Borderline

With a directing gig and a film that garnered critical praise both under her belt, Millie was a Hollywood hopeful with what could have been a great career ahead of her. But a scandalous affair and her borderline personality disorder led to a suicide attempt that, thankfully, failed, leaving Millie an amputee forced to finally deal the emotional issues that led to her breakdown. With all hope of a career set aside indefinitely, Millie signed on to live in a psychiatric facility that leeches away at her meager savings all the while attempting to save her sanity.

All of that changes, though, when Millie is approached by the Arcadia Project. A super secret group that works with the fey traveling to and inhabiting Los Angeles, the Arcadia Project promises an in back into the industry if Millie agrees to work for them. Her first job: helping to track a rogue fey whose visa has expired. With an experienced Arcadia Project employee by her side, the job should be a fairly easy one. But it turns out this initiation into Arcadia Project is definitely not ideal for a beginner!

Mishell Baker's debut and first in the Arcadia Project series is a wildly entertaining and unique addition to urban fantasy.

The world of the Arcadia Project is one that lives at the crossroads between the "real" world and a fey dimension. There are Seelie and Unseelie, much like other fey worlds, but the real difference is that at the core of the world is the idea that the organization trusted and tasked with dealing with emissaries and travelers from another dimension aren't trusted at all. They, like Millie, are chosen because their mental health issues means no one ever really has to worry about them spilling the beans about the fey or the agreement their world has with ours!

The fact that Baker's heroine is handicapped and dealing with serious emotional issues makes Borderline different from pretty much every other urban fantasy out there. And when you add in a whole cast of well rounded characters, a world that's fabulously defined, and a plot that's built and paced fantastically, you have a truly standout read.