On a note possibly related to the general atmosphere of insanity, fantasy romance series have been my books of choice this summer. I can’t get enough! Plucky heroines! Sexy paladins! Secret royal identities! Zero Elon Musks! Otherworldly beasts! All the magicks! Multiple books that distract me for weeks on end! Did I mention zero Elon Musks?!
In a bid to neutralize the month of June, I devoured the first 3 books in Miranda Honfleur’s Blade and Rose series, and hooray! hooray! book 4, Queen of the Shining Sea, drops tomorrow, August 31st!
Here’s the deal: In the kingdom of Emaurria, young mage Favrielle “Rielle” Amadour Lothaire fends off an intruder to the Tower of Magic, and changes the course of her life. Rielle is tasked with accompanying the intruder, recently de-paladined paladin Jonathan Ver, on his quest to learn why he got the boot. But everything changes when they learn that the entire royal family has been murdered by rogue General Evrard Gilles, sending the kingdom into chaos.
They are diverted to the capital, where they must perform a rite to shore up the boundary between their world and the world of the immortals, who were betrayed and banished by long ago humans. Before long, they are wrestling with assassins, mysterious plots, and their growing attraction to each other! (yes I just wrote that terrible sentence. it’s not worse than asbestos making a comeback, so suck it up)
The wrench in the works that is “Rielle + Jon TLA” comes in the form of one Brennan, Marquis of Tregard. Rielle is betrothed to Brennan in a bid to break a furry monthly curse that has plagued Brennan and every first born of the first born in his line. And what I’m saying there is that he’s a werewolf, not that he’s menstruating tribbles, because that would be ridiculous.
The trio unites to thwart the rule of evil Gilles, but a variety of things go higgledy piggledy, including a surprising identity reveal, an unexpected betrayal, and a rogue assassin from Rielle’s past, bent on destroying her happiness. The next 2 books see the characters flung across the kingdom, trying to keep chaos at bay while the throne is vulnerable, strange creatures are breaching the rift, and the Rielle, Jon, and Brennan are in confusing relationship hell.
This relationship hell is why I love these 3 MCs so much! They have great banter (both sexy and sarcastic), and they are a hot mess of screwing each other over intentionally, unintentionally, and smexily. I also appreciate that, instead of the typical romantic dilemma trope in which one guy is perfect and the other is an obvious tool, Miranda does a great job of actually making it a love triangle. Brennan is kind of a colossal dick, but maybe he’s not such a dick after all, but, okay, maybe he’s definitely a dick. Or not. Jon is upright and honorable to a fault (except when he’s really, really not), but his circumstances make it very hard to see a future for the couple. Who will she choose?!!!!
Mmmm, how an MMF twist? #bothisgood
The series continues to expand as events unfurl, with multiple action plot lines, a slew of treacherous characters, and several steamy side romances (including a little elf/human m/m, if you’re into that kind of thing).
At the end of Court of Shadows, in addition to the marauding dragons, deadly court intrigue, and corruption in the ruling religious order, Rielle has just about had it with all the man-drama. She decides to sail off on the Shining Sea, and into book 4, to fight pirates and free Emaurria from the Divinity’s grasp.
I did a little series reread to get ready for book 4, and got totally sucked in again. There is so much unresolved, and I cannot wait for tomorrow’s release! So if you are looking for an escape that’ll last you several weeks/1,052 Elon Musk tweets, this is the series for you!
Pick up Queen of the Shining Sea here!!
