Bedeviled

Nothing in painter Maggie Donovan's ordinary Southern California life prepares her to find a demon devouring her ex-boyfriend. In the ensuing struggle, the smart-mouthed heroine accidentally gets sprinkled with magic dust from a broken pendant and develops mysterious powers. Levitation may be handy for painting tall store windows, but her new status comes with a lot of baggage, including hunky Fae warrior Culhane and ugly pixie Bezel. They want to train Maggie for an upcoming battle against the evil Faery queen, Mab, who has imprisoned all the males of the Otherworld. Unimpressed, Maggie clings to her “destiny-free zone” until her growing magical abilities and feelings for Culhane push her to take on the queen. Child (A Fiend in Need ) throws in enough zest and humor to make up for a rather anticlimactic final showdown. (Jan.)