historical – Lyndsey Hall

The Rose and the Serpent: Preorder now!

Hi friends! I’m really excited to tell you my next novel is now up for preorder on Amazon! *cue confetti and party poppers*

The Rose and the Serpent is a gothic, dark academia fantasy, perfect for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper, A Darker Shade of Magic and A Study in Drowning. With a charmingly roguish male lead, a feisty, brave (but possibly undead) alderman’s daughter, and a mysterious organisation operating in the shadows, threatening everything they hold dear…

A grave robber with a heart. A girl without a soul. Secrets that refuse to stay buried.

Death isn’t always the end, especially in the shadowed streets of York. Cassius Watkins has made his peace with the dead, unearthing their bodies for profit and keeping whatever treasures he finds. But when Cash pries open a tomb and finds Edie Buxton-Whyte alive inside, he’s thrust into a world where death is just the beginning.

Offered a place at the prestigious All Souls College thanks to his act of heroism, Cash soon hears whispers of a secret society hidden within the cloistered halls. As unsettling visions of Edie haunt his dreams and anonymous threats are slipped under his door, Cash is drawn deeper into a fight he never knew existed. A battle between the monsters that slither in the shadows and the forces working against them.

As darkness closes in and the danger turns out to be closer to home than they ever imagined, Cash and Edie must tread carefully. But the deeper they dig and the more they uncover, the more Cash begins to wonder if Edie is still the girl he risked everything to save…or something else entirely.

The Rose and the Serpent is a YA gothic, dark academia fantasy brimming with dark secrets, forbidden knowledge, and a love that defies even death itself. Perfect for fans of One Dark Window, A Study in Drowning, and Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter Chronicles.

If that sounds up your alley, you can preorder it now and it’ll drop into your kindle on release day! The preorder date is set for June 2025, but I’m planning to release a few days earlier, on 29 May.

Happy reading, friends!

Lyndsey

Review: Court of Bitter Thorn by Kay L. Moody

I just finished reading book one in the Fae of Bitter Thorn series by Kay L. Moody and I need to talk to someone about it.

Have you read it? Did you love it? Tell me what you thought in the comments.

Haven’t read it yet? Maybe my review will convince you…

Title: Court of Bitter Thorn (Fae of Bitter Thorn #1)

Author: Kay L. Moody

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Court-Bitter-Thorn-Fae-Book-ebook/dp/B089KT96RF/

Rating: 4/5

Blurb

Faerie wasn’t supposed to be real.

Tricked by a fae prince, Elora is stuck in the Faerie realm far from her young sisters who depend on her for survival. Under the terms of her bargain, she can’t go home to the mortal world until Prince Brannick becomes the next High King.

Or until he’s taken out of the running…

Sabotaging Brannick’s chance at the crown will be much faster than helping him win. The fae prince may be charming, powerful, and wickedly handsome, but that won’t stop Elora from selling his secrets to the highest bidder.

By day, she uses her master sword skills to train the prince. By night, she conspires with a rival king in a nearby court whose plans could destroy half of Faerie.

Soon, lives are at stake that she never expected. She’ll have to choose who to save: her beloved sisters or half the inhabitants of Faerie.

The choice would be easy… if a certain prince weren’t digging his way into her heart.

Court of Bitter Thorn is Book 1 in The Fae of Bitter Thorn. Don’t miss the other books in this enchanting fantasy series!

Prequel: Heir of Bitter Thorn (available on author’s website)
Book 1: Court of Bitter Thorn
Book 2: Castle of Bitter Thorn
Book 3: Crown of Bitter Thorn
Book 4: Queen of Bitter Thorn

This is a fun, fast-paced YA romantic fantasy and a brilliant beginning to the Fae of Bitter Thorn series.

I read the prequel novella Heir of Bitter Thorn first, and I’d recommend it if you can, as there were quite a few hints in this book at the events of the prequel, things I really appreciated understanding (it’s free when you subscribe to the author’s email list, but it’s not essential reading).

I loved Elora and Brannick, the chemistry and slow burn were brilliantly done, and I can’t wait to see more of their relationship develop in the next three books. They were really well-written, three dimensional characters whose motivations and characteristics were revealed slowly throughout the story, making it really satisfying to watch them be uncovered bit by bit.

The world building was fantastic, the author included lots of classic faerie folklore, and the modern updates just added to the richness of the setting.
It was a quick, enchanting read and I’m excited to continue with the series!

Lyndsey

Review: The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

As epic fantasy novels go, it doesn’t get much better than The City of Brass! Set partly in ancient Cairo, it’s a richly diverse and beautifully descriptive novel, and even better, it’s the first in a series! The Kingdom of Copper is out now and The Empire of Gold is due in 2020!

TL;DR An Aladdin-esque fantasy with djinn warriors, elemental spirits and a smart, sassy con-woman. Nahri accidentally conjures a mysterious djinn warrior during a supposedly fake exorcism, and ends up being hunted by fire spirits across the Egyptian desert. When they escape into the legendary city of brass, Daevabad, Nahri discovers a history she never knew existed. One in which she and her ancestors are deeply entangled…

Trying to make a living as a woman alone on the streets of Cairo isn’t easy, but Nahri has always survived on her wits. She uses her ability to read people, and a sort of ‘sixth sense’ for what ails them, to pray on the gullible, weak and desperate.

Nahri cons rich Ottoman nobles on the streets of Cairo, performing fake palm readings, healings and exorcisms. It’s all an elaborate performance to make money, until one day Nahri accidentally conjures a real djinn, who drags her across Egypt to a hidden, magical city. Her abilities make her a target and a spectacle, but her arrival in Daevabad, the city of brass, sparks more than just intrigue. Unrest has been building between the residents for centuries, and Nahri’s appearance might just light the fire of rebellion in them.

The City of Brass focuses on three main characters whose lives and stories weave together to create a captivating and shocking depiction of life in Daevabad:

Nahri, the courageous, sceptical and self-sufficient con-woman, fighting for survival in the human world;
Dara, the centuries-old djinn warrior who is conjured by Nahri and escorts her to Daevabad to face her true destiny (and his own); and
Alizayd (Ali), the youngest son of the king, in training to be his elder brother’s ‘Qaid’ (captain of the royal guard).

By following these three through the novel, we get to see events from every angle and understand the actions and motivations of both the ruling class and the rebellious civilians, which is crucial in a novel of such rich culture and history. If we only saw Nahri’s perspective – as with many portal fantasies where we experience the new, thrilling world alongside the protagonist – we’d miss out on a lot of the finer details and political intricacies of Chakraborty’s world.

I absolutely loved being immersed in the Middle Eastern culture that inspired the story, I haven’t read many novels set in Africa or Arabia and it was really refreshing to find a fantasy story that wasn’t based in Europe or America. I’ve recently read An Ember in the Ashes, and have Children of Blood and Bone and Rebel of the Sands on my TBR, so it’s amazing to see more diverse characters and stories from different cultures being published. Chakraborty does a phenomenal job of creating an imaginative and stunning backdrop, mingling history and fantasy, and a compelling story that combines themes of family, loyalty, politics, love and revenge.

If you’re bored of the usual fantasy settings (dark forests and magic schools still have their place, but it’s nice to try something new every now and then) then you can’t go wrong with The City of Brass. Pick it up if you love a brave, morally-grey female protagonist and a lush magical world with more history than you could shake a wand at.

I’m currently listening to The Kingdom of Copper on audio book, and loving it. Can’t wait for the third and final book to come out next year!

Lyndsey