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ACCOMPLICE TO THE VILLAIN

A clever, tongue-in-cheek romantasy about workplace opposites attracting.

In Maehrer’s comic fantasy romance, a bubbly underling continues to rise even as she crushes on her evil boss.

Evie Sage has always been an odd fit for the role of apprentice to Trystan Maverine, who, in his role as The Villain, is responsible for causing mischief and mayhem in the kingdom of Rennedawn. Trystan is, as one might expect from a Villain, curmudgeonly and misanthropic, while Evie is as bright and cheerful as a ray of sunshine. Despite their vast differences in personality, it is becoming clear to everyone who works at Trystan’s Massacre Manor—especially Trystan’s best friend, Alexander William Kingsley (who used to be a man but has spent the last 10 years trapped in the body of a frog)—that Trystan and Evie have developed an unacknowledged romantic connection. Far from making for a productive working relationship, the tension is causing problems around the Manor, as “the two would sooner knock their heads together than confront their unspoken feelings.” The mutual crush could not come at a worse time, since the magic in Rennedawn is waning and the Villain is racing against King Benedict to fulfill a prophecy and become the “true prince” who restores magic to the kingdom. Can a Villain ever accept love and become a true prince…and can a Villain’s accomplice do her job without losing her sunny disposition? In this installment of her Assistant to the Villain series, Maehrer continues to effectively mine the fantasy setting for sendups of contemporary office culture, from uncooperative Curse Consultants to form-obsessed Human and Magical Creature Resource officers. “Trystan knew when he became The Villain that he would always be the one to make the hard decisions, even the unpopular ones,” writes Maehrer with typical wryness. “It was a job he rather enjoyed, in all honesty, but there was one standard office practice even he vowed never to adhere to. Meetings.” The busy plot may prove difficult for new readers to enter, but fans of the series will appreciate this latest episode.

A clever, tongue-in-cheek romantasy about workplace opposites attracting.

Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025

ISBN: 9781649378545

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books

Review Posted Online: July 10, 2025

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ALCHEMISED

Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.

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  • New York Times Bestseller

Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.

Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.

Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025

ISBN: 9780593972700

Page Count: 1040

Publisher: Del Rey

Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025

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FOURTH WING

From the Empyrean series , Vol. 1

Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.

On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.

Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.

Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.

Pub Date: May 2, 2023

ISBN: 9781649374042

Page Count: 528

Publisher: Red Tower

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024

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