THE WINGED GAME

A disgraced athlete gets the chance to rebuild her career—but it’ll mean working with the man who ruined it in the first place.

This romance is set in a modern fantasy United Kingdom amid the world of carriwitchet—a bloody rugbylike sport played on winged creatures. Taissa Cho was a force to be reckoned with until her rival, Kion Locke, exposed her illegal Luck glyph in the middle of a game and she was expelled from the league. Two years later, Kion’s team is in desperate need of revival, and while Taissa might be the last person he wants help from, he knows her return to the sport could finally earn them a win. Taissa doesn’t want to miss the opportunity to come back to carriwitchet, but Kion’s terms aren’t so simple. The positive publicity he needs involves a fake relationship between them, because a headline touting former rivals turned lovers and teammates would certainly fill the stadium seats. On top of that, a mysterious illness has been infecting the league’s animals, endangering players and calling the sport’s future into question. The contemporary setting is a smart move, creating a familiar environment against which Kim can sprinkle in some magical worldbuilding—it’s an easy immersion. This is a true enemies-to-lovers romance: Taissa has every reason to dislike Kion, but she refuses to let him stand in the way of her passion for carriwitchet. She doesn’t see his offer as an olive branch; it’s a step toward finally getting revenge on the man who ousted her from the sport. With its playful mashup of romance, fantasy, and mystery, the book rarely has a dull moment. As secondary characters and additional teams are introduced, it’s clear that there’s plenty of potential for Kim to explore more romances on the carriwitchet pitch.

A fresh and fun take on both the romantasy and sports-romance genres.