Empire of Sand
Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri is $2.99! I believe this is part of today’s Kindle Daily Deals. This is an adult fantasy novel with some romantic elements. Though this is marketed as adult fantasy, some readers it felt like it was more YA. Empire of Sand has been on my TBR pile for a while; have you read this one? Aarya highly recommends it.
A nobleman’s daughter with magic in her blood. An empire built on the dreams of enslaved gods. Empire of Sand is Tasha Suri’s captivating, Mughal India-inspired debut fantasy.
The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited.
When Mehr’s power comes to the attention of the Emperor’s most feared mystics, she must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist their cruel agenda.
Should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance…
Empire of Sand is a lush, dazzling fantasy novel perfect for readers of City of Brass and The Wrath & the Dawn.
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Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas is $1.99! This is book one of her Bow Street Runners series, and features a courtesan, amnesia, and a hero who is kind of grumpy. Some readers loved him, others found it difficult to forgive him his assumptions about the heroine. You can also grab the second book for $2.99!
Grant Morgan is one of London’s most eligible and unattainable bachelors. He’s also a powerful member of the Bow Street Runners, and when he’s called to the waterfront late one night to investigate a drowning victim, Grant is stunned to recognize the face of Vivien Rose Duvall, a well-known woman of the night. He’s even more startled when he realizes that she’s alive. With no one to care for her, Grant carries Vivien to his home and revives her, only to learn that she is suffering from amnesia.
Vivien hesitantly accepts her handsome rescuer’s claim that she is his mistress, despite her misgivings about her true identity. Nevertheless, she can’t deny the marks on her throat that prove her near-drowning in the Thames was not an accident, and now she must trust the man who claims her as his paramour, for her life is in danger. As Grant searches for Vivien’s attacker, the two find themselves falling in love, all the while struggling to stay one step ahead of the evil forces that will stop at nothing to see Vivien dead.
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Star of the Morning by Lynn Kurland is $2.99! This is the first book in the Nine Kingdoms fantasy romance series. Readers say the action is slow to start, but many love the hero and the heroine. It has a 3.8-star rating on Goodreads. Anyone in the Bitchery familiar with the series?
From the USA Today bestselling author comes the first in a magical romantic fantasy trilogy.
Darkness covers the north, since the black mage has begun his assault on the kingdom of Neroche. Legend has it that only the two magical swords held by Neroche’s king can defeat the mage. Now the fate of the Nine Kingdoms rests in the hands of a woman destined to wield one of those blades…
In this land of dragons and mages, warrior maids and magical swords, nothing is as it seems. And Morgan will find that the magic in her blood brings her troubles she cannot face with a sword-and a love more powerful than she has ever imagined.
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Team Player by Julianna Keyes is 99c! This is the first book in the Charleston Thrashers series; admittedly, I have a weakness for things set in Charleston. This is a baseball romance with some workplace elements. Some readers were iffy on the hero, but note this is a good option for a low angst read.
Don’t hate the player…
BOTTOM NINE
Gwen Scott wants to love her job with the Charleston Thrashers, the MLB team she’s worshiped since she was a kid, but she can’t. Hateful colleagues and mind-numbing work make her days unbearable—until her head for baseball gets her exclusive access to the Thrashers’ clubhouse and she comes face-to-face with Tyler Ashe, the team’s sexy shortstop and baseball’s most ineligible bachelor.BASES LOADED
Ty has sworn off relationships in order to focus on his all-star career, but with his best friend gone, his team struggling, and the press blaming him for every loss, the most recognizable man in the majors is in a slump. Until he starts spending his time off the field with a stern blonde who recites baseball stats for kicks and sees through his arrogant façade.TWO OUT
As the Thrashers’ season gets into full swing and Gwen adjusts to her new job, their fun banter and friendly teasing turns into stolen kisses and countless steamy nights. The team’s strict policy against player-staff relationships throws a curve ball into the mix, but they can’t hide from their feelings any more than the most famous man in baseball can hide from the spotlight…Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
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Heads up: the Kleypas is questionable, even aside from the obvious hero-takes-advantage-of-heroine’s-vulnerable-situation.
I recently read and enjoyed Team Player by Julianna Keyes.
I found Star of the Morning to be SUPER boring. In general, I find a lot of fantasy romance ends up being too slow or boring. The first book sets it up for a bunch of stuff to happen, but then it just barely gets into the plot.
