#a j lancaster

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: Stariel

Author: A.J. Lancaster

Series or standalone: series

Publication year: 2018

Genres: fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery

Blurb: The Lord of Stariel is dead. Long live the Lord of Stariel...whoever that is. Everyone knows who the magical estate will choose for its next ruler...or do they? Will it be the lord's eldest son, who he despised? His favourite nephew, with the strongest magical land-sense? His scandalous daughter, who ran away from home years ago to study illusion? Hetta knows it won't be her, and she's glad of it. Returning home for her father's funeral, all Hetta has to do is survive the family drama and avoid entanglements with irritatingly attractive local men until the Choosing. Then she can leave. But whoever Stariel chooses will have bigger problems than eccentric relatives to deal with. Winged, beautifully deadly problems. For the first time in centuries, the fae are returning to the mortal realm, and only the Lord of Stariel can keep the estate safe.

[nzbookwyrm]

Release date 26 June 2025

What happens when a first-born bargain goes wrong?

Princess Gisele has spent her life preparing for an evil fae sorcerer to claim her. That was the bargain her mother was tricked into: one royal first-born in exchange for spinning straw into gold.

But it’s been decades, and he still hasn’t shown up.

The unfulfilled fairytale-debt, however, is refusing to lie quietly. When its chaotic magic reaches unbearable levels, Gisele takes matters into her own hands. Terrifying fae sorcerer or not, she’ll hunt him down and force him to stop ruining her life.

But instead of an evil mastermind, she finds the scholarly, nameless lord of a magical house. He wants nothing to do with the angry knife-wielding spinster on his doorstep. Unfortunately, the fairytale-debt has other ideas.

Now magically bound to her lifelong nemesis, the only way to break the magic between them is to work together to find the nameless fae’s lost name. Assuming they don’t strangle each other first.

HOW TO FIND A NAMELESS FAE is a cozy fantasy romance retelling of Rumplestiltskin with spice, featuring a middle-aged heroine, a buttoned-up hero, and an interfering sentient house.

[djohnhopper]

RECOMMENDED READ: I'm on the second book of A J Lancaster's 'Stariel' series, and really enjoying it. Good crop of characters, good interaction, plenty of magic. Excellent!