ranging from youthful billionaires to BDSM to tattooed, underground boxing college students, it may appear that the three titles, in fact, share little besides the colors on their covers.

Initially, any similarities could be quickly dismissed between Beautiful Disaster and the other two novels because of its lack of a twenty-something, obnoxiously wealthy male lead. But all of these heroes have similar backstory: each of them has been through (many) relationships without one ever really sticking, until they meet the female lead, of course, and they are somehow persuaded to give up skirt-chasing forever. They also share other disturbing proclivities, including the need to possess said love interest, to the point of obsession and “co-dependency,” not to mention falling apart at the idea of losing the girl (which, in fact, they all do at some point or other). There is a fine line between a connection and an obsession, each of which Christian Grey, Gideon Cross, and Travis Maddox teeters on constantly.

[Walk the line...]

Kalayna Price
Grave Memory
Roc / July 3, 2012 / $7.99 print & digital

As a Grave Witch, Alex solves murders by raising the dead—an ability that comes at a cost, and after her last few cases, that cost is compounding. But her magic isn’t the only thing causing havoc in her life. While she’s always been on friendly terms with Death himself, things have recently become a whole lot more close and personal. Then there’s her sometime partner, agent Falin Andrews, who is under the glamour of the Winter Queen. To top everything off, her best friend has been forever changed by her time spent captive in Faerie.

But the personal takes a backseat to the professional when a string of suicides occur in Nekros City and Alex is hired to investigate. The shades have no memory of the days leading up to their brutal endings, so despite the very public apparent suicides, this is murder. But what kind of magic can overcome the human will to survive? And why do the shades lack the memory of their deaths? Searching for the answer might mean Alex won’t have a life to remember at all…

Coming into Kalayna Price’s Grave Memory, Alex Craft has already got more on her plate than she can handle. From previous books, she’s experiencing rapidly deteriorating vision, barely containable magic, a Faerie Queen out to make her life miserable, and a not-so-hot love life. With all this going on, surely the only way for Alex will be up, right?

[Why do I sense the answer is in fact something like “Hell no”?!...]

Stacia Kane
Chasing Magic
Del Rey / June 26, 2012 / $7.99 print & digital

Magic-wielding Churchwitch and secret addict Chess Putnam knows better than anyone just how high a price people are willing to pay for a chemical rush. But when someone with money to burn and a penchant for black magic starts tampering with Downside’s drug supply, Chess realizes that the unlucky customers are paying with their souls—and taking the innocent with them, as the magic-infused speed compels them to kill in the most gruesome ways possible.

As if the streets weren’t scary enough, the looming war between the two men in her life explodes, taking even more casualties and putting Chess squarely in the middle. Downside could become a literal ghost town if Chess doesn’t find a way to stop both the war and the dark wave of death-magic, and the only way to do that is to use both her addiction and her power to enter the spell and chase the magic all the way back to its malevolent source. Too bad that doing so will probably kill Chess—if the war doesn’t first destroy the man who’s become her reason for living.

Chasing Magic is the fifth installment in Stacia Kane’s Downside series, bringing us back into the dark, treacherous world of protagonist Chess Putnam. Chess has experienced great amounts of character growth throughout these books, but in Chasing Magic the reader begins to get a clearer picture of Chess’s issues, combining her deeply troubled past with her fervent hope for a brighter future. Despite her efforts, there’s still a lot of work to be done, and here we see the next step towards finding as much of a happily ever after as could be hoped for in this alternate world.

[Terrible, I do believe that’s your cue...]

The protagonist of Kalayna Price’s Alex Craft series, Alex Craft, has an interesting job: Craft has the ability to raise the shades of the dead so that they can communicate to the living how they died. It’s usually not in a pleasant way, perhaps even involving a murder. Following that revelation, Craft works within the legal system to find out the “whodunit.” There are two books already published in the series, and the next, Grave Memory, is set to release on July 3, 2012. Craft isn’t the only one out there working as a paranormal detective; other names in this illustrious field include Harry Dresden, Chess Putnam, and Charley Davidson, among many others. Seeing these familiar monikers and knowing what they do makes you wonder what it really takes to solve crimes in the paranormal world.

[You don’t want to mess with these paranormal PIs]

Donna Grant
Midnight’s Master
St. Martin’s Press / May 22, 2012 / $7.99

Gwynn Austin has no idea why her father has disappeared on a mysterious trip to Scotland. When she goes on a desperate mission to search for him she finds more than she bargains for in a ruggedly handsome, wickedly exciting Highlander who exudes danger and mystery. And when she discovers her own link to Scotland, she’ll have to trust her heart to help lead her...

Propelled through time by powerful Druid Magic, Logan Hamilton uses his immortality and powers of the god inside him to help prevent the awakening of an ancient evil in the modern world. He never expects to find help in the form of a beautiful, alluring, and all too tempting woman whose passion and strength matches his own. Together, Logan and Gywnn must fight for their love—before a demon from the past destroys them both…

There seems to be a universal truth when discussing romance novels (that are also steeped in myth and fast-paced action): when all else looks dire, you need to take every opportunity for passion. And that’s advice the two main characters, Gwynn and Logan, take time and time again in Donna Grant’s Midnight’s Master.

[Time and time and time again?...]

Delilah Dawson
Wicked As They Come
Pocket/March 27, 2012/$7.99

When Tish Everett forces open the ruby locket she finds at an estate sale, she has no idea that a deliciously rakish Bludman has cast a spell just for her. She wakes up in a surreal world, where Criminy Stain, the dashing proprietor of a magical traveling circus, curiously awaits. At Criminy’s electric touch, Tish glimpses a tantalizing future, but she also foresees her ultimate doom. Before she can decide whether to risk her fate with the charming daredevil, the locket disappears, and with it, her only chance to return home. Tish and Criminy battle roaring sea monsters and thundering bludmares, vengeful ghosts and crooked Coppers in a treacherous race to recover the necklace from the evil Blud-hating Magistrate. But if they succeed, will Tish forsake her fanged suitor and return to her normal life, or will she take a chance on an unpredictable but dangerous destiny with the Bludman she’s coming to love?

In a curious world, with a mix of Steampunk and Bludmen (a little like vampires, but with a different name), Delilah S. Dawson’s Wicked As They Come could easily have touched upon every cliché possible. Instead, the story was delivered in a unique way, combing humour with philosophical meanderings and a hard look at the realities of love.

[Realities of love? What are they?...]

There are certain elements readers expect in historicals: the lady in distress is rescued by her Knight/Prince/gallant-but-rogueish-Lord. Of course, there would be smoldering dalliances between the lady and her hero sprinkled throughout.

So recently, when reading Celeste Bradley and Susan Donovan’s A Courtesan’s Guide to Getting Your Man, I was surprised to find a group sex scene within its pages. An orgy! In the middle of a historical tale! The romantic world felt like it had shifted to the opposite axis.

But, really, this reaction is absurd. For as long as humans have existed, the need for sex (in any form) has been a necessary part of life. More than that, it’s been a means of (great?) pleasure, for just as long. And to think that S&M, bondage, orgies, etc., didn’t exist before the advent of pink fluffy handcuffs is just naïve. So what if that rogueish Lord pulls out a sex toy to use with the heroine? It doesn’t detract from the romance. Instead, it adds a bit of reality (and happy kink) into the mix.

[Kinky sex is not not a new thing...]