Cirrus@Austlit

'Lord Nicholas Monterris, the last remaining heir of a crumbling ducal house, must marry to save his family from complete decline. His father chooses Lady Leaf Serral, eldest daughter of his greatest rival, at which point Nic is sure it can’t get any worse. Until he learns the head negotiator is to be Dashiell sa Vare, an old flame he has neither forgiven nor forgotten, a man their rigid class structure forbids him to love.

'Locked in the mouldering grandeur of Monterris Court (a house more haunting manifestation of dynastic ambition and ancestral guilt than home), the first dead body is troubling. The second, a warning that someone doesn’t want the contract to go ahead. But while Nic and his wife-to-be team up to banter their way through a secret murder investigation, it’s Dashiell he can’t stop thinking about. What would be worse? To love and have to let go, or to wholly deny the yearning of one’s heart forever?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Three people in a shattered empire become entangled in a looming revolution in this sweeping epic fantasy full of dragons, alchemical magic, political scheming and forbidden romance.

'Conquest built the Celes Basin. But when enemies once more threaten its borders, the Lord Reacher declares himself supreme ruler to enforce unity. Old angers erupt, threatening to tear the basin apart from within.

'Tesha, a glassblower's apprentice, becomes a tribute bride as part of a desperate political plot. In the Reacher's court, she's perfectly placed to sabotage him, but her heart has other plans.

'Naili is laundress to an eccentric alchemist, a job that has left her with strange new abilities that are slowly consuming her - and attracting the notice of the city's underground rulers. With time running out, she'll have to gain power by any means if she wants to survive, let alone change the world.

'And in the desolate Shield Mountains, sharp-shooting dragon rider Ashadi protects the basin from the monsters of the Sands beyond, but when an impossible shot pierces his dragon's glass scales, he becomes the hunted one.

'As chaos sweeps across the land, Tesha, Naili, and Ashadi must fight to survive political enemies, long-buried secrets, and monsters both within and without.' (Publication summary)

'The empire has fallen and another rises in its place in the action-packed continuation of Devin Madson's sweeping epic fantasy quartet.

Ambition and schemes have left the Kisian Empire in ashes. Empress Miko Ts'ai will have to move fast if she hopes to secure a foothold in its ruins. However, the line between enemies and allies may not be as clear-cut as they first appeared.

'After failing to win back his Swords, former Captain Rah e'Torin finds shelter among the Levanti deserters. But his presence in the camp threatens to fracture the group, putting him on a collision course with their enigmatic leader.

'Assassin Cassandra Marius knows Leo Villius's secret-one that could thwart his ambitions to conquer Kisia. But her time in Empress Hana's body is running out and each attempt they make to exploit Leo's weakness may be playing into his plans.

'And, as Leo's control over the Levanti emperor grows, Dishiva is caught in his web. To successfully challenge him, she'll have to decide how many of her people are worth sacrificing in order to win.' (Publication summary)

'War built the Kisian Empire and war will tear it down. And as an empire falls, three warriors rise.

'You will die. Your children will die. The empire will burn.

'Vengeance has come.

'Katashi Otako walks with the Vices, burning everything in his path. Now the spirit of Vengeance, he will stop at nothing to destroy Emperor Kin and take the Crimson Throne.

'The empire is facing its greatest threat, and with Darius controlling Katashi from the shadows, Emperor Kin finds his every move pre-empted. Out of options, Kin and Hana must marry in secret to secure the support they need, but the ceremony takes seven days and seven days can change the world.

'As the flames of vengeance engulf Kisia, Hana will have to fight for the right to defend her empire. A ruler must do what is necessary, but no choice is easy when the enemy is the man she once loved and the guardian she once trusted.

'When gods fight, empires fall.' (Publication summary)

'Two emperors. One empire.

'The war for the Crimson Throne has split Kisia. In the north Otako supporters rally around their champion, but Katashi Otako wants only vengeance. Caught in the middle, Hana must decide between her family and her heart. Is the true emperor the man the people want? Or the one they need?

'As the true heir to the throne, Endymion remains hidden in plain sight, but the Vices know his secret. Malice, scheming to restore the empire to the rule of gods, plans a coup that will tear Kisia apart if Endymion does not find a way to escape. But he is running out of time. His Empathy is consuming him. It grows stronger with every use, spreading him so thin there will soon be nothing left – nothing except the monster he fears to become. When gods fight, empires fall.

'The storm is coming.' (Publisher's blurb)

'They call him the Usurper.

'A man of common blood sits on the throne. At his command the last emperor was executed, but now the empire is on the brink of war.

Vengeance is coming.

'Endymion is an Empath. He was born with the ability to feel another’s emotions and reach inside their hearts for their deepest secrets. Often despised, he lives a nomadic existence, but when he finds himself imprisoned for sorcery and facing death, it is his past that will condemn him. Born Prince Takehiko Otako, the only surviving son of the True Emperor, Endymion is already caught in the brewing storm. Fast losing control of his Empathy, he seeks revenge against the man who betrayed him, but for Endymion the truth will come too late.

'The fight for the Crimson Throne has begun.' (Publisher's blurb)