I have always loved fantasy worlds and romantic stories, but in recent years I’ve found it harder to read stories with extreme violence or trauma. When I started writing fiction, I planned to write a fantasy romance with a kingdom and a battle, but I couldn’t do it—my characters organized a nonviolent revolution and formed a democratic system of governance instead. I reconsidered and decided to write what I call cozy fantasy romances. So many types of romance novels could be set in a fantasy world, such as an office romance or road trip comedy. I’ve been searching for these types of romance novels—fun, lighthearted romances set in a fantasy world—and am slowly finding them.
This series is set in a magical land that’s hidden and protected from the rest of the world. It’s filled with delightful villages that have festivals and games, where the locals work at their craft and then drink beer at the tavern in the evening—basically, the exact place I would design to live in.
In Brewed in Magic, Lilia is a brewer who travels the countryside with her mobile tavern. On the way to a festival, she camps out with another traveler and they hit it off—until he disappears in the morning. Turns out he has rushed to beat her to the festival and steal her spot with his own mobile tavern. They continue to spar but must team up when all the beer disappears.
That’s right: the level of conflict in this story is “if we can’t find the beer, the festival will be ruined.”
Lilia has always had a wanderer's heart. She spends her days on the road with her famous Traveling Tavern and only a dragon to keep her company. Despite longing for a deeper connection, she knows she's destined to wander the world alone.
When she meets a handsome stranger on her journey to the winter festival, she finally feels she's found a kindred spirit...until he vanishes in the early morning without so much as a goodbye.
Turns out, he rushed ahead to reach the festival first with his own traveling tavern. One he never mentioned. Now her would-be companion is her…
Worldbuilding is something I absolutely adore, and I have always wanted to see more fantasy in worlds created around a more modern thought process. Worlds that got away from the medieval and instead found inspiration in places like 1920s America or 1950s Mexico or anywhere with cars and motorcycles existing right alongside dragons. It’s what I try to write and its desperately what I want to read. Fantasy has so much more range than I think it is given credit for.
This book takes an extremely fascinating time period, the Rasputin era in Russia, and throws it in a blender with dark fantasy, gore and passion. I could not get enough of the characters because they are all morally gray and come at the central dilemma of a collapsing empire with their own ambitions. Also, one of the more unique takes I’ve seen on a vampire in ages!
Winter 1917. After years on the run from a dangerous cult, twenty-three-year-old Sasza and his father have established themselves among the Odonic Empire’s ruling class. But there’s a problem: Sasza is a vampire, and vampires aren’t supposed to get involved in human governance. What the aristocracy doesn’t know, after all, cannot hurt them.
Unfortunately, Sasza is far more involved than a stealth vampire should be. Not only does he work to quell the rumors of the vampires’ responsibility for an unsolved massacre, his lover is also the pro-proletariat Ilya, the Empire’s Finance Minister, who tries to recruit Sasza into the…
An intense and thoughtful time-hopping dystopian fantasy where three individuals, psychically linked through time, fight enslavement, exploitation, and environmental collapse. A great read for fans of Emily St. John Mandel.
In 2106, Maida Sun possesses the ability to see the entire history of any object she touches. When she starts…
The book was a captivating and one-of-a-kind experience. The portrayal of grief was beautifully handled, offering a fresh perspective. While the pacing was slower at times, I was completely engrossed. Nesbit, Dove, Drea, Bastion, and Brandy were simply unforgettable. I found myself deeply connected to them all. The ending was incredibly moving, not only because of the emotional content but also due to the bittersweet farewell to such a remarkable group of characters.
As a science fiction reader (and writer), I don't usually read fantasy, but I've been following M.A. Batten on social media and this book seemed as though it would appeal to me. I was not disappointed.
Dark: And the Boy in the Hole was suspenseful, fast-paced, and kept my interest from the start until the very end. I especially enjoyed the range of creatures and characters among the "nightlings".
