How Does It Feel?

Jeneane O’Riley explores the darker side of fairy lore in the first in the Infatuated Fae series, How Does It Feel? (2023), which is also a popular BookTok read. While out searching for rare mushrooms, Callie Peterson, an environmental biologist, stumbles upon a portal to the realm of the Fae and falls into the hands of Prince Mendax, royal leader of the Unseelie Fae. Mendax, who leads a plot to invade the world of the humans, suspects Callie is an assassin; she pleads innocence, and he repeatedly attempts to have her killed. Callie shows bravery and the ability to handle the threats on her life. Despite Mendax’s life-threatening behavior, Callie cannot help but be drawn to him—as he is to her—and their relationship navigates the boundaries between resistance and submission, pain and pleasure. Their forbidden connection is abruptly broken by Callie’s later-revealed betrayal, as she is an assassin, a human sent by the Seelie Fae who protect her.

This guide refers to the 2024 Bloom Books paperback.

Content Warning: The novel depicts physical and emotional abuse, manipulation and coercion, graphic sexual encounters, sexual assault, and imprisonment.

Plot Summary

In the Prologue, Callie Peterson is trapped in a dungeon. She is careful not to wake a slumbering monster and incur its wrath.