I love fantasy. I love romance. I love fantasy with strong romantic elements most of all (ie Sharon Shinn, Lois McMaster Bujold), but fantasy-romance often falls short. Anyone else find this?
TEAM PLAYER is a good book…but it’s a slower read (because it mirrors an entire baseball season). I had no problem with the hero—and the romance is pretty much a slow burn. The book is probably on sale now because BENCH PLAYER, the next book in the series, will be published later this month.
I enjoyed TEAM PLAYER. As an athlete/baseball fan, I appreciated that Keyes really got the baseball details right, and the book had some funny moments I didn’t expect.
I’m a fan of the Nine Kingdoms series, even though the books move at a slow pace. I enjoyed the dialog so much, the large extended family of magicians (don’t quote me, it’s been a while), the interaction between couples who ultimately fall in love. It may be time for a re-read.
@Lisa – Yep! I have yet to find a fantasy romance that satisfied me. My standards for fantasy are too high, I think.
Seconding @Michelle’s warning about the Kleypas. With the caveat that Kleypas doesn’t work for me as an author, I found that particular book absolutely infuriating.
I loved Empire of Sand! As a dancer, I found it really cool to read a book where the magic was based on Indian classical dance. The sequel is pretty good too.
I could be wrong, but IIRC the heroine in Someone to Watch Over Me turns out not to be Vivien but her twin sister. It’s been a very long time since I read it.
I really liked Star of the Morning. It’s the first book in a series, a trilogy maybe. The heroine is an elite mercenary on a quest and the hero is a wizard in disguise.
@Lisa, have you tried Radiance by Grace Draven? It’s a fantasy romance that I like.
Another vote here for TEAM PLAYER. I found it to be a very satisfying romance in that both the MCs are dealing with grief but due to their growing relationship, find the strength to move forward. It was also obvious that Julianna Keyes loves baseball. As a sports fan, I get so disappointed in sports romances written by authors who clearly know nothing about the game and just use it as wallpaper. This book integrates the sport into the romance in a way that I rarely see. Looking forward to BENCH PLAYER at the end of the month.
If anybody wants a topical read, Mira Grant’s trilogy about a presidential election campaign run during a zombie pandemic is currently on sale for the Kindle for only $3.99 for all three books (packaged as ‘The Rising’). I’ll admit I can’t face re-reading it right now, especially all the virology and social distance stuff she researched disturbingly well, but apparently books about pandemics are shooting up the charts right now?!
I ADORED Star of the Morning and the rest of the trilogy – a kick-ass swordswoman and an extremely powerful wizard who is humble, a beta hero, and completely twitterpatted over the h and wouldn’t change anything about her? Loved it so much. World building always takes time to get into but Morgan and Miach are one of my favorite book couples.
I loved Empire of the Sand- it was really cool to have magic based on Classic south Asian dance and the writing and plot really worked for me.
The Kleypas book was the first and last book of hers I read. I nearly DNF and I’m a must read till the end person. I found the hero’s attitude infuriating and painful to read so much that the sexy stuff was a total turnoff, which is not my usual attitude.
I haven’t read that particular Kleypas, and I’ve moved her categorically to my “authors to avoid” list. I’m always more interested in the secondary & tertiary characters than the primary ones, and when those secondary characters get their own books, they become uninteresting or annoying.
@Tam – thanks for the heads-up about The Rising. I had read the first two books in the series awhile ago and had never gotten to finishing so this sale is a good motivator for me. I remember LOVING the first book and finding the second book to be just ok, but definitely setting up a much deeper conspiracy to be explored in the third book.
Just wanted to chime in that Empire of Sand is good! And underrated! Perhaps the the people in the thread saying that they find themselves often dissatisfied with fantasy romance would enjoy this too? It’s NOT a romance, but the relationship between the heroine and hero is poignant and deftly written. I think there is a subtlety and maturity to the characterization that probably led to this one being categorized as an adult fantasy.
I’m a huge Kleypas fan. Someone To Watch Over Me is terrible. It’s the worst of her books imo, even worse than her very early old skool bodice rippers. She has so many good books, I wish I could stop anyone from reading this one, especially as a first intro to her work.
Star of the Morning sounds promising.