I can imagine this book appealing to young readers (despite some rather "dark" subject matter), but I think it can be enjoyed by all ages.
** This special Dark Edition features premium title and chapter pages. **
Having been imprisoned in a deep stone pit by the tyrannical King Baltus for as long as he can remember, the Boy With No Name is unexpectedly set free by the last living minotaur, the albino Grim. Together, they escape into Myrr Wood to join the few remaining monsters of the Old World – a ragtag bunch of goblins, trolls, bendith, harpies, a wendigo, and the only lykkan left in the realm – all hunted by humanity to the brink of extinction. When the Nightlings discover the boy…
A book that features Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Kenneth and Steffi Grant, with Austin Osman Spare as a major character, is bound to be interesting. But it is Moore's language that makes it sublime. Fascinating!
A propulsive tour through a fantastical London, where history and myth collide, murder stalks the streets and the mundane becomes very magical indeed...
The year is 1949, the city London. Amidst the smog of the capital is Dennis Knuckleyard, a hapless eighteen-year-old employed by a second-hand bookshop. One day, on an errand to acquire books for sale, Dennis discovers a novel that simply does not exist. It is a fictitious book, a figment from another novel. Yet it is physically there in his hands. How?
Dennis has stumbled on a book from the Great When, a magical version of London…
Betty Lennox is an elemental witch desperate to leave her desert hometown of Smokethorn, California, and sell the paranormal seniors' trailer park she inherited from her mother.
Running low on cash to maintain the park's protection spell, she accepts a dangerous job: procuring a cursed grimoire so deadly even the…
Characters, the heist, the rebellion unfolding on the background, POVs on the different sides of the struggle, loved it all, can’t wait to see what’s next
On Kerti Island, where knowledge is scarce and belongs solely to the regime, Zea is a Truth Seeker: scholar, polymath, advisor, prisoner—born and raised to serve. But she is done serving. Her fate will be hers to decide. And her plan might just be the spark that ignites a revolution.
Ax, a thief, doesn't care about rebellion—only money. But what if even the right price can't buy freedom under tyranny?
Veyre, a soldier, is sworn to uphold order, hunting down rebels without question. But can she keep her honor when the orders no longer…
This is a stellar, near-perfect debut novel. It is WWII-era historical fiction, mixed with magical realism. It is also staunchly feminist, and provides a stark glimpse of the similarities between Hitler's rise and Trump's. And unlike many historical fiction novels or debuts, it avoids the biggest pitfalls and tropes: It does not use WWII as a backdrop for romance; it does not provide a bloodless, tragic, sterile view of war or the acts committed; while its FMC is young, she's not a rom-com trope or out to "find herself."
What's amazing about this debut effort is it reads like the work of an accomplished author. The characters are fully fleshed and compelling, the pacing is perfectly on point, and the story and world were richly written. I read it in two days, and had difficulty putting it down.
'Prime Minister Churchill, the Witches of Britain are at your service . . .'
1940, and war rages across Europe. The future looks bleak. But now, emerging from the shadows, the Royal Academy of Witches offers its help. And so it is tasked with finding an ancient artefact that, were it to fall into Nazi hands, would help Hitler fulfil his twisted Aryan dream . . .
Stubborn, plain-spoken and from an unimpressive family, Lydia Polk never expected to be chosen to work under Isadora Goode, the Grand Mistress of the Royal Academy of Witches.
Too many times fantasy books are too serious and dire. I've really enjoyed a number of satiric takes on the genre and not since Terry Pratchette have I been so entertained by the humor that was found in J. Zachary Pike's books - starting with Orconomics. I'm so glad the trilogy is complete and I'm looking forward to Dragonfired in 2025 - after a re-read starting with book #1.
Waking up on the beach in Greece after a midnight party, Cleo, a British-Greek tourist, sees a stranger sitting next to her. The stranger has a giant spider on his forearm.
So begins an incredible odyssey through the nine levels of the mysterious mountain populated by an odd assortment of…
